Pakistan: Reforms fail at many madrassas

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/018701.php

November 6, 2007

More background here on why the Musharraf regime is fighting for its life. The madrassas -- all too many of them -- "were preaching jihad before September 11, and they are still preaching jihad."

And they don't mean an interior spiritual struggle, either. "Osama is a Muslim, and whatever he is doing is in the interest of Islam," says Muhammad Allahyar, who clearly must be some kind of Islamophobe.

"Reforms fail at many madrassas," by Willis Witter in the Washington Times (thanks to all who sent this in):

...Just a tiny fraction of the madrassas — estimated by some to number nearly 30,000 — have complied with rules requiring registration with the government, an accounting of private donations and an expanded syllabus that adds traditional subjects such as math and science to core religious classes.

The Jamia Naeemia madrassa in Lahore, which was visited by The Washington Times last month when the prospect of emergency rule seemed out of the question, stands out as an exception.

"There are two kinds of madrassas, those who changed their courses after September 11, and those who did not," said Sarfraz Naeemi, the school"s headmaster.