The Question of Socioeconomic Benefits of Religious Seminaries in Pakistan
This paper intends to explore the Socio-Economic contribution of Institution of Madresa in Pakistani society while critically evaluating the authenticity of criticism against the institution which has surfaced after the 9/11 incident, accusing Madresa to be the breading ground of militancy, terror networks and sectarian violence. Additionally the paper explores the free-for-all service of Madresa in providing education, increasing literacy rate and employability for the poorest of the poor. It is discovered that Madresa provide a near equivalent of primary to tertiary levels of education by only spending almost half the amount spent by its conventional counterparts in the country. Along with this residential Madaris save the poorest of children from various illegal activities including child prostitution. Furthermore role of religiosity in crime reduction is also discussed in the light of various cross-national secondary researches and it is argued that by enhancing the influence of Madresa to increase the religiosity of the society, crimes of all nature, including corruption and white collar crimes, can be significantly reduced. The most of the conclusion are drawn on the basis of limited data available on Madaris affiliated with Wifaq-ul- Madaris Al-Arabia (which adhere to Deobandi school of thought) therefore the confidence level of conclusions needs to be further enhanced by adding more primary data on other networks of Madaris operated with by Ahle-Tashee, Ahle- Hadith and Barelvi schools. The paper however provides a basis for further research in Pakistan to explore the influence of Madresa-initiated-religiosity on law and order situation, the degree of employability of Madresa graduates and the cost effectiveness of Madaris in all corners of Pakistan.
