Muzaffarnagar madrasa reimagines Huffaz. After initial hesitation, young Hafiz Abdus Samad allows entry into his world and whispers, "I want to join IFS, Indian Foreign Service.
"The 14-year-old from Mewat wants to change the perception of his backward region in Haryana. "I want to serve in the UAE and tell the world that in India one can follow his or her religion without discrimination.
"Samad is among hundreds of Huffaz at Vision International Academy in Phulat, a sleepy village in Khatauli, just off the frenetic Delhi-Dehradun Expressway. Phulat made news in the last few years when revered Muslim preacher Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for forcibly converting people to Islam by an NIA Court in 2024.
Huffaz are students of madrasas who have memorised the Arabic verses of the Koran by heart. But these teenagers don't just have the spiritual capital. Clad in kurta pyjamas with skull caps decorating their little heads, they express themselves in broken English, can reflect on the physics behind a pendulum, know a thing or two about Premchand's stories and can appreciate Rohit Sharma's casual aggression and Babar Azam's cover drives.
A brainchild of philanthropist Ameer Ahamed, the boarding school is tucked into the heart of sugarcane plains and madrasa tradition in Phulat.Ahamed, along with some senior professors from AMU, created a bridge course that combines spiritual education with modern education for madrasa children. "We have done some psychometric tests on them, and they revealed that their IQ level is no different from that of the best students of their age, and their memorising capacity is exceptional. However, they often remain confined to madrasas and end up doing menial jobs," said Mr. Ahamed.
Mindsets will take time to change. "Perceptions are changing. Moral education is an important part of the curriculum. We realised a young Huffaz doesn't necessarily know the spirit of the Holy Koran. Islam is not about a beard and pyjama. Here, they learn about the Koran in one hand and the country, the Constitution, and the basics of comparative religion to build understanding and respect for other faiths. And for one day of the week, we ask them to dress up in a pant-shirt.
"Wasi Miyan Khan, a senior teacher at the school, has a PhD from Jamia Millia and has taken theology lessons at Deoband. "My goal is to use their strong memory to clear board exams by inculcating curiosity and inquisitiveness.
"After Mr. Siddiqui's arrest, Mr. Ahamed says he faced intensive scrutiny from authorities, but eventually everything was found "clear and transparent."