Deobandi students surpass Barelvis in Pakistan Madrassas: Insightful statistics

The News, January 2, 2006
441,565 students are enrolled in Punjab Madaris

By Sajjad Shafiq Butt

LAHORE: The police personnel across the Punjab are busy in keeping their data updated regarding the number of students getting education there.

As many as 200,246 students are getting education from the seminaries representing the Deoband school of thought, while 199,733 students are associated with the seminaries belonging to the Barelvi school of thought. While 34,253 students are affiliated with the seminaries representing the Ahl-e-Hadith school of thought, 7,333 students are getting education from the seminaries of Ahl-e-Tashi school of thought, according to a statistical report prepared by the Punjab Police Department. The classified report showing the situation till September 2005 states that a total of 441,565 students are getting education from the religious seminaries (Deeni Madaris).

Bahawalpur district with the highest number of 41,811 students in its Deeni Madaris comes first while the cities of Lahore, Bahawalnagar and Faisalabad appear second, third and fourth with 35,339 students, 33,026 students and 31,941 students registered with the religious seminaries, respectively. Following is the police range-wise and district-wise number of students in Madaris of different schools of thought (Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadith and Ahl-e-Tashi).

LAHORE: No less than 35,339 students are enrolled in the religious seminaries in Lahore including 13,726 Deobandi students, 17,728 Barelvi students, 2,980 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 905 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Sheikhupura Police Range: There are a total of 22,304 students of Madaris here. Of them 6,718 are Deobandis, 9,978 Barelvis, 5,397 Ahl-e-Hadith and 211 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Sheikhupura: As many as 4,534 students are getting education in religious seminaries in Sheikhupura district comprising 1,324 Deobandi students, 2,005 Brelvi students, 1,124 Ahl-e-Hadith students and only 81 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Nankana Sahib: Of total 2,352 students getting education from Madaris here, 447 are Deobandis, 1,166 Brelvis, 701 Ahl-e-Hadith and 38 Ahl-e-Tashi.

Kasur: There are 9,253 students attending their classes in the religious seminaries here. At least 3,232 students are Deobandis, another 3,232 are Brelvis, 2,757 are Ahl-e-Hadith students and only 32 students belong to Ahl-e-Tashi sect.

Okara: Of total 6,165 students in Madaris here, there are 1,715 Deobandi students, 3,575 Brelvi students, 815 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 60 are Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Gujranwala Police Range: A total of 61,257 students are getting education from the religious seminaries in the districts of Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Narowal falling under Gujranwala Police Range. This number comprises 20,823 Deobandi, 33,762 Brelvi, 6,199 Ahl-e-Hadith and 473 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Gujranwala: As many as 20,593 students are getting education from the religious seminaries here. Among them 8,351 are Deobandis, 7,926 Brelvis, 4,228 Ahl-e-Hadiths and 88 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Hafizabad: A total of 4,729 students comprising 1,493 Deobandis, 2,556 Brelvis, 625 Ahl-e-Hadiths and 55 Ahl-e-Tashis are getting education here.

Gujrat: Of 9,103 total students of religious seminaries here, there are 1,876 Deobandis, 7,082 Brelvis, 80 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 65 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Mandi Bahauddin: A total of 8,630 students have been found registered with the Madaris here. There are 3560 Deobandi students, 4830 Brelvi students, 170 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 70 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Sialkot: As many as 6,399 students are seeking their education from the religious seminaries here, 2,809 are Deobandi students, 3,178 Brelvi, 382 Ahl-e-Hadith and only 30 are Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Narowal: Of 11,803 total students of Deeni Madaris here, 2734 belong to Deoband school of thought while 8,190 belong to Brelvi school of thought and 714 students are of Ahl-e-Hadith sect while 165 students are associated with the seminaries representing the thoughts of Ahl-e-Tashi.

Rawalpindi Police Range: No less than 36,586 students are getting their education from the religious seminaries in the districts of Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal. This number of students comprises 21,581 Deobandis, 13,588 Brelvis, 894 Ahl-e-Hadiths and 523 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Rawalpindi: There are a total of 17,413 students seeking education from the seminaries representing different schools of thought and operating in the district adjoining Islamabad. There are 9,290 Deobandi, 7,603 Brelvi, 398 Ahl-e-Hadith and 122 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Attock: Of 10,105 students in the Deeni Madaris here where Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was targetted by a suicide bomber, there are 8,224 Deobandis, 1,788 Brelvis, 11 Ahl-e-Hadith and 82 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Jhelum: There are 4,094 students affiliated with the seminaries of this district. As many as 1,063 students are Deobandis, 2,525 students are Brelvis, 460 students belong to Ahl-e-Hadith sect and only 46 belong to Ahl-e-Tashi school of thought.

Chakwal: Of 4,974 students of religious seminaries here, there are 3,004 Deobandis, 1,672 are Brelvis, only 25 students are Ahl-e-Hadith and 273 students belong to Ahl-e-Tashi sect.

Sargodha Police Range: As many as 33,750 students of Deeni Madaris have been enrolled in the seminaries operating in Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali and Bhakkar districts. No less than 16,194 students are being provided education at the seminaries representing Deoband school of thought while 15,970 students are being taught at the seminaries of Brelvi. Similarly, there are 617 Ahl-e-Hadith students while 969 students here belong to the Ahl-e-Tashi school of thought.

Sargodha: Of total 20,338 students registered with the religious seminaries here, there are 8,562 Deobandi students, 11,256 Brelvi students, 380 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 190 are Ahl-e-Tashi.

Khushab: As many as 4,485 students are affiliated with the religious seminaries here. This number comprises 2,815 Deobandi students, 1,391 Brelvi students, 110 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 169 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Mianwali: This district houses 3,250 students in its religious seminaries. There are 1,260 Deobandi students, 1,705 Brelvi students, 25 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 260 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Bhakkar: The total of 5,627 students registered with different religious seminaries established here comprises 3,557 Deobandi students, 1,618 Brelvi students, 102 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 350 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Faisalabad Police Range: Not less than 55,817 students are registered with religious seminaries of different schools of thought in all the three districts of Faisalabad, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh, falling in the territorial ambit of Faisalabad Police Range.

Faisalabad: The city known for textile industry houses a total of 31,941 students of different religious seminaries. As many as 16,160 students are associated with the seminaries of Deobandis, 10,441 students are registered with the seminaries of Brelvis, 5,238 students belong to the seminaries of Ahl-e-Hadith sect and 102 students are getting their education from the seminaries run by those representing Ahl-e-Tashi school of thought.

Jhang: The district producing several sect-motivated leaders has a total of 12,597 students registered with its religious seminaries. There are 10,030 Deobandi students, 2,034 Brelvi students, 270 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 263 Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Toba Tek Singh: Of 11,279 total students affiliated with the religious seminaries here, as many as 6,333 belong to Deoband school of thought and 4,461 students belong to Brelvi school of thought while 395 students are Ahl-e-Hadith and only 90 students are registered with the seminaries representing Ahl-e-Tashi school of thought.

Multan Police Range: The police range comprising six districts of Multan, Lodhran, Khanewal, Vehari, Sahiwal and Pakpattan has recorded the number of students associated with religious seminaries of different schools of thought as high as 75,170 students. There are 35,335 Deobandi students, 31,903 Brelvi students, 6,015 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 1,917 are Ahl-e-Tashi students.

Multan: Of total 20,315 students of different religious seminaries here, there are not less than 9,517 Deobandis, 8056 Brelvis, 1,140 Ahl-e-Hadith and 1,602 are Ahl-e-Tashi.

Lodhran: The district houses 7,683 students in different seminaries. These students comprise 2,827 Deobandis, 4,211 Brelvis, 490 Ahl-e-Hadiths and 155 Ahl-e-Tashis.

Khanewal: As many as 11,635 students are registered with Madaris here. No less than 6,885 students are registered with the Madaris of Deoband, 4,480 students are affiliated with the seminaries of Brelvi school of thought and 270 students are associated with Ahl-e-Hadith seminaries. No Ahl-e-Tashi student exists here in the district, according to the classified documents of the Punjab Police.

Vehari: The total number of students of religious seminaries here is 15,043 comprising 9422 Deobandi students, 4,933 Brelvi students and 688 Ahl-e-Hadith students. No Ahl-e-Tashi student exists here.

Sahiwal: Of 14,761 total students seeking their education from the religious seminaries in the district, there are 4,430 Deobandis and 7,459 students are Brelvis. Similarly, 2,712 students are getting education from the seminaries being run by Ahl-e-Hadith sect and 160 students are registered with the Ahl-e-Tashi seminaries.

Pakpattan: No Ahl-e-Tashi student exists here while 2,254 students are registered with Deoband madaris and 2,764 students are affiliated with Brelvi seminaries while 715 students are seeking their education from Ahl-e-Hadith seminaries. The total, therefore, appears 5733 students of religious seminaries in the district.

Dera Ghazi Khan Police Range: A total of 23,785 students are registered with different seminaries operating in the districts of Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Layyah here.

Of these 23,785 students, 10,221 are registered with Deoband madaris, another 10,043 are registered with Brelvi madaris while 2,629 students are affiliated with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and 892 students are seeking education from the seminaries run by Ahl-e-Tashi.

Dera Ghazi Khan: Two thousand nine hundred ninety-four (2,994) students registered with Deoband madaris, 4,065 students registered with Brelvi madaris, 1,385 students registered with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and 105 students registered with Ahl-e-Tashi madaris make a total of 8549 students of religious seminaries set up here.

Rajanpur: There are a total of 2,291 students seeking education from different religious seminaries here. There are 1,363 Deobandi students, 731 Brelvi students, 131 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 66 Ahl-e-Tashi students in the district bordering Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

Muzaffargarh: A total of 9,617 students are registered with the Deeni Madaris here. As many as 4,345 are Deobandi students, 3759 Brelvi students, 1,005 Ahl-e-Hadith students and 508 students are Ahl-e-Tashi.

Layyah: This district houses a total of 3,328 students in the religious seminaries. There are 1,519 students associated with Deoband madaris, 1,488 students associated with Brelvi madaris, 108 students registered with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and 213 students are registered with Ahl-e-Tashi madaris operating here.

Bahawalpur Police Range: This police range comprising all three districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahimyar Khan has recorded the highest number of students registered with the religious seminaries established and operating here.

Of total 97,557 students of Deeni Madaris, 43,125 students are seeking education from Deoband madaris and 49,825 students are getting education from the Brelvi madaris. Similarly, 3,619 students are registered with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and 988 other students are registered with Ahl-e-Tashi madaris.

Bahawalpur: As many as 41,811 students are seeking education from religious seminaries of different schools of thought. No less than 18,561 students are registered with Deoband madaris, 21,201 students are registered with Brelvi madaris, 1,655 students are registered with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and 394 students are registered with Ahl-e-Tashi madaris.

Bahawalnagar: No less than 13,827 students are reportedly registered with Deoband madaris, 17,716 students are registered with Brelvi madaris, 1,434 students registered with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and only 49 students are registered with Ahl-e-Tashi madaris here. The total 33,026 students are enrolled in religious seminaries in the district.

Rahimyar Khan: There are 22,720 students registered with different seminaries in the district. Out of this number, 10,737 students are seeking education from Deoband madaris, 10,908 students are getting education from Brelvi madaris, 530 other students are registered with Ahl-e-Hadith madaris and 545 students are getting education from the madaris of Ahl-e-Tashi school of thought.

The police personnel are also maintaining the data on the religious seminaries of Qadianis, who were decalred non-Muslims during ZA Bhutto era. According to the police figures, the religious seminaries of Qadianis are operating only in Jhang and there are 800 students resgistered with those.