Talk:List of Islamic universities and colleges in India

What constitutes an Islamic university?

AaqibAnjum what constitutes an Islamic university or college? I understand that Islamic seminaries and madrassas are obviously Islamic, but why is Maulana Azad National Urdu University Islamic? Is it just the fact that most students and faculty there are Muslims? VR _talk 21:58, 15 August 2020 (UTC)

@Vice regent:, the article says at the top, "This is a list of notable Islamic universities and colleges, and modern universities and institutes within the Muslim names in India". - Aaqib Anjum Aafī (^talk) 05:08, 16 August 2020 (UTC)

@AaqibAnjum: I understand, but how do we determine if a particular institution is an "Islamic university"? It is based on the name of the institution? VR _talk 12:20, 16 August 2020 (UTC)

@Vice regent, coming again to this, I feel this list is completely irrelevant. Seminaries could be covered on List of Islamic seminaries and UGC-approved universities on lists like List of universities in India. ─ The Aafī (talk) 13:34, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

@TheAafi: how would you classify the various International Islamic University Malaysia etc. Would they be considered seminaries or structured more as modern universities? Maybe "Islamic institutions of higher learning" should be a better title?VR _talk 04:46, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

@Vice regent: Such universities aren't seriously like the seminaries but are public universities like Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Karachi, University of Kashmir and the Delhi University. ─ The Aafī (talk) 14:58, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

@TheAafi: do you think there is any difference between University of Kashmir and Aligarh Muslim University, in that the latter is somehow more "Islamic"? Or is it that RS don't treat these as being in different categories?VR _talk 18:33, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

@Vice regent, there's nothing much which makes Aligarh any Islamic than the UoK. The famous Akbar Allahabadi criticized the AMU a lot for aiding to the development of apostacy. ─ The Aafī (talk) 18:40, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

That would be his opinion but what about other RS? Also, should we similarly seek to rename Category:Islamic universities and colleges in India?VR _talk 18:44, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

@Vice regent, you've a point but this isn't something rare. If we say it to be more Islamic, it fails on several things, its department of theology was very under-developed before Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi joined in there and brought the department on par with others. That said, its founders' vision was to establish it on the basis of the Cambridge - which according to the common name is something different than that of the traditional Islamic seminaries. Situations subsequently led to the establishment of Jamia Millia Islamia which had influences from the Khilafat movement and founders included many Islamic scholars. That's to say the Jamia was more Islamic than the "too-modern" Aligarh as stated elsewhere by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi in Western Civilization: Islam and Muslims that, The other drawback was the rigid insistence of Sir Syed on the Western liberal education, to the exclusion of the practical sciences and The educational philosophy and endeavour of Sir Syed and his call for the emulation of the Western manner of living became, so to speak, complementary with each other with the result that a great deal of doubts and suspicions were aroused in the minds of the people about his educational movement. In Muslim religious circles the reaction was particularly vehement and a counter movement was launched by them to boycott the new educational system. A host of unnecessary difficulties. Nonetheless, this isn't something we are discussion, AMU is now a central university as is the Jamia Millia Islamia and similarly there are other public central/state universities throughout the world but seminaries are different. For instance, Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Karachi do not have the educational pattern as the International Islamic University Malaysia which is a public university and does offer courses on religious studies. Seminary courses get equivalence [completion of 8 year studies course at Deoband can help one get admission in a BA course in Aligarh and Jamia, but not in courses such as BSc] and they are not usually deemed universities by any state. ─ The Aafī (talk) 19:37, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

I also suggest renaming the category to Islamic seminaries as well. ─ The Aafī (talk) 19:38, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

Cleanup suggestions

Based on my and @Vice regent's old discussions above, I suggest some necessary cleanups to this article. Islamic seminaries in India such as Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama - are not technically and theoretically "Islamic university accrediting agencies" and thus it is factually wrong to mention them as such. Likewise, universities such as Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia are not "Islamic universities" either albeit having been established by Muslims or including Islamic names in their names, these are rather public universities accredited by University Grants Commission (India). Islamic seminaries aren't accredited by UGC. Perhaps this list should be renamed to List of Muslim minority institutions and seminaries in India? Best regards, ─ Aafī (talk) 18:00, 3 March 2024 (UTC)