Regimented Lives: Coming of Age in a Madrassa

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, many who joined the resistance arrived as schoolboys out of Pakistan. Religious academies there had prepared young bodies and souls for the deadly fight, but since September 11, 2001, these same madrassas stand accused of breeding suicidal extremists.

Students spend their days memorizing scripture, praying five times a day and sharing simple meals. In 2002, the government of Pervez Musharraf required the schools to add subjects such as math, science and English, but, as of yet, most madrassas do not offer the changes. The backbone of all learning, and the ultimate goal of each student, is to memorize the Koran.

In the current generation, Pakistan madrassas house and educate somewhere between 600,000 to 2 million students. Each year, thousands more graduate to become part of the Muslim clergy. Others, however, eagerly join the armed jihad, heading straight for insurgent training camps and on to any target that displeases their elders.

This is a look at the regimented daily lives of students growing up inside two madrassas in Lahore, Pakistan.

A student carries a goat recently donated to the Jamia Naeemia madrassa through the school to be sacrificed for a meal during the holy month of Ramadan. Many madrassas run solely on donations from the local community.
  
A boy enters the Jamia Naeemia madrassa as an older student writes on the chalkboard. This madrassa recently began offering classes such as computer science and Persian, in addition to religious studies.
  
A student removes the clock from the common room to keep track of prayer time in the makeshift mosque at the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa. The school day at madrassas is scheduled around the five prayer times spaced evenly through the day.
     
  
A child learns from an older student as they study at the Jamia Naeemia madrassa. While living away from their parents, many of the children who attend madrassa look up to and learn from the older students, who have spent most of their childhood there as well.
  
An older student recites lines of the Koran aloud as he participates in his daily studies. It usually takes two to three years to memorize the Koran; and it is believed that once it is memorized, the student is guaranteed an entrance to heaven along with ten people of his choice. The hundreds of pages in the Koran are written in an ancient form of Arabic that is rarely spoken and that the majority of students cannot understand.
  
While memorizing the Koran, madrassa students rock back and forth, their voices merging as they recite different verses aloud. It is believed that the rocking motion helps with memorization.
     
  
Several generations of Muslim males finish the Dhuhr, or noon prayer, in the mosque of the Jamia Naeemia madrassa. Students at madrassas must strictly observe the five daily prayers.
  
Students at the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa prepare the room for Iftar dinner, the meal that breaks the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. This small madrassa consists of only two main rooms, one of which is used as prayer area, dining hall, and common room, the other as a classroom.
  
A young student distributes dishes to his classmates before dinner in the small kitchen of the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa. Children from poor families are often sent to madrassas because, in addition to an education, they provide nourishing meals that parents are not able to afford.
     
  
A student makes his way through the decaying hallways of the living quarters to the washrooms of the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa. Because the students live and study at the school tuition free, the madrassa relies on donations from the local community for its upkeep.
  
After the call to prayer echoes through the Jamia Naeemia madrassa, students wash their hands and feet as part of the Islamic purification ritual required before entering a mosque for prayer.
  
Side by side, young and old pray together toward Mecca inside the mosque of the madrassa. Participating in the five daily prayers is part of the five pillars of Islam.
     
  
A student peers over his shoulder as he sits in the mosque of the Jamia Naeemia madrassa during an afternoon prayer.
  
At the end of the day, students spend quiet time in the courtyard of the modest and cramped quarters of the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa before participating in the evening prayer.
  
As night falls, a student covers his head with a scarf in his bedroom at the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa. This madrassa is affiliated with the strict Deobandi sect of Islam, a type of madrassa that is associated with militant policies.
     
  
A street lamp illuminates students and villagers as they gather in the yard of the Arabia Taeem-ul-Quran madrassa to end their day in prayer.