VZCZCXRO1944
RR RUEHAST RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHGI
RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKA #0475/01 1321015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121015Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8806
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2094
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 2847
RHHMUNS/COMSOCPAC HONOLULU HI
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHJJPI/PACOM IDHS HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAKA 000475 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/INSB, S/CT, INR, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER KDEM KISL SOCI BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH'S AHLE HADITH QAWMI MADRASAS: FEW AND 
SEPARATE 
 
REF: A. DHAKA 419 
     ¶B. DHAKA 431 
     ¶C. DHAKA 443 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Bangladesh's Ahle Hadith qawmi madrasas (AHQM) would 
not object to coming under government oversight, according to 
a senior Ahle Hadith (AH) representative, who told post there 
were approximately 200 AHQMs in Bangladesh, mostly 
concentrated in the northwest. He said attempts were underway 
to create an AH board to oversee standards and curriculum in 
all AHQMs and also noted that mainstream AH society in 
Bangladesh rejected the views and activities of prominent AH 
personality Asadullah Ghalib, arrested in 2005 on charges of 
militancy. There is currently no dialogue between the AHQM 
community and the Deobandi QM community (reftels) concerning 
recent Government of Bangladesh (GOB) attempts to regulate 
the QM system, according to post contacts. End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Poloff met May 2 with A.K.M Shamsul Alam, professor 
of Arabic at Rajshahi University and president of Jamiyat 
Ahl-al-Hadith (JAH), a national AH association with 35 
district committees across the country. A senior AH 
personality, Alam said he was attempting to establish an AHQM 
education board to oversee standards and curriculum, similar 
to those established by the Deobandi qawmi madrasa (DQM) 
system (reftels). Eleven of Bangladesh's most prominent AHQMs 
had agreed to sign on to the board (known as Ahle Hadith 
Ta'alimi Board), said Alam, admitting that the response had 
not been as strong as he had hoped. He explained the 
reluctance by noting that many AHQMs feared they lacked the 
resources to meet standards an oversight body might set; he 
said he would continue his efforts to convince them. 
 
THE AH CURRICULUM 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The AH curriculum is also drawn from the 17th century 
Dars-e-Nizami curriculum on which the Deobandi curriculum is 
based, according to Alam. The key difference between the two 
systems lies in the emphasis placed on Islamic jurisprudence 
("fiqh") - significantly less in the AH system. According to 
Alam, AH thought rejects dependence on the interpretations of 
the four established schools of Islamic jurisprudence and 
preaches reliance principally on the text of the Quran and 
the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed ('tafseer' and 'hadith'). 
 
AH QAWMI MADRASAS IN BANGLADESH 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Alam estimated there were about 30 million AH 
followers overall in Bangladesh. (Note: No official figures 
are available, but this figure seemed over-stated to post's 
locally-engaged political assistants. End note.) He said 
there were about 200 AHQMs in Bangladesh, the majority 
providing primary and early secondary AH religious education. 
About 50 provided tertiary level education, he said. Most of 
the AHQMs were located in the northwestern division of 
Rajshahi - in Rajshahi city, Chapai Nawabganj, Gaibandha, 
Pabna and Rangpur - with a few prominent AHQMs in Dhaka. The 
largest in Dhaka is the Mohammadia Arabia Madrasa, located in 
the Jatrabari area of Dhaka. (Note: The meeting took place at 
this madrasa. End note.) Mohammadia Arabia has some 450 
students, according to the school principal. 
 
 
AH PHILOSOPHY: TAKE GOVERNMENT EXAMS BUT STUDY IN AHQMs 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶5. (U) The principal said the AHQM system encouraged its 
students to take the government-supervised alia madrasa 
examinations, even while studying within the AHQM system. A 
prominent AH mentor, Dr. Abdul Bari, formerly vice-chancellor 
at Rajshahi University, was the chief proponent of this 
practice, he said.  A Mohammadia Arabia Arabic teacher also 
present at the meeting gave his own case as an example, 
explaining how he had taken and passed the alia madrasa 
examinations to the highest level (including in English, 
mathematics and social science), while studying at the 
Mohammadia Arabia Madrasa. He characterized the alia madrasa 
 
DHAKA 00000475  002 OF 003 
 
 
examinations as "easy" for an AHQM student, given the 
rigorous mental and academic discipline imposed on AHQM 
students. (Note: The practice of taking official examinations 
without consistently attending class is possible and does 
occur under the government-sponsored alia madrasa system. The 
fact that many prominent AH personalities have successfully 
navigated the government-sponsored higher education system - 
unlike their DQM counterparts - indicates that AHQM 
philosophy in this regard has borne some fruit. End note.) 
 
 
AHQMs FUNDED BY COMMUNITY DONATIONS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) AHQMs are funded by community donations, according to 
Alam. Upon leaving Mohammadia Arabia, Alam showed PolOff a 
tall apartment building adjacent to the school property. The 
building had belonged to a previous student, who left it to 
the school in his will, he said, adding that rent from the 
property provided a large part of the school's income. 
 
ASADULLAH AL GHALIB: LONG REJECTED BY MAINSTREAM AH SOCIETY 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Poloff asked Alam about his relationship with 
Asadullah Al Ghalib, a prominent AH personality arrested by 
the GOB in February 2005 on charges of militancy, included 
alleged involvement in attacks on NGO offices using 
explosives. Ghalib, a Ph.D. holder and professor of Arabic at 
Rajshahi University until his arrest, has also been linked to 
the banned terrorist organization, Jama'atul Mujahidin 
Bangladesh (JMB). According to media reports, JMB members 
arrested following a nationwide JMB bombing campaign in 
August 2005 characterized Ghalib as their "spiritual leader." 
Ghalib is the founder of a large alia (government-sponsored) 
madrasa in Rajshahi city known as Al Markazul Islami 
As-Salafi. He is also the founder of the  Ahle Hadith Andolon 
Bangladesh (AHAB) movement, which seeks to establish an 
Islamic state but rejects participation in the political 
process. "We have our Islamic way of invitation and jihad, 
which are devoid of terrorism," Ghalib said just prior to his 
arrest, according to one media report. 
 
¶8. (SBU) "Asadullah Al Ghalib is refused and rejected by the 
JAH," said Alam, speaking emphatically in Arabic. He added 
that, as far back as 1989, Ghalib was thrown out of JAH for 
refusal to pay dues and attend meetings and for generally 
unacceptable behavior. His situation as an AH outsider was 
only consolidated by later developments, said Alam, claiming 
that even the staff at Ghalib's own madrasa in Rajshahi were 
trying to push him out. (Note: This assertion jibed with 
Poloff's experience of Ghalib during a November 2008 visit to 
the Rajshahi alia madrasa he founded. Ghalib, who had only 
recently been released from prison, was late in joining the 
meeting, hosted by madrasa principal Abdus Samad Salafi. 
While Poloff continued to engage Samad Salafi in a cordial 
exchange of views in Arabic, Ghalib engaged a second Embassy 
employee in Bangla, castigating him for bringing a woman to 
the madrasa compound and implying that the USG had somehow 
been involved in his 2005 arrest. Clearly uncomfortable, 
Samad Salafi made a point of apologizing to Emboffs in front 
of Ghalib for his discourteous behavior, excusing him on the 
grounds of ill-health. End note.) 
 
ATTITUDE TO GOB ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE QMS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Poloff asked about the AHQM community's opinion of 
the GOB's stated desire to regulate qawmi madrasas and the 
dialogue that appeared to be developing between the Deobandi 
QMs and the government (reftels). Alam replied there was 
currently no dialogue between the GOB and the AHQM community, 
nor was there dialogue between the AHQM and the DQM 
communities. He expressed willingness to enter into dialogue 
in both cases, and said the AHQMs would not in principle 
oppose coming under GOB oversight. He noted that AHQMs faced 
severe lack of resources, with regard to both staff and 
materials, and would welcome assistance. 
 
DQM REP: AH SCHOOLS ARE NOT QAWMI MADRASAS! 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
DHAKA 00000475  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Poloff asked about the Deobandi QM community 
attitude toward the AHQM community at a May 5 meeting with 
Mizanur Rahman Sayed, assistant secretary general of the 
Federation of Qawmi Madrasa Boards (FQMB - one of two major 
DQM education board conglomerations (reftels)). Poloff noted 
that in GOB eyes the AHQM were "unregulated qawmi madrasas" 
just like the DQMs and asked whether there was any plan for 
the two groups to communicate with each other to present a 
unified position to the GOB as the discussion moved forward. 
Mizanur appeared surprised by the question and responded 
quickly that only the Deobandi schools were "qawmi madrasas," 
that this was historical fact and that surely the government 
must be aware of it. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The AHQM community is clearly a small piece of the 
overall Bangladesh QM equation. Nonetheless, it may be cause 
for concern that neither the GOB nor the DQM community appear 
to be reaching out to it in the current conversation on QM 
reform. In the government's case, the omission is most likely 
based on lack of understanding of QM organization in 
Bangladesh. In the DQM community's case, doctrinal 
differences are likely a key factor. 
MORIARTY