By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,

When madrasas are labeled as an obstacle in Indian Muslim's education and growth, a madrasa graduate has proved the perception wrong. That too by walking on an uncharted path. Wasimur Rehman, a Fazil from Darul Uloom Deoband, South Asia's most respected Islamic seminary, has done proud to all madrasas and Indian Muslims by clearing India's prestigious UPSC Civil Services exam.

Education

Coming from an undeveloped district of Siddharth Nagar of Uttar Pradesh, Rahman has made a history by becoming first cleric to clear Civil Services Exam. Talking to TwoCircles.net (TCN) from New Delhi, he elaborated on his education, career and coaching for UPSC exam. "I began my education at a maktab in my village, then I shifted to Madrasa Ehyaul Uloom in U.P.'s Gonda district for higher religious education." At this madrasa, which is affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband, Rehman completed five years of eight-year course of Fazil. For the remaining three years, at the end of which he was to be awarded with a degree, he moved to Darul Uloom Deoband in Saharanpur.

Son of a hakeem (late), Rehman comes from a humble family background. His mother is homemaker; of three brothers, one is a driver and another works at a shop. His youngest brother is doing MA in Theology at Aligarh Muslim University, he said to TCN.

Rehman is very happy to become first madrasa graduate to clear the UPSC Civil Services exam. This was his childhood dream. All odds notwithstanding, he has kept his childhood ambition to become a higher government officer afire all through. While talking to Hindustan Times Assistant Editor Zia Haq, Rehman said, "I always wanted to become a high-ranking government officer and serve my country. I am happy to become the first Darul cleric to clear the UPSC."

But to achieve his goal, he had to cover a long distance after completing his course at Deoband. This mainly because there was no taker of his Deoband degree in the mainstream market – and this is where Muslim leadership and madrasa authorities should press the government to acknowledge the degrees from madrasas of certain standard. This may help in producing several Wasimur Rehmans, and ultimately will remove some doubts and misconceptions about madrasas and their education system.

To get his degree nationally acceptable, Wasimur Rehman took admission at Jamia Hamdard. First he completed a one-year Pre-Tib course required for madrasa graduates seeking admission in BUMS. Then he completed five-years BUMS course. Now he was eligible to face graduate-level government exams. And he began preparation for UPSC exam. But at the same time, he decided to continue his study in Unani medicine, and so he took admission in MD (Unani) at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Coaching for UPSC

At AMU he became more serious about his UPSC goal. So, along with his MD course, he began attending coaching classes provided by AMU's Centre for Guidance and Coaching for Civil Services aspirants.

In Delhi, first he got guidance from Crescent Coaching, then he joined Waji Ram and Ravi coaching for General Studies (Mains). Before his fourth and last attempt at Civil Services exam, he joined Hamdard Coaching Centre run by Jamia Hamdard.

Support

As he was not from a rich family, who helped him in his studies and UPSC preparation? "My family, my all brothers always remained supportive to me. They helped me as much as they could," said Rehman to TCN. "At AMU, I also worked on a project called Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), a Central government project wherein Unani literature is being digitalized," he said. This project helped him financially.

Madrasa's role

For his success at UPSC, how much credit will he give to the madrasa education he got? "The extracurricular activities related to enhancement of writing and speaking ability of students at the madrasa helped me immensely. At Mains (UPSC) a candidate's writing ability is tested thoroughly. "Whatever writing ability I could develop at the madrasa proved crucial for my success," said Rehman. What kind of reformation of madrasa would you like? "I think what is most important is motivation and awareness. Madrasa students are not less talented than any other students. They need to be motivated and properly guided," said the man who has no email ID at the time when millions of teenagers across the globe have romped the Web world.

A trained cleric as an IAS officer

What will be his priority as an IAS officer? "To serve the country without any discrimination of caste and creed will be my priority, first and last, and I will work with full sincerity and honesty," he said. How can he keep himself clean while being a part of a corrupt system? "On my part, I will try to be an honest officer," said the man whose success has justifiably rekindled hope in eyes of many other madrasa graduates.