So I wait for him ‘ til he goes to the office, whether it’s 9, whether it’s 10, whether it’s 11. SUEHAIL: The reason that I come late is also because he doesn’t like it if he’s home and I leave for my class. KHALID: Suehail slips into class more than two hours late this morning. LUMARA SUEHAIL (Student, Al Huda): When I come here, my husband says you’ve become a Taliban. Lumara Suehail(ph) says her husband mocks her religious studies. Another woman laments that she can’t cover her head because her kids make fun of her. KHALID: One student complains that it’s impossible for her to suggest her husband pray. KHALID: A conversation soon erupts about family life. She speaks Urdu with a flare and has a soft, inviting tone. KHALID: The teacher is one of Farhat Hashmi’s direct disciples. Unidentified Woman #2: No, it is just (unintelligible). Today’s sermon deals with the vices of materialism. It’s a stark contrast from the extremist rhetoric taught in some schools.
They learn about the importance of mercy and forgiveness -nothing political and nothing violent. Students learn line-by-line translations and analysis. Here, like all of the Al Huda branches, the focus is the Quran. KHALID: One is the school where Huria Yawar studies. Unidentified Woman #1: (Chanting in foreign language) KHALID: Today, Al Huda has more than 200 branches. And then these women go back to their hometowns or to their own neighborhoods, use the same sort of education materials, the course plans, Farhat Hashmi’s lecture tapes, and start offering a diploma course of their own. MUSHTAQ: These women come to Al Huda, spend a year or two years getting a diploma. She’s at Northwestern University, writing her Ph.D. Student, Northwestern University): To simplify it a little bit, it’s run like a franchise. And since then, it’s grown exponentially. The first branch opened in the mid-1990s. But more important than all of that is the school system she’s created. Her public lectures draw crowds in the thousands. Radio stations in nearly every major city broadcast her sermons. KHALID: She’s a household name in Pakistan. FARHAT HASHMI (Scholar Founder, Al Huda): (Foreign language spoken) These women in Pakistan found their faith with Farhat Hashmi. But now, many women who once sported sleeveless shirts are covering their faces. For years, most wealthy women in Pakistan scoffed at overt piety. KHALID: Here at the Islamic school, Yawar is joined by other upper-crust housewives, some with Blackberries in hand, others with luxury cars parked outside. (Soundbite of laughter and crowd chatter) And we regret that at the age of 45, 48, so it’s a shame for us. HURIA YAWAR (Student, Al Huda): When we come here, each and every letter of that holy book is really seeping in our heart and which we didn’t know before. But she says she had no direction in life until she came here. KHALID: Yawar has five kids and a master’s in psychology. Unidentified Group: (Foreign language spoken) Then she climbs the stairs to this Islamic school in Central Lahore. NPR’s Asma Khalid reports.ĪSMA KHALID: Huria Yawar(ph) glances at the Cartier watch on her wrist. The classes preach tolerance and mercy, though some Pakistanis fear they’re breeding intolerance. She’s created a massive network of Islamic schools that cater to elite, educated women. It’s been sparked by a popular female evangelist.
Farhat Hashmi in English.įar from the headlines about its war on extremists, Pakistan is undergoing a more subtle debate over religion. Audio version available on through the link at the top including the rare few words from Dr. It’s not just Pakistan but a worldwide phenomenon with over 200 branches and a second main campus in a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, which is revolutionizing access to Islamic knowledge for women. NPR: Religious Schools Court Wealthy Women in Pakistan