First Published: 02:43 IST(25/4/2008)

	http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=4251278b-5d81-4884-92fb-fe28e1c45434&&Headline=Learn+Sanskrit+at+a+Delhi+madrasa

In
Jamia Nagar, the sprawling Muslim heart of Delhi, students of the
little-known Islami Academy — a centre for Islamic higher education —
are learning a classical language that goes back 4,000 years. Not
Arabic, but Sanskrit.

That’s not all. This religious school, meant to prepare the ground
for mainstream students for Islamic research, has blended modern
education with a religious curriculum like no other.

The entrance test is in English. There are compulsory courses on
pan-Indian culture, Indian history and comparative religions, such as
Christianity and Sikhism, which a special focus on Hinduism.

“The idea was to have a very scientific and holistic curriculum in
the study of religion,” says the academy’s Harvard-educated director,
Abdul Haq Ansari.