Educating Muslim Girls Vasundhara Mohan, PhD Institute of Indian Culture, Mumbai “A Hindu dhobi will educate his children, a Muslim dhobi will not. I can’t understand why.” (“Talabul ilm fareezatun ala kulle Muslimin wa Muslimatin”: It is the duty of every Muslim man and woman to acquire knowledge)*. Introduction Why indeed? It is a question that has been bothering not only Janab Shervani but also several others who are distraught at the state of affairs in the Muslim community and who desire inclusive development in India. Why are Muslim girls lagging behind others in education and employment in the organised sector? Reviewing the book on Educating Muslim Girls: A Comparison of Five Cities (1) Yoginder Sikand wrote: “Muslim girls are among the least educated sections of Indian society. Yet, very little literature is available on the education of Muslim girls, indicating a certain indifference on the part of community leaders, the agencies of the state and non-governmental organizations to their concerns.” A report by Zoya Hasan and Ritu Menon covering Muslim women in five Indian cities had revealed that while over 75% of Muslim women were illiterate, 85% of rural north Indian Muslim women were unable to read or write and the school enrolment rate of Muslim girls was low at 40.6%, as compared to 63.2% of upper caste Hindus. In the rural-north it was only 13.5% and 23.1% in the urban-north, compared to 70% and above both in the rural and urban south; the latter being above the all-India average for all girls. Even with respect to other indicators like school attendance by poor Muslim families (16.1%) and number of years of schooling, Muslim girls stood at a much lower level compared to non-Muslim girls, with wide rural-urban variations. According to the study referred to above, on the whole, Muslim girls are characterized by a low enrolment rate and a very high drop-out rate from the formal schooling system. The authors concluded that the low level of education of Muslim girls was not due to religion but to poverty. We beg to differ. The study highlights the efforts made by some Muslim women in promoting girls’ education in spite of numerous hurdles like indifference of the State to the conditions of Muslim women as reflected in the dismal budgetary allocation for their education, widespread poverty, and community’s opposition to co-education after a certain level, shortage of girls’ schools, women teachers and early marriages. 1