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Imam Training Academy at a glance
Introduction :
Islam
is a complete code of life and the mosque has always played a
significant role in the annals of Islam. It is the mosque around which
revolves the activities – social, political, cultural and economic –
in a Muslim society. The Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) and
the Khulafa-e-Rasheda (the first four Caliphs) propagated the light and
learning of Islam and governed the Muslim state as well through the
Masjid-e-Nababi in Madinat-ul-Munawwara. Muslim society indeed is a
mosque based society. Five times daily congregations in the mosques and
the Juma’s prayer on Friday keep the Muslim society integrated to its
faith. The Imam is the only undisputed leader in such congregations. But
lack of knowledge about the dynamic aspects of Islam and ignorance about
modern patterns of socio-economic activities have kept them aloof from
the mainstream of community life in almost all Muslim countries.
The Imam Training Academy of the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, the
largest Islamic organization in the country imparts training
to Imams in various disciplines. Established in 1979 with a
view to increasing knowledge
and expertise and at
the same time reducing the unwarranted orthodoxy
and rigidity, the Imam Training
Academy through its
extensive and varied curricula exposes the Imams to a good many
vocational issues. Besides imparting training on the Holy
Book and the Traditions of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), the
45- day long broad spectrum also
comprises varied disciplines
like health and
hygiene, family welfare,
agriculture and afforestation, environment, poultry,
horticulture, AIDS, EPI, drug addiction
and human rights .
The
Academy has seven centres around the country. They are located at
Dhaka,Chittagong, Sylhet,Barisal,Khulna, Rajshahi & Dinajpur.
Courses are conducted simultaneously at all the seven centres. Each
course imparts training to 100 Imams at each centre, the total number of
Imams trained is 700 per course . 5 (five) such courses are arranged
every year .
Main
objects of the training :
(
i)
To train up the Imam of mosques in order to enable them to contribute
in the field of socio- economic development such as agriculture,
healthcare, family welfare , pisciculture,
poultry and livestock etc. and to reorganise all the mosques of
Bangladesh in the light of
Masjid –e- Nabobi.
(ii)
To involve the Imam of Mosques in the socio- economic activities
and make them capable for social leadership gradually.
(iv)
To inspire the Imams of Mosques in order to
create consciousness
in the society about
religious superstition, drug
addiction, dowry system, terrorism, environment pollution , control of
diarrhoea, remove illiteracy, arsenic pollution, sanitation, disaster
management, childcare, human resource
development etc. and to involve
the Imam with socio- economic development .
(v)
To
patronize the trained Imams for the utilization of their post training
skill.
The
Academy has already given training 47,881
Imams from 1979 to
September 2003 . Of them 11,358 trained up Imam has got refreshers
training from 1986 to March 2004 . Under a development project,
sponsored by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Government of the People
Republic of Bangladesh. The 4th Phase of the Project started with a
target of training 8060 new Imams an 1700 refrasher’s. The estimated
cost of the project is Tk.2042 Lakh in the development plan spreading
over for three years begining from 2001-2002 to 2003-2004. More over,
887 employee
of the Islamic Foundation has got training on Values education
and administrative matters under the same project.
As
a result, the common masses at the grassroots level can be educated by
the Imams very effectively and at a very nominal expenditure. It is in
fact the cheapest and most cost-effective medium through which all types
of education—formal, informal, and non-formal-can be imparted to the
people at large.
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The Syllabus for the Regular Training Course
of Subject : Islamiath
2nd Paper
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3rd Paper
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