From Conflict-Independence to Dialogue-Integration: Discovering and Designing Resources for Rethinking the Religion-Science Relationship in Pakistan

The religion vs. science divide is deeply embedded in the education system of Pakistan. This system is divided into two streams—the Madrassa which traces its roots to Darul Uloom, Deoband and the University which traces its roots to Aligarh Muslim University. In terms of Ian Barbour’s 4 categories, the course content and the pedagogies in both streams largely promote the conflict-independence conception of religion and science. Traditionally the focus of the University has been on engineering, applied science, and quantitative methodologies. But there is growing awareness of the importance of the Social Sciences, Humanities, and qualitative methodologies. Similarly the Madrassa has focused on religious studies and gradually removed all secular science subjects from its curriculum. But in recent years an unprecedented openness has been shown among the leading madrassas in the country for including the secular sciences into their curriculum. These developments offer an historical opportunity for high-impact intervention that catalyzes a move from a conflict-independence conception of religion and science towards dialogue-integration in both the University and Madrassa. This project aspires to be this catalyst.