Plans are afoot to develop Bareilly’s Jamiatur Raza seminary located in CB Ganj into an Arabic-Persian University and if all goes well, this Madrasa will become a University by 2014. Efforts in this direction are already under way under the patronage of Maulana Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari Mian. A 100-page proposal has been prepared by the authorities of Imam Ahmad Raza Trust’s secretary Maulana Asjud Raza Khan and member Maulana Shahabuddin. It will soon be sent to chief minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav. On the other side, Madrasa administration is making all preparations to bring this Madrasa upto University standard at the earliest. Maulana Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari set up Madrasa Jamiatur Raza in 2000 in the city’s CB Ganj area with the ultimate objective of imparting all types of education.

The Madrasa was opened in 2003 with 250 students and today there are about one thousand students from all over the country. Education upto the level of Tahtania, Fauqania and Aalia as approved by Madrasa Education Board is imparted in this Madrasa and at the same time CBSE standard’s English course is also taught. In additin to this, courses approved or recognised by NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) are also taught. Master and PhD level courses in association with a foreign university are also taught here.

Built on 150-bigha land, this Madrasa has two buildings of 65000 and 49000 sq ft and for university purpose, another building of 30,000 sq ft is under construction. There is a proposal to increase the area of the Madrasa to 250 bighas. There is also a computer lab in which professional education is imparted. According to the Trust’s member Maulana Shahabuddin, the plan of developing the Madrasa upto the level of Arabic-Persian university level has been brought to the attention of the state government and because of its favourable reaction, it is hoped that the proposed Arabic-Persian University will soon become a reality.

Along with Islamic education, students will get the opportunity of taking up professional courses. For this purpose, this Madrasa will be affiliated to a modern university like Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Hamdard or Osmania University of Hyderabad. At the same time it will also be associated with Cairo’s Al Azhar University, Saudi Arabia’s Madinah University and Iran’s Qum University so that graduates could get the opportunity of doing professional courses and also doing PhD in Islamic topics.