What's There in a Name?

This quotation is from Shakespeare and in some situations it is true, that is, the name is immaterial. In some situations it not true and the name matters.

And this should be reminder to us to the effect that western thoughts and ideas may or may not be useful. Any time you come across a gem from them it is better to check it with the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Coming to the main point. We begin with a quote from Yawar Baig (h/t brother Afriqi Haq) :

They became and created super specialists in the religious texts with no attempt to look at their application to fast changing external realities of society. And they also started preparing ‘priests’; students whose role was seen as being confined to Imaamat in masaajid and teaching in Madaaris. Interestingly, they even called the Ja’amia Islamia, a ‘Seminary’ and its Nazim or Muhtamim, ‘The Rector’. It is tragic to note that no attempt was made at least to be distinct from Christian Religious institutions in nomenclature.

Yours truly does not agree with Mr Baig. Yours truly has been using Seminary for Madarsa and Rector for the Muhtamim. More than that yours truly has been using Monastery for Khanqah. And there is no intention to imitate the Christians. The intention is to communicate to the English speaking people the tenets of Islam. A more careful approach will be to use Islamic Seminary and Islamic Monastery for a Madarsa and a Khanqah but that will only be pedantic. Those who indulge in criticism will continue to do so and it is difficult to mitigate them.