Teachers’ Perspectives in the Quran – 06 (II)

In the name of Allah the Gracious the Merciful

Teachers’ Perspectives in Surah Al-Jumu’a: 2

هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الأمِّيِّينَ رَسُولا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِنْ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍ o

He it is Who has raised a Messenger among the gentiles from among themselves, who recites to them His Revelations, purifies them and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom, whereas before this they were indeed lost in manifest error.

Contd…

Assessment is a two way process. One, students should sincerely evaluate and introspect their performances. Learn more about their strengths and weaknesses. Chalk out their own plan to maximize the strengths and annihilate the weaknesses. Move ahead with tons of confidence to fair better next time. Second wing of the process is related to a teacher. A teacher’s revision methodology should include element of fair assessment. The resultant outcome, for sure, empowers the students with the techniques of maximizing the strengths and practical ways of eradicating their weaknesses. It also helps in realizing the positive and negative outcomes and guide the students accordingly.

• The second aspect for students’ upliftment is their soundness of morality. The knowledge and idea about morality is inbuilt in human consciousness. Therefore any move or progress, no matter individual or collective, will be judged in accordance with the moral values it contains.

Students’ moral development: In view of the following three fronts strive for overall development of the students from ethical perspective.

(1) Cultivate Love of the Almighty Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ): The epitome of all the goodness is the love of Almighty Allah. The heart filled with His love ultimately results in fear, either for losing it or not retaining it. Therefore in order to promote fear of Allah, cultivate first His Love, everything follows thereafter. For both love and fear of the Almighty Allah, the knowledge about His Being, His Creations, His Powers and Authorities is pivotal. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: Love Allah as we benefit from His blessings (Tirmidhi).

Love for the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is the ultimate outcome of Allah’s love as the Quran says:

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(O Messenger!) Tell people: ‘If you indeed love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you and will forgive you your sins. Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate. (Surah Aal-e-Imran: 31)

Try and assess to know how exactly Allah’s love and fear results in cultivation of moral values? If you go through Quran, the following moral values appear as the ultimate result of either Allah’s Love or His fear:

• Charity = Allah’s Love (Ref: Surah Ad-Dahr: 8).
• Forsaking bed and standing in the night = Allah’s Fear (Ref: Surah Haam Meem As-Sajdah: 16)
• Selfless social service = Allah’s Love (Ref: Surah Ad-Dahr: 9).
• Complete submission = Allah’s Fear (Ref: Surah Al-Anfal: 2)

Likewise you can explore many more facets of Allah’s love and fear giving rise to impeccable moral values. It would be an interesting exploration to go through the pages of Quran and identify all those values which are upshot of either Love or Fear of the Merciful Lord.

You know the Love of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) acts as a catalyst in materializing these outcomes. You can say following the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) help us realize what actually we have achieved out of Allah’s love and fear. Therefore favors of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) on us are immense. He guided and showed the ways and means to nourish all those values. For standing in the night he (ﷺ) said: “If a man wakes his wife and prays during the night or they pray together two rak’ah, they will be recorded among those (men and women) who (constantly) make remembrance of Allah” (Abu Dawud).

In fact you can find a whole chapter in Sahih Bukhari about prayers at night (کتاب التھجد) wherein the etiquette and virtues have been described from various perspectives.

Similarly you can find Prophetic teachings regarding all the values mentioned above or like patience, taqwa, gratitude, trust, repentance, forgiveness and all the good manners.

(2) Teach Good Manners: Give an organic concept of morality. It is not something shallow, but what comes from within pure self is morality. Tell your students that good manners reflect their persona. Good characters reveal far reaching impacts of teaching. When they are in classroom or at playing ground, their attitude towards the game and with the fellow students reflects their characters. Be a keen observer. Guide them according to positive and negative attitudes. The good manners can be regarded as the outcome of teachings. Not only through tests and marks cards, but the criteria of judging a student’s credibility has to be his or her moral standards.

Since we believe in the process of education comprises of a balanced approach towards academic and moral development. Therefore set a trend in your school to achieve desirable moral standards of your students. Prepare your own set of good manners for the students, in view of their conditions, and let them know the charter of etiquette for…..:

• • Being in a classroom
  • In the play ground
  • Leisure time
  • During starting and ending hours of the school
  • After the school hours.
  • Study methodology
  • Friendship

(3) Develop sense of responsibility: The third and final aspect of students’ upliftment is about an important rule. That every students principally and morally responsible for his or her self-development. In the sense inclination for outside efforts of training should remain open. If a student is not receptive for the outside efforts of a teacher then no one in the world can help in the development. So cultivate sense of responsibility and accountability. Let them know that Almighty Allah has given a criterion to judge between right and wrong. It enables them to ensure all efforts meant for grooming and training. The necessary skills that help students become responsible and behave sensibly include:

• • Cognitive skills
  • Self-belief (self-control, optimism etc)
  • Realistic approach (for both acceptance and rejection)
  • Being true to the self (honesty)
  • Determination
  • Similarity between words and actions

Develop chasing spirit

The focus on students to promote chasing spirit is one of the prioritized elements of your learning and teaching practices. If you want your students to follow the instructions and advisories, that chasing spirit is imperative. But for them to be your ardent followers, as a teacher you need to qualify following two important prerequisites:

• Be a role model: What we mean by a role model is your complete persona. Absolutely no disparity between words and actions. That remains same, vibrant and lively, regardless of the ups and downs and mood swings. When students are subjected to such a persona as their teacher, without any uninterrupted inclination they totally rely on him / her. In such a case, teachers’ gestures speak louder than the words. Adopt the following qualities to be a role model for your students:
  • Strong attachment with the Almighty Allah
  • Adherence to Prophet’s Sunnah
  • Purity of thoughts
  • Always sensible and dignified
  • Respect for the students
  • Regarding students as spiritual children
  • Personal help (in case of psychological or financial issues)
• Demonstrate what you demand: Being in and off the classroom what we worry about our students is their performance, in time and as expected. We know what generally students are and how they tend to respond to our orders. Whether about doing any exercise in the class or completing homework at home. The most pragmatic way to develop this sense of follow up is to tell them the ways you are adopting to accomplish your entrusted tasks. As a teacher let them know how do you approach for understanding the subjects? What sorts of efforts you apply to prepare a lesson plan. Have a casual consultation with them to know their understanding about lesson preparation. The following set of rules will help you fit into the frame of a balanced personality:
  • Realistic approach
  • Avoid over expectations
  • Help students fulfill your demands
  • Maintain regularity in teaching and assessing their performance.

Students’ Tazkiya: Be a Mentor

Teachers’ prime responsibility includes raising the standards of students. Right from their admission to the school from the day they leave. Every day provides opportunities for teachers to mold their students to be embodiment of truth, justice, sincerity coupled with academic excellence. The net contribution towards country and the countrymen is possible only with such students whose academic performance synchronizes with high moral values.

As you know, Tazkiya or personality development is a dual process. It includes both purification and nourishment. Ensure correct measures of the students. Assess their strengths and weaknesses, plan for their individual and collective developments. Be clear about the methodology. When and in what circumstances you will be focusing on individuals and when the group as a whole will occupy your prime attention? For an effective Tazkiya process, strategic planning is of prime importance. The following chart gives you an idea about things to be included in students’ academic and moral development. You may alter or add things in view of prevailing individual or collective circumstances.

Sl No	Academic Development	Moral Development
01	Importance of knowledge	Patience
02	Objectives of knowledge	Time management
03	Conceptual understanding	Social skills
04	Cognitive skills	Decision making
05	Critical thinking	Team work
06	Creative approach	Positive approach
07	Application of knowledge	Steadfastness

Quranic studies plan for the Teachers

The importance of Quranic applications is quite evident. There is a gamut of teachings that provide guidelines for all your pedagogical needs. The influence of Quranic teachings is far beyond the powers, duties and responsibilities of teachers. It depends on how teachers perceive the entrusted responsibility and in what way they seek guidelines from the Quran? One thing is for sure; merely relying on time being moral lectures for students does not make them “students of our dreams”. For ever ready and genius students, teachers need to have Quranic outlook. Here is prescribed syllabus for you. Only guidelines are being provided for you to ensure systematic Quranic studies.

(1) Basic Creeds: Oneness of God (Tauheed), Prophethood (Risalath) and Life Hereafter (Aakhirah) (2) Beautiful Attributes of Allah (3) Quranic concept of knowledge (4) Concept of man, duties and responsibilities (5) Training methodology of the Prophets (6) The Prophetic way of Training (7) Taqwa – Piety (8) Wisdom, concept and implications (9) The admonitions of Hazrath Luqman (AS) (10) Concept of patience, gratitude and trust (11) The concept of guidance and ignorance (12) Purification of self (13) Repentance and forgiveness (14) Bad manners (15) Reasons for ignorance and misguidance (16) Good manners.

Please note the following:

• • Select appropriate Quranic verses for each of the above topics.
  • Recite Quran regularly.
  • Follow your recitation with reflection and implementation.
  • Maintain notes for both outcome of reflections and implementations.
  • Ensure organized study on the above subjects.
  • Contact us for any assistance or guidance for your study outcomes.

Practical ways of teaching wisdom:

We have dealt with this topic earlier than this follow up. The short summary of that comprises of practical tips on the following aspects:

Sl No	Practical ways for cultivation of Wisdom
01	Knowledge
02	Realization
03	Experience
04	Expression of thoughts
05	Judgement
06	Punctuality
07	Wise thinking
08	Soundness of actions

A teacher should put in organized efforts to ensure cultivation of wisdom in the students. (Please refer Follow up 05)

© Muhammad Abdullah Javed

ITQAN: Institute of Training for Quranic Applications

19-07-2020

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