It is the spectacular year of the twin celebrations, it is a hallmark of  Melad Meawi and Masarrat al nas al mubarak.

Mumbai has been the epicenter for almost all of the celebrations and events of this year beginning from Ashara Mubarakah.

Currently it is the venue and miqaat for Imtihaan al Sanawi of Al Jamea tus Saifiyah.

This year we will be attaining another huge nemat and rehmat of Allah Subhanahu, the special barakaat of gathering ruhaani imtinaan of Our Maula TUS and His Mansus Aqeequl Yemen, Syedi wa maulaya Mufaddal Bhai Saheb Saifuddin TUS, who is also Amirul Jamea, may Allah grant both our Maula a long life of perpetual futuhaat and  imamiyah shanaat.

In Al jamea tus Saifiyah, al imtihaan is synonymous to al imtinaan, as it is absolutely a hallmark of blessings and munificence of Duat Mutlaqeen AQ, especially of the 52nd Dai al Fatemi Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS who has epitomized al imtihan as the prestigeous miqaat for  expressing devotedly our muhabbat, tafaadi and khidmat, because these are the quintessential of ilm e Ala Mohammed AS.

Amirul muqddas Amirul Jamea, Syedi Yusufbhai saheb Najmuddin AQ once said;

للعبد اْية رقه ان يفدي الـ  * مولى وحجة علمه ان يخدما

Al Imthaan allures thousands of mumineen every year to this institute. Its spirit forms the soul of Jamea. It draws a pattern for the academic and vocational activities and sets the bearings and dimensions for the teaching process and education which is adapted throughout the academic year. Imtihan is an experience where the gathering of mumineen imbibes and avail the values and deep philosophy and understanding of Islam and Fatemi tradition.

 Maulana Taher Saifuddin AQ says:

 وتفتح ابواب العلوم لهم اذا * بدت لهم في الامتحان المسائل  

Imtihan is the embodiment of quality, and focuses in bringing out the best of the best from Anbnaul Jamea, in terms of learning, character building, and well accomplished personality.

وقد تولينا امر الامتحان على احسن الشاكلة 

The best of the characteristics and systems by which jamea imtihaan is conducted is the qudsaani presence of Dai Fatemi in the imtihan which is an experience observed only in Jamea.

 Therefore, it is certainly a surreal experience. Imtihan is a process in this hallowed and renowned Fatemi institute, in which everyone is sharing a common goal, that is, to demonstrate each ones  ability to secure and attain the ridaa ( khushi) and pleasure of our spiritual and shafeeq Bawasaheb  Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS.

 Abnaul jamea are beseeching the waseela of Awliyaullah and pray,

“May Allah endow our Maula Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS a long long life enthroned on the arsh of sehat kameelah and aafiyaat daaemah for the continuation of this Imtihaan and for showering upon mumineen the Imtinaanat qudsaaniyah”.

On the opening ceremony of Jamea in Karachi, Aqa Maula TUS said quite presagingly about the paradigm and ideals of Al Jamea tus Saifiyah.

 لافتح ابواب المعارف كلها * لمن كان دون القشر يرجو المعانيا

This inauguration of Jamea, is the opening of gates of all knowledge and absolute wisdom, for all those who desire the essence, rather than the kernel. 

mfzakir

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Allah has bestowed men with Aql to acquire al Ilm. But he is not able to do that without a teacher or guide who helps him learning. For that Allah has sent his rusul as he states: “We have sent to you a messenger from among you, who recite upon you Our a’ya’t and (give taharat to you , and teaches you the book (Quran) and hikmah, and teaches you which you don’t know”. And he teach him with wahy , and his wasi said that “the al Ilm that Adam A.S was come with is in Mohammad S.A and his Progeny” This kalam of him enlightens that al Ilm came with Adam A.S . Allah has sent them for the purpose of education, and education is life long process, it should have a proper system, by which a student standard raise level by level.

The kitab Alim wal Ghulam is a replica of the above system.

Education is given equally due importance by the people of the world regardless of their faith and believes there has been developed a number of philosophies and pedagogies over the centuries. This thesis aims to emphasize the literary master piece Alim wal Ghulam as a complete pedagogy when confronts to the above systems.Along with this Kitab al A’alim al Gulam owes it own Sunnah Salehsa.

The following are some different concepts and philosophies about education:

Idealism[1] comes from the great Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato, according to this school ideas are the ultimate reality, there for the aim of education is to seek knowledge rather than creating it. Search for truth and character development of the learners are the main goals of it, Where as the teacher is to serve as a guide. Socrates use “Dialectical Method” a process where ideas are put into battle against each other, with the most significant idea winning the battle to sharpen and purify men’s thoughts. Plato followed the path of his teacher Socrates and defined ideas as the only knowledge of “Archetypes”[2] or the “forms” that leads to the virtue since these include ideas such as beauty, justice or goodness which are true realities. Idealist education involves depth of learning, a holistic approach that involves teaching the whole rather than its parts.

Realism: According to the Realists school reality “exists independent of the human mind”[3]. The definitive reality is the world of physical objects. The focal point is the objects where truth is objective-“what can be observed”­­³­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­and it is independent of ideas. The aim of education to enable the learners to explore the world through inquiry hence scientific method is supported as the way to enlighten. Aristotle emphasized on understanding the ultimate and unchanged form before the object itself. For example, a rose exists whether or not a person is aware of it. A rose can exist in the mind without being physically present, but ultimately, the rose shares properties with all other roses and flowers, although one rose may be red and another peach coloured_­³.

Existentialism is the philosophy that places emphasis on individual existence, freedom, and choice. Existentialism stresses the individuality of existence, and the problems that arise with said existence. Because there is so much diversity in the philosophy of existentialism, a concrete definition is hard to put down. Certain themes are common to almost all existential writing, which helps mark the writing as such. The term itself suggests one major theme, the stress on concrete, individual existence, and on subjectivity, individual freedom and choice[4].

Pragmatism or progressivism: John Dewy is the proponent of Pragmatism or progressivism; he seeks inquiry and experiencing as the key to learning. According to Dewy experience is a mean to an end as well as an end in itself[5]. Human experience is the key element to learning, which aims to seek understanding, coordinating environment into whole, teaching through inquiry and promoting personal growth and democracy.

kitab al A’alim al Gulam: Syedna Taher Saifuddin R.A deliberates in this speech: “Abu Qasim R.A, the one sent to Yemen for of zuhur organized the system of spreading al Ilm there, and mentioned some principles of it in the kitab al A’alim al Gulam.”[6]

The Book al-Alim wal-Gulam (The Master and The Disciple) shows a practical aspect of the theoretical aspect of teacher-student educational relationship and communication. Enlightened by this perspective, the teachers and student can follow the fatemi principles of educational communication. As this starts with the question of how should an Alim be thanked that he must be obeyed.

The reflection of this can severally seemed in the book, especially when the A’alim described Gulam the way of spending money in sabil ul Allah, the Gulam immediately present this total possession in front of the A’alim on the other hand A’alim’s compassion can be easily understood by the addressing style of the Alim to Gulam. ‘يابني’ which means my beloved child, and the limit of it can be assumed, that the Gulam called him ‘father’.

This divine method of teaching and seeking Al Ilm (knowledge) helps a learner to apply much of he/she has been taught as it becomes habitual to him/her, this theory is also known as simple non-associative learning.

So the aim of this methodology in Fatemi literature is to lead the learner toward the achievement of highest peak of al Ilm and it is impossible unless through proper channel as Allah almighty has created them, from level to level until he reaches his final destiny of being with the ‘insan e mutlaq’[7].

To conclude- the code of success in educational development is not the “text book” but is the relationship and communication between student and teacher. Hudaat Kiram S.A have set us such criteria which develops the holistic personality of a student not academically but socially and personally and religiously.

May Allah bless Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin a long and healthy life, till the Day of Judgment. Ameen

References:

1.      al Quran al Karim

2.      Kitab ul A’alim wal Gulam

3.      al Khotobat al Munirah

4.       Doll, C. R. (1986). Curriculum development (5^th ed.). Sydney: Prentice Hall

5.       The Republic. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.idph.net/conteudos/ebooks/republic.pdf

6.       Cohen, L. M. N. School of thought. Retrieved from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP2.html

7.        Metallica. (1997). My little corner of existentialism. Retrieved from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP2.html

8.        Dewey, J. (1938/1997). Experience and education. Macmillan

Footnotes:

[1] Doll, C. R. (1986). Curriculum development (5^th ed.). Sydney: Prentice Hall

[2] The Republic. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.idph.net/conteudos/ebooks/republic.pdf

[3] Cohen, L. M. N. School of thought. Retrieved from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP2.html

[4] Metallica. (1997). My little corner of existentialism. Retrieved from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP2.html

[5] Dewey, J. (1938/1997). Experience and education. Macmillan.

[6] Al Khotobat al Munirah, 1380, al Jamea tus Saifiyah

[7] The term has been driven from Ikhwan-us- Safa reflected as a complete human being which according to Fatemi perspective is Imam-uz- Zaman

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There was “Taare Zameen Par” and ’3 Idiots” by Amir highlighting the plight of students in our current educational system where talent is given less priority and students are rather HR products for capitalists, as John Gatto puts up in some of his speeches about the American educational system. Then there was the movie, “Paathshala” in which Nanapatekar was supposed to play a more better role then he did while the message was against private educational gimmicks that has turned education into a profitable industry, in the name of professionalism and commercialism. In either case the teachers are never the ones who get a bigger pie nor are they satisfied with their job.

“Do Dooni Chaar”, another such movie highlighting the lives of middle class families of India, including within it, the economical status of teachers in our society who produce highly paid officials and professionals but are themselves regarded as low class,  economic untouchables and are at plight if they try to live with decency. Rishi Kapoor has played an excellent role after so many years of acting.

Rishi Kapoor, playing a working-class loser who for the  first time in his career pitches in a near-flawless performance as a  maths teacher whose students  have gone on to own the best cars  in the world while he, the gyan guru,  remains frozen in his middle class karma. The movie has a practical illustration of an honest but frustrated teacher who would turn to selling marks for money, which does show the reality in some of our schools in real life. The reality is brought forward very cleverly. The movie careens towards a scathing comment on  the road taken by the underpaid teaching fraternity of the country, while the protagonist up the road of corruption is pulled back from temptation just in time.

The character sketch of both the middle class teacher and his wife Neetu Singh is done brilliantly, and there are some lessons to be learned by parents as well, as the math teacher declares his fault for not providing enough time for his kids while thinking that paying for a child’s fee at private school would suffice. The punishment or rather disciplinary action of Santosh (played by Rishi Kapoor) to his son, of distributing all the money to the poor, was just an exemplary lesson for parents.

The one thing that is prone to criticism is the huge amount of money given to the teacher for private tuition. Though the mithaiwala’s intent was to help the sincere teacher by offering him a handsome amount to create a ‘Good Man’ of his grandson but today the term tuition has also turned into a nuisance. Under-paid and desperate teachers have also turned it into a channel of extra income. Though one would not call it a corrupt practice but at times it results into the child being forced into extra classes for passing just so that the teacher could have a better life worth living.

On a level that goes beyond entertainment ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ is actually a timely warning to the architects of the country’s education system. The film says…don’t let the guru become a shishya of compromised idealism. Pay the teacher well, and start showing respect to them, else the product would indeed have its defects, as Kapoor explained, that, he would be remembered as corrupt person who taught that money could buy anything rather then a gyan guru.

Do Dooni Chaar, the title says it all, suggesting not only that the protagonist is a mathematician but also that he is constantly trying to count the ways to make his family’s life comfortable. The message is simple and clear.

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The writer brought back a memory of a nice photo I had cut from the News Paper a few years back which clearly depicts that a child would never prefer to be a teacher nor take teaching as a profession. Someone did tell the truth when he said that teaching is the profession of losers, and that teaching is taken up by those who dare not earn in another profession.  I also remember a lady who had completed Engineering and had applied for a teacher’s job. When asked the reason she replied that she did not find a job in engineering. A wonderful phrase is put forward by Bhaskaran in this article for today’s teacher, “economic untouchable“. The class or school is certainly not a place for biases for both the teacher or the parent who are responsible for the child, they like the fact or not. The school, however, today has become a commercial super mall where display pieces are held high for the prospective customers who walk in as window shoppers. Education has become a synonym for business and schools and universities just breading grounds for the hungry industries owned by capitalists who create career trends in the form of job opportunities. A concept well explained by John Taylor Gatto. Movie buffs would prefer the “3 Idiots” of Amir Khan.

The relation of the master and disciple or apprentice is truly a  divine and heavenly one which has lost its true charm just like most of the things that have lost divinity and spiritual worth in today’s capitalistic world and mindset of the society. I met my teacher who had taught me Arabic and Quran during my early age a few months back. He was truly torn down my the society and I dare call him poor for he holds a very high stature in my heart. I could see the feeling of loosing on his face, as if he was ashamed from my presence. I reminded him about how he I had recited Surat al-Mutafifeen to him by heart and also reminded him of his caning. I could see his face fall as I asserted how tall he stood before me and how thankful I was to him for the discipline he had induced in me. I ever wish I could have done something that day to be a grateful student.

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While studying theology and the philosophy of Islam one would run into the words of Amirul Mumineen Maulana Ali (AS) a devoted disciple of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (SAW) who was enlightened by wahye from Allah Subhanahu. Indeed, Amirul Mumineen was a master of paralinguistic subjects and the art of subjugating the minds of men, which he displayed in his art of warfare. A warrior he was and a master of swordsmanship. History is packed with the heroic victories of Amirul Mumineen (AS) , that led the armies of Rasulallah (SAW) before the battle was even won.

The art of suggestion was what had won these battles, if we were to study the battles from a view point of this subject, apart from being a “moayyad minallah” – helped by Allah, his aura of victory defeated his opponents. To cite a few examples, in Khandaq when Amirul Mumineen (AS) was sent by Rasulallah (SAW) to battle with Amr ibn Abd Wad, Rasulallah (SAW) exclaimed, برز الايمان كله الى الكفر كله, Ali (AS), faith embodied, has entered into war against Amr (who is a non-believer from head to toe). The suggestive sentence was not only in true praise of Ali (AS) but a blow on all those who has waged war on Madina. Then when Amirul Mumineen (AS) answered Amr, he repeated the fact about himself, and declared that he was willful and a visionary. He insisted that truth will prevail. These paraliminal suggestions weakened Amr and he was dead before the battle had even started.

Another example is the battle of Khaybar when Amirul Mumineen (AS) was described by Rasulallah (SAW) as a winner who would fight until he won but never leave the battlefield. While Ali (AS) on the other side pierced a spear in rock right before the fortress where the opponents could see. On seeing this an onlooker from the fortress inquired about the brave warrior and  exclaimed that they had already lost the battle.

The words of Rasulallah (SAW) نصرت بالرعب مصيرة شهر describe the psychological imprints that were laid on the minds of the Mushrikeen who came face to face with his victorious army in the battlefield.

This mastery of suggestive imprints is not limited to the battlefield but is clearly seen in all his instructions be it related to personal effects from eating habits to sleep and medication to the social lives of Muslims.

Amirul Mumineen’s (AS) words have always been the center of philosophical studies in Islam and have explanations to broader subjects since they are derived from the root of Wahye, The Quran. He says:

دوائك فيك وما تبـصر        ودائك منك وما تشعر

وانت الكتاب المبين الذي      بأحرفه يظهر المـضمر

اتحسب انك جرم صغير        وفيك انطوى العام الاكبر

Your medication is inside your own self and your disease is from within. You are the clear book that reveals the untold. While you might think that you are just a small particle but within you lies the entire universe.

Such wonderful words to explain the entire theory of people like Deepak Chopra who said in his “Secret of Enlightenment” that when one looks at the world it is the universe looking at itself through his eyes. These three stanzas of beautiful poetry explain the theory of quantum communication which suggests that each neuron and proton in the universe is communicating with each other. we might not even know but we are in continuous communication on a quantum level with the entire universe which is in fact within and internal rather that apart from us. The law of attraction is what these three stanzas explain in its depth. Facts and theories of healers using Reiki and what not are based on this theory put forward by Amirul Mumineen (AS). The masters of hypnosis and suggestive neuro linguistic programing, the yogis and gurus of meditation have understood the deeper meaning of these wonderful words of the disciple of Rasulallah (SAW).

I recently came across 2 anecdotes in a book called  اللطائف والظرائف which led reduce my thoughts to words and preserve them. The humorous stories of the past. In one of them it was mentioned that Nabiullah Eisa (AS) passed by a yogi who was engrossed in meditation and prayers under the heat of the sun. Upon his Nabi (AS) inquiry of why he would not carry ibadat under the shade he was told that another passerby Nabi before him had prophesied the age of the yogi as 500 years and he did not want to waste time building a shade for himself. To this Nabiullah Eisa (AS) exclaimed that what would the yogi do if he were to be during the era of Rasulallah whose ummat would live between 50 and 60 years of age. The Yogi was prompt in reply and insisted that he would spend such a small life in one sujud (prostration) itself. Indeed, Eisa (AS) was astonished by such a height of will.

Another anecdote is that a group of mischievous learners surrounded their teacher and started to exclaim that the master was ill. Each of them suggested in different words that he should rest, take a leave and visit the doctor. The suggestive words of the boys soon had its toll on the master who started to feel dizzy and weak, until he asked them to take him home. The mischief mongers on their return from his home recited the above stanzas of poetry that illness is from within rather than from an external source.

On reading these words of immense knowledge I recalled my long study of the subject of which I am no master nor a practitioner rather an interested learner and reader.

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This relationship when groomed – elevates the intellectual abilities of a student, and when neglected by a teacher – freezes the growth of capabilities and skills which resulting a waste of talent and carelessness of a teacher.

Where as a good and healthy relationship is defined through policies and principles of teaching and studying portrayed by Awlia-ullah Kiram S.A and Duat Kiram R.A in their ways of teaching and guidance. The Book Al-Alim wal-Gulam (The Master and The Disciple) is a master piece of projecting a way of learning, studying, educating and teaching with full application of the Ilm (knowledge) practically which needs to be full filled for conceiving the knowledge as a whole.

But there haven’t been any discussion about it done till now.

So this paper aims to take part in that discussion through a new aspect, that is in a Fatemi perspective in the light of kitab Al-Alim wal Gulam.

According to Pianta, positive student-teacher relationships are characterized by open communication, as well as emotional and academic support that exist between students and teachers (Pianta 1999). A positive relationship starts with a comforting reception from a teacher to a student from day one. The teacher needs to acknowledge the activities performed by students of any level and encourage them which then bond a positive relationship. The student needs to approach with full respect and honor for the teacher and consult in any queries occurring in academic activities and the communication between the student and the teacher serves as a connection between the two, which provides a better atmosphere for a classroom environment (www.csun.edu n.d.). The environment develops the growth of a student gradually in developing a personality, characteristics and manners. The student adapts the style of communication transmitted by the Teacher.

Ikhwan al Safa elaborates the pattern of the positive teacher-student relationship and communication that the teacher should use mercy, leniency, forgiveness, pity, compassion and kindness with the student, while student must also show respect for him (Iman Ahmed al Mastur n.d.).

Syedna Taher Saifuddin R.A and Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin T.U.S have strictly prohibited beating students on their mistakes, but to build a Father-Son like relationship that the student does not respond rebelliously.  As we know that the knowledge cannot be forced upon, therefore the bondage between the teacher and student plays a vital role in educational development.

The emphasize has always been upon the communication and relationship between teacher and student socially, academically and personally.

The Book Al-Alim wal-Gulam (The Master and The Disciple) shows a practical aspect of the theoretical aspect of teacher-student communication in the perspective, that how teachers and student can follow these fatemi principles of educational   communication. As the start with the question of how should an Alim be thanked that he must be obeyed.

The reflection of this can be seen in the book several times, especially when the Alim described the Gulam (Youthful) the way of spending money in sabil ul Allah, the Gulam immediately presented his total possession to the Alim, on the other hand Alim’s compassion can be easily  understood by the addressing style of the Alim to Gulam. By ‘يابني’ which means my beloved child, and the limit of it can be assumed, that the Gulam called him ‘father’ (Alim wal Gulam n.d.).

To conclude, the code of success in educational development is not the “text book” rather the relationship and communication between the student and the teacher. Hudaat Kiram S.A have set such criteria which develop the holistic personality of a student not academically but socially, personally and religiously.

May Allah bless Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin with a healthy and prosperous life for many many long years to come.  Ameen.

Bibliography

Alim wal Gulam.

Foorming Positive Student-Teacher Relationships. http//www.cedu.niu.edu/`shumow/itt/studentTchrrelationship.pdf.

Iman Ahmed al Mastur. Ikhwan al safa.

Phelan, Patrica, Ann Davidson, Hanh Locke, and Cao Thanh . “Speaking up:student’s perspectives on school.” Phi Delta Kappan 73.9, 1992: 695-704.

Pianta, Robert C. “Enhancing Relationships Between Children and Teachers.” American Psycological Assn, 1999.

“www.csun.edu.” http//www.csun.edu/~acc50786/education.html.

–

The Author is a Student of Al Jamea Tus Saifiyah, Karachi.

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It has been many years since then and recently I had to visit one of the very nice Schools in Sharjah where getting an admission is as difficult as a dream and reality. However, the principal of the School who is the owner himself and admired by many people for his devotion towards education, happened to be in touch with me for some reason. A School teacher asked me to accompany him to visit the Principal for the admission of his daughter. I willingly agreed and introduced him to the principal as a teacher. The principal exclaimed I have seen the papers written by your child. When asked what she would do with a million Dirhams, she has written that she would help her parents first and then others who are under privileged. The principal then exclaimed that “the children on teachers are the children of God”.

The school admitted the girl with priority and she was in one of the best schools with a low fee that the teacher could afford.

Teachers are not looser, they beget winners and champions. They are roots of our society. Yet in every part of the world they are the most under paid work force looking at the scope and importance of work. A few years back someone told me about a few teachers that they were a bunch of losers. I kept thinking why was that so. The reason was the person like him. He did not care for the person who cared for his child and nurtured him with knowledge. The teacher was not a loser rather the parent was.

Just because the teacher was under paid and sought other means to meets his ends does not make him so. Rather the parent was a loser who did not teach his child to respect his second parent just for a petty reason of not making enough money.

We are the losers when we pay low wages to teachers. The reason of the underpay is us, not being able to afford the high standard of the person who shapes are society and dump them into low grade work force category. It is we who are bent down by the weight of their generosity.

I have read in history several times that our culture has the highest stature for Gurus and the Kings and Emperors would bow to them in respect. Have we forgotten our culture and heritage.

A teacher is not a teacher, he is an actor who entertains, a farmer who sows and reaps, an engineer who builds character, a doctor who cures doubts and questions, a consultant who shows profitable ways of living and growing, an artist who draws and shapes the mind and thought, a couch and guide.

As I write this article I applaud all the teachers today on the 5th of October, being ‘The World Teachers Day“. A profession which is worth living, even for a day. My stand as a teenager seems fair enough even today. For the love and respect to all teachers in the world a single sentence would suffice, “You are not in the wrong profession, never were and never will be and the perspective of other people does not matter”.

Teachers Appreciation week is from May 2nd – May 6th, with teacher’s appreciation day being on Tuesday May 3rd, show your affection to your teachers and teach your children to do the same.

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It was first the US who seeded and fed the Taliban against the Russians and now they reign in the territory. If we look at the picture closely we might see that education has a very deep impact on the whole situation. The word Taliban literally means “Students”. These student were brainwashed and emotionally aroused in the name of religion. One might even call it emotional attyachar. Its very easy to get hold of the human mind when you can create sentiments that ping the deep rooted faith of people. Islam was the key to the door here. Islam does not preach violence. There are several mentions of Jihad in the Quran but those are in self protection. Where not only the existence of the faith is in threat but also the faithful himself and that too under extreme circumstances of physical torture itself. Apart  from that rules are in place that make is a Jihad. A simple example is the difference between cross border firing by troops and declaration of war by a country which can only be done by the highest authority which is not self proclaimed.

Back to the topic, the Taliban induced negative thoughts into young minds and created illusions through the logic called little knowledge is a dangerous thing. They provoked religious sentiments and declared an unlawful war on what they thought to be their enemy. Islam became a tool to create intolerance. I would like to point out that in Mahabharat, Krishana preaches Arjun the righteousness of pulling the weapon against the unjust and tyranny. But it was in a lawful war situation. If someone just pickup a gun today and shoots an X person for his wrong doings following the instructions of Gita he would be held a criminal. Islam similarly does not approve the wrong doings of certain people against the faith but neither does it approve the such an unlawful self proclaimed war which by no means can be translated to Jihad. Rather terrorism.

Education was used to induce misconceptions into young minds and an army of a generation was created called Taliban. Everywhere, even in India and places like Kashmir where India flexes its military muscles to protect innocent people, why does the government not invest even a minute percentage of that money to educate people there.

If the Taliban were created out of education in the wrong way why not treat that problem with a similar cause. Educate and induce tolerance. If they used Islam in the wrong direction, use its actual values to create the path of light.

The army may be needed to protect the lives of people but the might of education is far reaching and having deep impacts in creating harmony, developing clearer minds, spreading tolerance and a growing nation.

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The major role in it is may be played by the current educational system and curriculum designing. It is hard to specify its clauses and to invent  a perfect way for it, but one thing is surely needed in both educational system and curriculum designing, that is based on applications and mainly limitations that his/her cognitive skills can develop. so ‘What is really important to learn are the numerous skills that enable us to conceptually address the world and solve our problems .how ever acquiring cognitive skills in isolation lacks meaning to the learners make hence the academic discipline form the content base for the cognitive processes conception in that some framework or structure is required to make sense out of the content taught acquiring cognitive skills’ (Print 1993, p.49)².

As it can be observed commonly in the natural nurturing system of a child; that a child starts his or her diet with the mother’s milk and with lots of care and day by day he/her becomes stronger to taker diet which he/her can now digest. Similarly the knowledge ilm is, as ‘It is no reflection upon the nutritive quality of beef steak that is not fed to infants. It is not an invidious reflection upon trigonometry that we do not teach in the first or fifth grade of school. It is not the subject perse that is educative or that is conducive to growth. There is no subject that is in or of itself or without regard to the stage of growth attained by the learner, such that inherent educational value can be attributed to it. Failure to take in to account adaptation to the needs and capacities of individual was the source of the idea that certain subjects and certain methods are interracially cultural or interracially good for mental discipline. There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract the notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts and truths pauses educational value in and of themselves in the reason why  traditional education  reduced the material of education so largely to a diet of pre-digested materials. According to this notion it was enough to regulate the quantity and difficult of the material provided, in a scheme of quantitative grading, from month to month and from year to year.³’

If one will try to rebel this system will surely have to pay for it. Like a child eats meats before his digestive system can accept it that will without any doubt disturb his/her digestive system. But he should be given the best diet he can digest, which contains all the nutrition. Similarly a seeker of education is in his/her starting period, regardless of his/her physical age is like a child in the mother’s womb. Therefore it is necessary that he/she should be taught step by step according to his ability to perceive. The Fatemi theory has been descried briefly by syedna Qadi Noman (q.r) in his books of tawil ud da’aim and assas u tawil .

According to the Fatemi daw at it is necessary that the learner is given as his istehqaq , nor more, neither less, which is meant by muraa’t ul hudud. As Allah almighty states in Quran:    و يؤت ذي كل فضل فضله(al insheqaq ;verse:19)

As it is an Arabic saying that الحصة بقدر الجثة   that is the Fatemi perspective for muraa’t ul hudud which enriches Fatemi literature.

This book kitab ul aa’lim wal gulam is a great example of it, which describes the way of bayan in Fatemi literature, as the aa’lim states: al ’ilm can not accomplish its dept but by an introduction of ilm which is before al ilm which is nearer to mind and easy to understnsd so that it can be remember by once mind and it becomes easy to apply and becomes east 4 uqul to achieve the peak of that ilm (pg 14). And for that put some hudud on the gulam that ‘First is of all is that you will stand upon the zahir of kitab (Quran) and Shariah and upon what you have been taught…and will not revile or waste what I tell you, and if I ask you anything you will not hide it from me, and you will not seek me before I teach you and you will not question me before I begin (pg 22-25)’

By this, the a’alim cleared to the gulam that if he want to learn then he will have to do mura,at hudud.

This divine method of teaching and seeking Al Ilm (knowledge) helps a learner to apply much of they have been taught as it becomes habitual to him/her , this theory is also known as simple non-associative learning.

So the aim of this in Fatemi literature is to lead toward the highest peak of ilm and this is not possible but through proper channel as Allah almighty has created them. As he states in Quran: طبقا عن طبق, until he reaches his final destiny of being with the ‘insane e mutlaq’ called by ikhwan us safa, the book on which Fatemi literature and believes based on, as that destiny is stated by Allah as فانشأناه خلقا اخر فتبارك الله احسن الخالقين   (al nor; verse: 3).

May Allah bless syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin a long and healthy life till the day of judgement.

—-
Published in the Rabiul Akhar 1431 Issue of Badre Muneer. The Author is a Student of Al Jamea Tus Saifiyah, Karachi.

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Education in India has also come a long way with the literacy rate going up and the public becoming more and more aware of their surroundings. The news that India unveils $30 laptop is just over whelming and will not only make a difference to the student sector but will also have huge impact on the way the Indian markets and the businesses operate. There has been a significant change in the technology sector in India then that before 10 years and the dream of Rajiv Ghandi of handing over computers to every person might seem to be coming true. With the Nano laptop which I might prefer to call it for its low price things are really going to rock. As for the services that would be needed to compliment this Nano laptop, such as the Internet, I think India has already achieved a major break through in the sector. At some places in Indi, such as Chhattisgarh, a broadband connection with unlimited bandwidth and a complimentary land line phone with a speed to 256kbps costs less then 5 USD per month. While a 3G usb connection with unlimited bandwidth and a speed of 128 kbps cost only 7 USD a month even while roaming all over India. Such a huge leap of Indian economics and a large consumer base is a business venue that anyone would want to wet their feet in.

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