ON EDUCATION by Abdul Wahid Osman Belal
Unfortunately there still exists a breed of individuals about whom Macaulay said: We must do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions we govern; a class of persons, Indians in blood and color, but English in taste, opinions, words and intellect.
Education, according to another Englishman, John Ruskin, does not mean teaching people what they do not know.
It means teaching them to behave as they do not behave. It is not teaching the youth the shapes of letters and the tricks of numbers and then leaving them to turn their arithmetic to roguery, and their literature to lust. It means on the contrary, training them into the perfect exercise and kindly continence of their bodies and souls. It is a painful, continual and difficult work to be done by kindness, by watching, by warning, by precept and by praise, but above all- by example.
Now that claims of Islamisation are being made it would be appropriate to remind all concerned that: One of the best methods of education was suggested by ar-Rashid to Khalaf b. Ahmar, the teacher of his son
al-Amin, Khalaf b. Ahmar said:
Ar-Rashid told me to come and educate his son al-Amin, and he said to me: O Ahmar, the commander of the faithful is entrusting his son to you, the life of his soul and the fruit of his heart. Take firm hold of him and make him obey you. Occupy in relation to him the place that the Commander of the Faithful has given you. Teach him to read the Quran. Instruct him in history. Let him transmit poems and teach him the Sunnah of the Prophet. Give him insight into the proper occasions for speech and how to begin (a speech). Forbid him to laugh, save at times when it is proper, accustom him to honor his relatives when they come, and the military leaders places of honor when they come to his salon. Let no hour
pass, in which you do not seize the opportunity to teach him something useful. But do so without vexing him, which would kill his mind. Do not always be too lenient with him, or he will get to like leisure and become used to it. As much as possible, correct him kindly and gently. If he does not want it that way, you must then use severity and harshness.(THE MUQADDIMAH An Introduction to History by Ibn Khaldun- Pg:425)
ABDUL WAHID OSMAN BELAL
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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