Teaching staff

Teacher’s role in an educational institution is pivotal. The standard of a deeni Madrassa and the worth of its endproduct i.e. the student is determined by the quality of its teaching staff. The problem is that the teacher is himself the outcome of the same system which he has been chosen to serve for. He and the head of the seminary may claim to be scholars of the Holy Quran and Hadith which are taught to the students along with other related subjects but that does not really serve the the spirit of the commadment that enjoins upon all men and women to get educated as a mark of duty. Knowledge of the Holy Quran is not acquired for its own sake? Undoubtedly, the knowledge is meant to order life of a faithful in accordance with its teachings. The real aim of such teaching is its application to real life situations. What makes one aware of the problems of life is the knowledge of the subjects of pure sciences, social sciences like Philosophy, Psychology, History, Economics etc. Unless the teaching staff is equipped with the  knowledge of these general subjects to gain insight into the human nature he cannot teach their practical application to real life situations. Unless he understands the complications of the human nature he is unable to relate them to the message of the Holy Quran. Presently the teacher of a Deeni Madrassa is half educated which is a dangerous thing. The concept of Jihad, for instance. as preached by Deeni Madaris and practised by their followers is a case in point. They have completely failed to undertand the meanings of Jihad. Under what circumstances it becomes obligatory, who is competent to declare it and how it is to be waged— are some of the aspects of the problem that must be understood in their proper context. It is most unfortunate that senseless killings of Muslims under one pretext or the other have also been termed as jihad by the followers of Talban. In their self-concoted Islam every kind of subversive activity is permissible under the cover of the concept of jihad. The fact is that a student is groomed in the image of his teacher. The teacher of a seminary should be a widely read scholar. If he is in possession of balanced knowledge of religious and temporal education only then he can produce students of balanced and rational personalities.