A Message to the Nation of “Read!”

sister TIAIBA IMANE //

Believing in Allah's own words that can be translated as: " Most certainly , you have in the messenger of Allah an excellent pattern ( of behaviors ) " (TMQ 33 / 21), let us reveal the path of the beloved which any learner in general , and teacher in particular are asked to follow in order to take part in the revival of our Ummah.
The pith of argument, in all my work, is a message called "Learn from the Teacher" which consists of the following points:
A) Our Prophet (PBUH) said: " I have left with you something which you will hold fast to, you will never fall into error; the book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet ". So, we should appreciate this heritage if we want to succeed in any field. Thus, learning a foreign language and culture implies that we should first stick to our identity and take what fits us as Muslims.
B) The use of faith as a stimulus : it is the faith in Allah which makes the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) succeed in their lives. Faith is the pillar of religion. Through out our studies of civilizations and literature, we have learnt that people and nations are always dragged by religious ideology. The best example to give here, is the way the USA came to existence. We all know that it was due to the faith of the pioneer pilgrims in "The Promised Land". Our turn came now to make a revival with faith, and to use it even in our teaching to realize Allah’s saying that can translated as : " you have been the most charitable nation brought out to mankind : you command beneficence , and forbade malfeasance, and believe in Allah …" (TMQ,3 : 110 )
C) The good word : Allah says what can be translated as " seets thou not how Allah coineth a similitude : a goodly saying , as a good tree , its roots set firm , its branches reaching into heaven. Giving its fruits every season by permission of Its Lord? Allah coineth the similitude for mankind in order that they may reflect. And the similitude of a bad saying is as a bad tree, uprooted from upon the earth, possessing no stability "(TMQ 24-25/13). In fact, this ayah is the heart of the message which we address to teachers: you are responsible for the word which is of a great importance in the task of teaching. The word can either build or destruct. So, teachers should select what to say in order to plant the idea of revival in the minds of the coming generations. It is the strength and purity of a good word that would have the snowball effect in our revival.
D) Teachers are asked to encourage creativity and innovation in order to create the art and literature that fits our identity and serve our revival.
E) The last point is to follow the path of the Beloved (PBUH) in every thing and mainly in the way he dealt with situations i.e. to change the opportunities into points of strength. A teacher might ask how? It is then by :
- Making students feel proud to be the grand sons of the great companions and to be Muslims when studying civilization, for example.
- Relating modern theories and studies to our culture ( as we tried to do in this work )
- Presenting the lessons in a way that fits our identity.
- Benefiting from the study of history in order to learn how nations stand and fall, baring in mind that the civilization that never falls is that inspired from the Holy Book”Quran” and the tradition of the Prophet(P.B.U.H)