Prophet Muhammad {sallal lahu alayhi wasallam} as a teacher
The Prophet (peace be upon him) was a perfect teacher and instructor. He used a variety of educational methodologies and enjoyed brilliant teaching methods. In bringing up his companions, Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) adopted various educational methods. Following are some of them:
1. Being Joyful in advice so that his companions would not get bored:
In this context, we recall the incident when a man came to the prophet (peace be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Give me a mount.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “We shall give you a she-camel’s child to ride on.” He said, “What shall I do with a she-camel’s child?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Do any others than she-camels give birth to camels?” )Reported Abu Dawud).
2. Considering the state of the addressee:
Abu Wai’l reported that ‘Abdurrahman used to give a religious talk to the people on every Thursday. Once a man said, “O Abdur-Rahman! (By Allah) I wish if you you could preach us daily.” He replied, “The only thing which prevents me from doing so, is that I hate to bore you. No doubt, I consider your state in preaching by selecting a suitable time just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do with us, for fear of making us bored.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
3. Narrating stories:
An-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported that the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said, “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing slave-servant than that of a person set out on a journey with a provision of food and drink on the back of his camel. He went on until he came to a waterless desert and he felt like sleeping. So he got down under the shade of a tree and was overcome by sleep, and his camel ran away. As he got up he tried to see it (the camel) standing upon a mound, but did not find it. He then got upon the other mound, but could not see anything until he came back to the place where he had been sleeping previously. And as he was sitting (in utter disappointment) there came to him his camel, till that (camel) placed its nose string in his hand. Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave-servant than the person who found (his lost camel) in this very state.” (Reported by Muslim)
Bearing the above in mind, teachers and instructors should study the Prophet’s methods of education and make use of them in bringing up the Muslim generations so that they would benefit themselves, their societies and all humanity or the body and the neighbour, damaging for the money. If he had done so he would have earned the trust & love of his students. He could have simply said that the other teacher is merely one of the people who can be right and can be wrong.
Conclusion:
Honesty is the savoir of the teacher in this world and in the Hereafter.
Lying to students is a hindrance to understanding and a cause to loss of trust.
The effect of lying exceeds the limits of the liar impacting the whole society.
Narated by Anas bin Malik: “While I was walking with the Prophet who was wearing a Najrani outer garment with a thick hem, a Bedouin came upon the Prophet and pulled his garment so violently that I could recognize the impress of the hem of the garment on his shoulder, caused by the violence of his pull. Then the Bedouin said, ‘Order for me something from Allah's Fortune which you have.’ The Prophet turned to him and smiled, and ordered that a gift be given to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhary, The Book of One-Fifth of War Booty, Hadith Number: 3185, Narrated by: Anas Ibn-Malik).
These were the noble manners of the Prophet (PBUH) and this is how his exalted character was. He could have disciplined the Bedouin for his attitude with him, but he was not an avenger. Harshness was not in the nature or manners of the first teacher; the Prophet (PBUH). He would have never punished the Bedouin or got angry as he is the one who said: “Whoever controls his anger at the time when he has the means to act upon it, Allah will call him before all of mankind on the Day of Resurrection, and will let him choose of the Hur al-’Ayn whoever he wants.” [Reported by Abu Dawud (4777), Sahih al-Jami' (6518)].
1. Being Joyful in advice so that his companions would not get bored:
In this context, we recall the incident when a man came to the prophet (peace be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Give me a mount.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “We shall give you a she-camel’s child to ride on.” He said, “What shall I do with a she-camel’s child?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Do any others than she-camels give birth to camels?” )Reported Abu Dawud).
2. Considering the state of the addressee:
Abu Wai’l reported that ‘Abdurrahman used to give a religious talk to the people on every Thursday. Once a man said, “O Abdur-Rahman! (By Allah) I wish if you you could preach us daily.” He replied, “The only thing which prevents me from doing so, is that I hate to bore you. No doubt, I consider your state in preaching by selecting a suitable time just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do with us, for fear of making us bored.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
3. Narrating stories:
An-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported that the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said, “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing slave-servant than that of a person set out on a journey with a provision of food and drink on the back of his camel. He went on until he came to a waterless desert and he felt like sleeping. So he got down under the shade of a tree and was overcome by sleep, and his camel ran away. As he got up he tried to see it (the camel) standing upon a mound, but did not find it. He then got upon the other mound, but could not see anything until he came back to the place where he had been sleeping previously. And as he was sitting (in utter disappointment) there came to him his camel, till that (camel) placed its nose string in his hand. Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave-servant than the person who found (his lost camel) in this very state.” (Reported by Muslim)
Bearing the above in mind, teachers and instructors should study the Prophet’s methods of education and make use of them in bringing up the Muslim generations so that they would benefit themselves, their societies and all humanity or the body and the neighbour, damaging for the money. If he had done so he would have earned the trust & love of his students. He could have simply said that the other teacher is merely one of the people who can be right and can be wrong.
Conclusion:
Honesty is the savoir of the teacher in this world and in the Hereafter.
Lying to students is a hindrance to understanding and a cause to loss of trust.
The effect of lying exceeds the limits of the liar impacting the whole society.
Narated by Anas bin Malik: “While I was walking with the Prophet who was wearing a Najrani outer garment with a thick hem, a Bedouin came upon the Prophet and pulled his garment so violently that I could recognize the impress of the hem of the garment on his shoulder, caused by the violence of his pull. Then the Bedouin said, ‘Order for me something from Allah's Fortune which you have.’ The Prophet turned to him and smiled, and ordered that a gift be given to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhary, The Book of One-Fifth of War Booty, Hadith Number: 3185, Narrated by: Anas Ibn-Malik).
These were the noble manners of the Prophet (PBUH) and this is how his exalted character was. He could have disciplined the Bedouin for his attitude with him, but he was not an avenger. Harshness was not in the nature or manners of the first teacher; the Prophet (PBUH). He would have never punished the Bedouin or got angry as he is the one who said: “Whoever controls his anger at the time when he has the means to act upon it, Allah will call him before all of mankind on the Day of Resurrection, and will let him choose of the Hur al-’Ayn whoever he wants.” [Reported by Abu Dawud (4777), Sahih al-Jami' (6518)].
Comments