Hadith (6) /The Qur’an at the heart of teaching-learning process

  The Qur’an at the heart of teaching-learning process.

Hadith (6)

On the authority of ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan, God be pleased with him, he reported that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, says: “The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it to others”. This hadith was narrated by Imam al-Bukhari.

Meanings and Lessons:

• Whenever a Muslim believer hears “the best of you”, he/she has to be highly attentive to the message of the Prophet who specifies the kind and nature of work to be done to be among those meant by the elite acclaimed by the Messenger.

• The holy Qur’an is the central matter of learning and teaching as it is the infallible revelation from God who knows what is appropriate for His creation. The Qur’an is essentially the Book of guidance. Some tend to focus on the miraculous texts that deal with scientific truths mentioned in the Qur’an, and whenever a scientific discovery surfaces, one would jump to the idea that the Qur’an already mentioned, supposedly to give more evidence to the veracity and divinity of the Qur’an.

• Learning the Qur’an includes reciting it correctly according to the rules of recitation, and preferably by a teacher, then understanding the meanings because this facilitates the memorization and makes one ponder over the message of God as He addresses his slaves to be prepared to implement the injunctions decreed by God, Exalted is He, in the Qur’an.

• Teaching the Qur’an is the noblest mission a believer can undertake. Our schools and systems of education unfortunately accord very little space to learning and teaching the Qur’an in the school curricula. And even this little knowledge allowed for “Islamic education”, the Qur’an is only used to justify themes under study, and the focus is only directed at a restricted number of issues of Islamic sciences. But reciting and memorizing the Qur’an are virtually ignored.

• Since the separation of the Qur’an from state affairs, our systems of education have largely copied from the secular model of education found in the West. Therefore, one of the cardinal tasks of Muslim believers engaged in the Islamic revivalist project is to expend huge efforts in making our generations learn the Qur’an, memorize it, understand it and be prepared to implement it. Our generations would remain lost and confused if their souls and minds are not molded by the Qur’anic model.

• The teaching-learning process should not be a matter of intellectual nature. The Qur’an is light, so to transmit this light to learners, the teacher has to acquire faith (Iman) and correct intention so his teaching would touch hearts before minds and so that his students would model on his Qur’anic character with refined manners and conduct. ‘Aisha, God be pleased with her, in turbulent circumstances long after the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, had passed way, said: “We (first believers) were given faith (Iman) before the Qur’an, but you were given the Qur’an before Iman, you just read it in the way bad dates fall from palm trees.” The meaning is that the reciter should understand and interact with the content of the Qur’an with humility and alertness following the model of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and his eminent companions.

• When we say the Qur’an and sciences of the Qur’an must be the center of the overall education system, we do not mean we degrade natural sciences and technology. We mean to maximize and enhance our acquisition of them to serve the ultimate goals of Qur’anic guidance that transcend the earthly benefits to the Hereafter felicity.