All Praises And Thanks be to Allah and peace and salutations be upon His Messenger, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his household, his noble companions and all those who follow him, till the Day of Judgement.
When I graduated from my engineering studies in Bangalore, I was very confused as to what course of action to take in life. With the certificate of Aeronautical Engineering in my hand I knew deep down that I did not like this profession. There was a storm running in my mind, I even went through a successful interview for a job in the aviation sector, but I dropped the plan of joining in.
Throughout my engineering, I fell in love with studying Islam. Though born a Muslim, I was more of a cultural one than a faithful one. I honestly didn’t know much about Islam till then. But as I got to read many Islamic books, The Quran (Allah’s Final Revelation to all mankind) and the Hadith (statements, life and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) I delved into the reality of Islam and began getting closer to Allah and becoming a better Muslim with a finer character. I realized that teaching people about the true interpretation of Islam was the best service I could do for the society.
In these circumstances, I was offered to serve in an Islamic School as a teacher, where the students would study Islamic studies alongside regular subjects. I thought that it was a great idea to couple myself with a job where I can work and conveniently grow in my knowledge of Islam and also apply its teachings. After staying in this institution for around two years, I moved to a bigger institution where I was handed over the responsibility of teaching more intricate subjects to teenage students, this lead to me grappling with studying, revising and teaching on a daily basis. I stayed here for a span of seven years (Alhamdulillah!) before moving out of it in order to work on some of my other projects related to Islamic history.
As I walked past this journey of being a teacher, I realized that I needed to reflect more on how I could be the ideal teacher. For that- I needed someone who was perfect or close to perfect- in his teaching methodology. I saw many videos on teacher training, they did help me indeed, but my search stopped at one point. I realized that the last Prophet of Allah, Muhammad ﷺ, was indeed the epitome of good character and he was the best one to be emulated if one wanted to be the ideal teacher.
Allah, The Almighty God, said in The Qur’an: Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad ﷺ) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much. (33:21)
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: Allah (The Almighty God) did not send me to be harsh, or cause harm, but He has sent me to teach and make things easy. (Sahih Muslim 1478)
Thus Almighty God (Allah, in the Arabic language) called Prophet Muhammad ﷺ a good example and Prophet Muhammad himself said that Allah has sent him to ‘teach’ people.
I will share some guidances from The Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, that I have tried to apply in my life as a teacher. (Though I may not be the best teacher, but yes the guidelines below have improved me to an extent, and I ask Almighty God to help me further…)
1. A good teacher fears The Almighty God (Allah), and doesn’t do anything that will make him earn Allah’s anger.
Allah said: So, observe Taqwā (fear of Allah) as far as you can, and listen and obey, and spend (in Allah’s way), it being good for you. And those who are saved from the greed of their hearts are the successful. (Quran 64:16)
2. The good teacher fulfills his obligation towards the institution and his students. He doesn’t curtain his class timings and he doesn’t try to run away from his given responsibilities.
Allah says in The Qur’an: “Woe to those who give short measure, who, when they measure something to receive from people, take it in full, but give less than they should when it is they who weigh or measure for others!” (Quran 83:1-3)
3. Being a good teacher requires the teacher to be concerned about his pupils:
Allah says about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in The Qur’an: There has certainly come to you a Messenger (Muhammad) from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you [i.e., your guidance] and to the believers is kind and merciful. (Quran 9:128)
4. A good teacher, excercises patience as his primary nature, this helps him lead his students and bear with their excesses.
Allah said: “And We made from among them (Children of Israel), leaders, giving guidance under Our Command, when they were patient and used to believe with certainty in Our Verses” [al-Sajdah 32:24]
5. A good teachers repeats himself while teaching and makes himself understandable to his students.
Anas ibn Malik reported: When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would speak, he would repeat himself three times until he was understood. Whenever he came to people and greeted them with Salaam, he would greet them three times. (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 95)
6. A good teacher doesn’t use abusive language and doesn’t curse his students when in anger. Neither does he act shamelessly in front of them. The good teacher doesn’t speak when he’s angry and furious.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The believer does not insult others, does not curse others, is not vulgar, and is not shameless.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1977, Sahih, Al-Albani)
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Teach others, make things easy, and do not make things difficult. When one of you is angry, he should remain silent.” (Musnad Aḥmad 2137, Sahih, Ahmad Shakir)
7. An ideal teacher doesn’t make false promises with his students, he doesn’t lie even for a joke.
Abdullah ibn Amr reported: My mother called me one day while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was seated in our house. She said, “Come here and I will give you (something).” The Prophet said to her, “What do you want to give him?” She said, “I will give him a date.” The Prophet said, “If you had not given him anything, it would have been recorded against you as a lie.” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4991,Hasan, Al-Albani)
8. A good teacher gifts his students, to increase the mutual affection amongst them.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Give each other gifts and you will love each other.” (Al-Adab al-Mufrad 594, Hasan, Ibn Hajr)
9. An ideal teacher, does enjoys light moments with his students, but when seriousness is needed he also becomes firm.
Bakr ibn Abdullah reported: The companions of the Prophet ﷺ, would throw melons at each other for fun, but if matters became serious, they would be real men. (al-Adab al-Mufrad 261, Sahih, Al-Albani)
10. The teacher teaches his students to be merciful to the young ones, respect elders and give people their due rights.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “He is not part of my nation who does not honor our elders, nor has mercy on our young ones, nor acknowledges the rights of our scholars. (Musnad Aḥmad 22755, Hasan, Ibn Katheer)
These were just some of the teachings and guidances which helped me develop myself as a teacher.
I hope that Almighty God makes this beneficial for me and others who’re reading this. May Allah accept this from my end.
Saheehus-Seerah 