– Khan Tahir
It’s Teachers’ Day. If you were asked, “Who is your favourite teacher?” your answer might be Pooja Ma’am, it might be Priyanka Ma’am, it might be Vaibhav Sir, or it might be Aditya Sir.
Our answers might all be different, and why wouldn’t they be? You and I, and the world, have seen many teachers… But today, we will talk about a teacher whose education brought humanity out of darkness and into the light. Today, we will discuss an aspect of the life of that great personality ﷺ that is a beacon of light for all humanity… and that aspect is “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ as a Teacher.” This is not just one aspect; it is a revolution, a system, and a standard.
Today, education can be acquired in every language; every country has schools, colleges, and universities. But tell me: despite so many institutions, why is humanity astray? Why are deceit, oppression, corruption, and injustice so common? It is because today’s education has knowledge but no character,it has skills but no values, it has IQ but no EQ, it has degrees but no humanity. The solution to this crisis lies only and only in the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.
The Messenger ﷺ did not make education merely bookish knowledge; he made knowledge into life itself. “Innama bu’ithtu mu’alliman.” (“I have been sent as a teacher.”) Think! The greatest teacher in the universe is the one whose classroom is the entire world, and whose curriculum is the Quran! The Prophet ﷺ did not just teach with words… he taught with his character. People did not become Muslims by reading a book; they became Muslim by seeing him ﷺ.
But what happened that today, almost 1500 years later, teachers have forgotten their duties and their objectives? What is the purpose of today’s teachers? “That the student gets a good job, gets a salary, and has a set career.” But what was the purpose of the Messenger ﷺ? “To bring humanity out of ignorance into light, to make them kings of character.”
Today, in a class of one and a half to two hours, a teacher uses the board and marker two or three times and thinks they have given the students a great education. But the Prophet’s ﷺ classroom was the earth, his board was the hearts of the Sahaba (Companions), and his marker was his character. Today’s students may pass their exams, but they do not become leaders. But the students of the Prophet ﷺ – Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali – they became leaders of the world, champions of ethics, and guardians of humanity.
Modern education says: “Take your degree and go find a job.” Prophetic education says: “Build your character and go improve the world.”
Today, the methods of Harvard and Oxford may be better, they may be modern, but the methods of the Prophet ﷺ are still unbeatable today:
- He taught through Interactive Learning.
- He taught through Practical Demonstration. (When he taught Wudu, he performed it himself to show how.)
- He taught with Emotional Intelligence. A man once began to urinate in the mosque. If it had been today’s teacher, they would have dealt with that person in such a way that next time, he would think a hundred times before urinating, even in a restroom. But the Prophet ﷺ later explained it to him in a better way. To save him from embarrassment, Prophet ﷺ told sahaba to simply pour water over it.
He gave hope to the hopeless, gave dignity to slaves, gave honour to women, and gave a mission to the youth.
Through modern teachers, we can improve our degrees, but to improve our destiny, it is essential to act upon the teachings of the Messenger ﷺ.
Why? Because the Messenger ﷺ was not just a teacher of a school, not a teacher of a college, not a teacher of a university. Rather, he was the ultimate teacher… He was the Teacher of Humanity!
In fact, he was not just a teacher; he was a leader, a mentor, the architect of humanity!
Every sentence of the Messenger ﷺ was a lesson, every action was a chapter, and every day was a syllabus!
Today, the world’s classrooms have degrees but no training, they have qualifications but no ethics.
If we want a corruption-free society, a peaceful world, and strong morals today, we must adopt the teaching model of the Messenger ﷺ. If we want humanity to be enlightened once again…we must adopt the teaching method of the Messenger ﷺ.
From modern education, we can learn how to build machines, but to become truly human ourselves, it is essential to act upon the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.
We pray to Allah Almighty to grant us the ability to implement the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ in our lives. O Allah! Instill in us character along with knowledge, values along with skills, and ethics along with degrees. Ameen.
