Conditions and Qualification for Being a Judge in the Light of the Islamic Law

‘Adl and Qisṭ is indeed a manifestation of God’s mercy, rather, it may also be seen as a principal objective of Shariʿah. The origin or sources of administration of justice in Islām are the Quran, Sunnah of the holy Prophet, consensus of opinions of the jurists of Islamic jurisprudence and Analogy (Qiyās). Justice is a sacred obligation of supererogatory. It is obligatory upon the Muslim rulers to appoint judges for the dispensation of justice to attain equality, to protect the human rights from their violation, to safeguard the lives and properties, and to maintain law and order in society. As a judge is supposed to accomplish a very important and noble task being a regent of Allāh, hence, some vital merits and criteria regarding the conditions and qualifications for the appointment of the Qāḍī or judge in the light of the Qur’ān, Sunnah and Islamic jurisprudence and the code of conduct for the Pakistani judges must be observed at all costs. The author of this paper has discussed these conditions and qualifications in this article. There are some unanimous conditions for the appointment of judges, while some others are not agreed upon. While presenting the difference of opinions of the Islamic jurists, the author tried to explain, reconcile the opinions and at some places presented her own view in the light of her analysis and arguments. These conditions are around thirty, but the author according to her own discretion chose some of the most important ones to discuss in this paper.

Policy, Procedures and Head Teachers Leadership Approaches for Teacher Motivation

Motivation is a key element to enhance the performance of employees in any profession. Similarly, teacher motivation is vital for the improvement in the performance of a school. Literature as well as my experiential data suggests that policies and procedures of head teacher affect teachers’ motivation in a school; which in turn, affects the performance of the teachers. Hence, to understand the phenomenon of teacher motivation through institutional policies, procedures, and leadership approaches, a qualitative approach was employed using phenomenology as the study design in two schools of a private system in Karachi. The tools used for data collection were in-depth semi structured interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The research participants were one head teacher, a section head and five teachers from each of the two schools. The findings of the study suggest that teacher motivation affects the performance of teachers in a positive way, which can be ensured through policies and by employing various leadership approaches. Research participants believed that teacher motivation is important in the enhancement of the overall performance of teachers and that can be brought about by catering to individual needs of the teachers. There are several factors, which influence motivation in different ways such as; relationship with colleagues and management, work environment, professional development, culture of fairness, work place with equal opportunities and different incentives. Thus, it is important to consider policy, procedures, and leadership approaches in motivating teachers. In addition to that, it is also very important to understand that the impartial attitude of principal during the implementation of policies and procedures can significantly affect motivation of teachers in a positive way. Hence, it can be stated that, a democratic and transformational leader builds a positive relationship among staff and creates a healthy working environment for teacher motivation.