The Scope of the Death Penalty under the Sharia Law

The death penalty is one of the core issues which have been widely discussed around the world. As capital punishment has been the part of the Islamic legal system, the Quran and hadith explicitly established the penalties in various serious crimes. A majority of the world‟s nations has abolished the death penalties from their constitutions, but most of the Islamic countries firmly believe in this system. One root cause of it is that the Holy Quran and hadith provide the justification for capital punishment. Further, several Islamic countries where Islam has the status of the state religion, allow the application of the death penalty. This work has prompted us to expose that the Islamic penal code is well-established in the legal and political systems of Islamic countries and the impact of religious traditions have an indirect impact on the implication of the death sentence. Since the death penalty is even now broadly established in Muslim countries, there is also increasing support in several of these states to abolish of the death penalty. Some secular activists have distorted the Quranic verses dealing with the death penalty to support their instance. For different reasons, they claim that political governments may use the death penalty as cover to suppress their political rivals. Our findings reveal that secular propaganda against the Islamic penal system is based on wrong assumptions and a result of Islamophobia. This research article can provide a logical discussion on the issue of capital punishment, rooted in the true spirit of the Islamic punishment system.

The Impact of Aku-Ied Certificates in Education Science on the Teaching Practice of a Science Teacher in a Government School

The purpose of this study was to identify the change (or lack of change) in the classroom practice of science teachers in a government school in Karachi, after completing the eight-week Certificate in Education (CE: Science) programme offered by the AKU-IED. The CE: Science focuses on exposing science teachers to new and innovative methods of teaching in the lower secondary classrooms. It emphasizes the training of teachers within the real classroom, and promotes activity-based science teaching, using low-cost or no-cost materials. I chose to study, in depth, the case of a male teacher, Abdul Sattar, from the Goodwill Government School, Karachi, who had completed his CE: Science last year. The data was gathered through interviews, classroom observations, and post observation meetings. The head teacher's interview, and informal conversations with students, also formed a part of the data. The major findings of the study are those the CE: Science does help change the classroom practice of the teacher, to a small extent. The participant's practice showed that he had perceptibly changed his attitude towards lesson planning, and now engaged in effective planning, where he actively searched for common everyday materials to use in classroom activities in science teaching. He also used demonstration as a method of bringing “alive” science for his students, and engaged in effective questioning, to engage the students. This resulted in enhanced students' motivation and participation in the classroom. Another important result of the CE: Science was that the teacher gave up corporal punishment and started using other means to reprimand, and to motivate students. The teacher also became aware of his need for updating content knowledge and pedagogical skills, and he has, since then, participated enthusiastically in professional development programmes, conducted by the Sindh Government. However, Abdul Sattar faces severe challenges in terms of lack of resources, shortage of teachers, heavy workload and overcrowded classrooms. The lack of parental involvement in school activities, the bureaucratic system and the rigid nature of the school culture are also inhibiting factors for change to occur.