Introducing an Unexplored South Asian Treatise on I‘jāz Al-Qur’an

The present paper explores and introduces a manuscript on i‘jaz al-Qur’ān (inimitability of the Qur’ān) named Nūr al- Īqān bi i‘jaz al-Qur’ān written by a profound South Asian Sindhi Scholar, Maulana Muhammad Ismā‘īl al-Ūdvī. The field of i‘jaz al-Qur’ān has been and is the field of interest of many Muslim as well as non-Muslim theologians and scholars. Many Muslim scholars of the Middle East and the West have written books and research papers from third/ninth Century up to present times. The main and significant reason for this is that the doctrine of i‘jaz al- Qur’ān proves the prophecy of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. This paper argues that Shaikh al-Ūdvī is the first South Asian Sindhi Muslim Scholar, who wrote a separate treatise in Arabic on the doctrine of i‘jaz al-Qur’ān, which is not introduced properly in academic circles of the day. In this treatise, al-Ūdvī has advanced some new and original arguments to support the doctrine and the prophecy of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.

Effect of Home and Institution on the Development of English Language Skills in Southern Areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The study aims to find out the effect of home and institution on the development of English language skills in Southern areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa i.e.to find out the attitude of the pupils towards basic language skills (reading and writing), to find out the effect of the Social Economic Status (SES) of the students on their language skills (reading and writing), to observe the effect of instructional strategies of English teachers regarding in the development of basic English language skills (reading and writing), to check the effect of co- curricular activities on the basic English languages skills (reading and writing).The population of the current study was 29945 9th class studentsof 606 secondarymale and female schools of southern areas. The sample of the study were 12 teachers and 379 students of secondary schools which were taken through Krejcie and Morgan rule (1970). Various research tools were used in this study included, a five point likert type attitude scale, socio economic status scale, an observation sheet, a checklist, tests in reading and writing English skills. All these tools were made valid and reliable before its administration. Research questions and hypotheses were developed in line with the objectives of the study the data of attitude scale was analyzed through percentage, data received from socio economic status was analyzed through mean, the data received from checklist was analyzed by using percentage and rank order, the data collected from observational sheet was analyzed by using chi square, t test and ANOVA were used for differentiating between the values of means of reading and writing scores of students across the locality and divisions respectively. The study concluded that dismal situation of English reading and writing skills of the students in southern areas is due to weak supportive environment of home and institution. The role of home and institution was found significant for improving reading and writing skills in English, and the study recommends both community link and institutional environment need to be made more rich/conducive for English language learning.