Journey to Khalafah and Tamkeen fil ‘Ard Milestones on the Way

Establishment of khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard means supremacy of the dictates of shari‘ah and socio-political justice on earth. This is one of the basic objectives and prominent messages of the Holy Quran and Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). About khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard the Holy Quran expresses as:   -وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الأَرْضِ …  -الَّذِينَ إِن مَّكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ أَقَامُوا الصَّلاَةَ وَآتَوُا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَمَرُوا بِالمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهَوْا عَنِ المُنكَرِ وَلِلَّهِ عَاقِبَةُ الأُمُورِ.  -هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيداً.  Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) proclaims:   - وَاَللَّهِ لَوْ وَضَعُوا الشَّمْسَ فِي يَمِينِي وَالْقَمَرَ فِي يَسَارِي عَلَى أَنْ أَتْرُكَ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ حَتَّى يُظْهِرَهُ اللَّهُ أَوْ أَهْلِكَ فِيهِ مَا تَرَكْتُهُ. The Holy Quran and the Seerah refer to some underlying milestones on the way of religious nations to status of khalafah and tamkeen fin ‘ard. These milestones may be expressed in an order as: da‘wah [preaching], deen [practices of prophetic teachings], hijrah [migration], ma‘iyyat-ul-Allah [companionship of Allah], qital [wars], nusrat-ul-Allah [divine aid], izhar-ud-deen [domination of deen] and khilafah [inheritance of authority]. This is noteworthy that journey of khalafah and tamkeen fin ‘ard begins with da‘wah [preaching towards deen] and passing through various milestones ends up again at da‘wah, as obvious from ayat-ul-istakhlaf quoted above. Therefore, the seekers of khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard should strive hard and keep struggling with the work of da‘wah with dedication in all circumstances and all means as per time and place requirements in lined with the modus operandi of Prophets, particularly Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), instead of awaiting the status of khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard as prerequisite to start with the work of da‘wah and establishment of deen. This paper primarily aims to elaborate the milestones of Muslim Ummah to reach to the status of khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard. It also cast light on the objectives of khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard. This work provides useful guidance to Muslim Ummah in general and Ahlud da‘wah in particular about milestones and objectives of khilafah and tamkeen fil ‘ard.

Study on the Attitude of University Teachers and Students Towards Global Issues Pertaining to Human Rights - Exploring Global Perspective Through Local Disposition

The study aims at exploring the notion of human rights through investigating the attitude of university teachers and students (prospective teachers) towards global issues pertaining to human rights in Pakistan. The overall strategy for the current study is based on survey research design. From a methodological standpoint, mixed method paradigm (survey method and case-study) is used to gain quantitative and qualitative responses. Through stratified random sampling, total sample n=600, i.e., 520 students (prospective teachers), currently pursuing degree in education (B.Ed/M.Ed), and 80 teachers, currently teaching prospective teachers at public or private university were selected from 12 universities and four affiliated colleges of Sindh, Pakistan. For qualitative data, n=20 respondents were selected through purposive sampling. The quantitative data was collected using Human Rights Attitude Scale (HRAS), adapted from Attitudes toward Human Rights Inventory, ATHRI (Narvaez, Thoma & Getz, 2006) and Human Rights Questionnaire (Veizades et al., 1995). The adapted scale was validated through content validity, while Cronbach’s Alpha was statistically applied to check internal consistency (calculated as .90). For qualitative data, in-depth knowledge was inquired through focused group interviews. For ethical considerations, institutions and participants were informed about the research study through explanatory letter and informed consent was signed voluntarily. Overall, 96 hypotheses were tested using statistical tests (t-test and chi-square), while qualitative data was analyzed using themes. The study yields that there is a significant difference in the attitude of university students and teachers towards global issues pertaining to human rights (computed value of t= 6.22). There is a significant difference in the attitude of university students and teachers towards social security (t= 6.02) and civilian constraints (t= 4.92), while there is no significant difference towards personal liberties (t= 1.09). Significant differences are drawn among teachers on the basis of travelling, social/political affiliation, human rights training and experience, while significant differences are drawn among students on the basis of working status, location, schooling and last qualification. For item-by-item analysis, sixty hypotheses were tested out of which, forty hypotheses were rejected. From qualitative data, it was derived that students and teachers face multiple issues pertaining to human rights, which result in scarcity of expressing ideas in solving global issues pertaining to human rights. The respondents are not satisfied with the current state of human rights in Pakistan. Respondents emphasized on the role of teacher, education and higher education institution as a concrete ladder to foster positive changes in society. All the respondents highlighted the importance of incorporating global dimension in teacher education (TE) curriculum, but at the same time identified the missing gaps. Based on the results, suggestions and recommendations are submitted as supplements at the end