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.

Factors Promoting Excellence in Schools

The study, “Factors Promoting Excellence in Schools” took cognizance of the pressing problem that there was widespread deterioration of education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The stakeholders had many expectations from the secondary schools both in public (government) and private sectors. The parents also needed feedback and authentic information about the criteria of excellent schools. It was therefore considered imperative to identify factors that promoted excellence in schools on the basis of information obtained from review of global literature as well as the feedback provided by stakeholders in the form of their responses. The items included in the opinionnaires and interviews for principals, teachers, parents and students were mostly derived from the authentic sources that were studied. For the purpose of obtaining relevant information from participants items were mentioned under different categories such as school specific statements, school improvement strategies and the skills of effective principals. The population of the study included 247 principals/headmasters, 2964 teachers, 494 parents and more than 10,000 students of 10th class in total number of 247 boys’ high schools in Peshawar City including 27 schools in public (government) and 220 in private sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The sample included 30 principals, 60 teachers, 600 students of 10th class and 60 parents. The primary data were collected through opinionnaires administrated to principals/headmasters, teachers and students, while closed-ended interviews were held with purposively selected parents. The results of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar for 10th class of the sampled schools for the last 03 years (2008-10) were also made part of secondary data. The data received both quantitative and qualitative treatment. The quantitative analysis applied statistical measures to some of the aspects of the collected data. The data were analyzed with the help of tables and graphs and rendered meaningful with discussion and interpretation. The qualitative data were placed under different patterns and categories for discussion. The outcome of the study indicated that excellence was multi-dimensional phenomenon and, therefore, many factors collectively contributed to effectiveness of school. The most important factors included relevant curricula, devoted and well trained teachers, co- curricular activities, effective principals, collegiality of teachers and the needed infrastructure. The interventional role of principals also made difference in school effectiveness. They could intervene in matters of instructional supervision, efficient administration, promoting collegiality of teachers, and including them in decision-making processes. The positive school-community relationships were also instrumental in school effectiveness. The study found that excellent schools had effective classroom interaction, stakeholders’ consideration that it was better school for teaching-learning and both teachers and students were proud of the effectiveness of their schools. The recommendations of the study were a set of general and specific factors developed on the basis of review of literature and responses of subjects of different categories. They included a focus on within and out of school factors such as leadership skills of principals, qualified and devoted teachers, better school environment and infrastructure as well as effective school-home relationships. The study answered all the four research questions that were posed in the study.