فقہ اسلامی میں قسامت کا تصور

Islam lays great emphasis on security and the sanctity of human life. The holy Quran terms killing of an innocent person as killing of the whole humanity. It prohibits unjust killing of human being in unequivocal terms. The holy Qur’an and Sunnah terms killing of an innocent person as one of the greatest sins. An eternal torment is the destiny of a killer who takes life of a person unjustly. However, it is also a bitter fact that hardly   a crime free society could be found   anywhere in the world. Peace prevails only in those societies where culprits are brought to justice. This is why Islamic penal code has prescribed punishments for all kinds of crimes. It has prescribed punishment of Qisâs in case of intentional murder and Diyat (blood money in case of killing of a person by mistake, it is also due in case if remission is made by the heirs in intentional murder case). To prove the crime of murder, testimony of two reliable witnesses or confession of the killer is required before the court. However, if a corpse is found in a place where killer is unknown and witnesses are unavailable,    then Islam enjoins the process of Qasâmah to safeguard rights of the heirs of the deceased. Qasâmah is a process of taking oath by fifty persons selected by the heirs of the slain. In this article the concept of Qasâmah has been elaborated. It  has three parts , in the  first part conditions for the validity of  Qasâmah has been elaborated, while in the second part its process has been discussed with elaborate opinions  of jurists  regarding taking of  oath, as some of them opine that  the  heirs of the slain  have to take oath, mentioning name of the killer,   while others say  oath will be taken by the defendants that they  didn’t kill him, Both these opinions  have been discussed by producing arguments of  the both sides. While in the third part the issue of Qisâs and Diyat has been discussed as according to some jurists the Qasâmah entails Qisâs while other say that it entails Diyat only; arguments of both sides have been discussed in detail.

Exploring the Role of School Leadership in Transforming the School into a Learning Community

School as a learning community is becoming one of the prominent notions in the contemporary efforts of transforming schools into learning centers where all the stakeholders are bounded together by a sense of belongingness and shared purpose of collective learning. A community, on this understanding is a group of people linked by a shared consciousness and shared identity where people are open and honest to each other because, they all see the world in the same way. Here, people develop a shared centre of values, sentiments and beliefs which encourages them to think in terms of "we" rather than "I". To transform a school into such a learning community the school leadership plays a critical role. The function of school leadership is growing complex and perplex in terms of its extensive involvement in the social, moral, educational and technical aspects of the school life. This leadership is considered as the entrance through which the norms, values and beliefs inter into the school milieu and become part of the school culture. Therefore, it becomes indispensable to explore the role of the principal as the school leader in transforming the school into a learning community. This study aimed at exploring the role of the school leadership in transforming a school into a learning community. It further intended to explore the strategies adopted by the school leadership and the challenges faced in transforming the school into a learning community. Within the qualitative research paradigm, the case study method was adopted to better meet the nature and requirements of the study. The research was conducted in a private secondary school in Karachi, Pakistan. The key research participant was the principal of the school whereas, the Vice-Principal, the Academic Coordinator, two subject coordinators, three teachers and a group of students and their parents were included as the secondary participants. This study revealed that the school leadership plays a multidimensional and complex role in creating a collegial school culture for the social, moral and educational development of the students. The school principal establishes collaborative relationships amongst all the stakeholders in order to transform the school into a learning community. He plays his role in providing opportunities for the teachers to enhance their professional growth and learning. Apart from the above, the principal also monitors the activities in order to ensure the effective achievement of targets and establish grounds for future review planning and establishing future target.