62. Al-Jumu'ah/The Congregation
I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
62:01
a. Whatever is within the celestial realm and the terrestrial world is Glorifying Allah – The One and Only God -
b. The Sovereign, The Holy, The Almighty, The All-Wise.
62:02
a. It is HE WHO assigned among the people who had no Scripture a Messenger – Muhammad ibn Abdallah - from among themselves
- to recite HIS Messages from The Qur’an to them, and
- to purify them spiritually from dogma, myth, and polytheism, and
- to teach them of the Law, and
- the wisdom - morality and beliefs, etc.
b. Though before this, they were clearly astray from the Divine Guidance.
62:03
a. And also HE assigned Muhammad to others from them who have not joined them as yet.
b. And HE is The Almighty, The All-Wise.
62:04
a. Such is the Grace of Allah, which HE confers upon whoever HE Wants.
b. And, HIS Grace, HE has now conferred upon The Last of the Prophets, Muhammad,
c. for Allah is the Possessor of Infinite Grace.
62:05
a. The likeness of those who had been charged with enacting and complying with laws of The Torah, then did not uphold it, is as the likeliness of a donkey carrying a load of books oblivious of benefiting from them.
b. How evil is the likeness of the people who deny and belie Allah’s Messages in The Torah and now in The Qur’an!
c. And Allah does not guide the people who have chosen to be misguided and are wrongdoers.
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This report is principally intended to ascertain out the result of the lunar calendar with special focus on the holy month of Ramadan on the operation of Islamic mutual funds in Pakistan. Economic activity in Pakistan demands a different turn due to observation of fast and short working hours in the country in the month of Ramadan. This work utilizes the logit model to investigate the impact of lunar calendar generally and the holy month of Ramadan, specifically along the net asset values of the mutual fund. This study confirms lower expected growth of net asset value in the month of Ramadan and the other stages of the religious sentiment. Economic activity regains pace after Ramadan and Zulhajjah as evident from the probable increase of net asset value of the Islamic mutual funds in the month of Shawwal & Moharram following months of the Ramadan and Zulhajjah respectively.
Teacher workplace learning (TWPL) is an essential strategy for increasing opportunities for professional development towards maintaining teacher competencies for high quality teaching. Workplace learning is a relatively new concept in most developing countries. In Uganda (my country of origin) there are a few private schools where TWPL is a common practice. In most schools, however, teachers rely on distance education and, occasional, formal in-service training usually organized by district officials of government, that take the form of single- loop workshops or short courses external to the schools. In Pakistan (the context for this study) teachers engage more in site-based learning because few institutions offer formal pre-service and in-service teacher education. Individual schools, especially of the private sector, set up structures to offer in-housing training. My experience of learning to teach in compartmentalized structures, marked with cultures of individualism, pointed to a need to understand the conditions that facilitate and inhibit teacher workplace learning at the earliest opportunity. Today, it is essential to change schools into learning communities, where teachers are learners. This study sought to examine the personal and contextual conditions that facilitate and inhibit TWPL, in order to inform the process of introducing learning communities in Uganda. Three cases were studied and are presented here, along with a cross-case analysis. Studying the cases involved three interviews each, observation of their TWPL activities, two interviews with the principal, review of both teacher-made and school documents, and keeping of reflective memos. The major finding was that both personal and contextual conditions are essential in harnessing TWPL. The exemplary and proactive leadership, and ongoing internal and external support, were major contextual conditions in buttressing TWPL. It was also clear that the ‘unique person’ in the teacher has the potential to cross the contextual hurdles and maintain and influence the working cultures, so vital in TWPL. The study has some implications for different stakeholders, given in chapter five. It is hoped that the cases presented here may offer models for the teachers to learn from. Conversely, the cases may also point to issues and undesirable practices to guard against.