اسلام میں تبدیلی مذہب کا مطالعہ: ایک تنقیدی تجزیہ

Muslim scholars have produced various writings in which the process of conversion to Islam has been presented in the form of narratives. However, less consideration has been given to the understanding of nature of this process. Furthermore, the elements which originate and shape this process have also been ignored in the previous studies. After analyzing the sources concerning the study of conversion to Islam, the current article argues that the previous studies, especially by the Muslim scholars, were mostly written for Daʻwah purposes. They did not encourage the analytical dimension of the conversion studies. For a grasp of the complex elements and the strategies underlying this process, the Western scholars divide religious conversion into its diverse types while providing different motifs. However, a critical analysis of their works points out that some of these types and motifs are not applicable to Islam. The current article points out the elements helpful in explaining the process of conversion to Islam keeping in line with the Holy Qur’ān and Sunnah. Moreover, this paper also purports that the study of Ḥadīth, spiritual experiences of converts, and the opinions of the scholars supports the concept of fiṭrah to be used as a framework for a thorough understanding of this process.

Understanding How the Inquiry Strategy Works in a Physics Classroom at Secondary Level in a Pakistani Private School Context

This study reports an action research conducted in a private school in Karachi. The purpose of the research study was to understand the implementation of the inquiry strategy in a physics classroom at secondary level. The research was guided by the main question 'How can I implement inquiry teaching strategies in a physics classroom at secondary level in a private school in Karachi?' For this purpose Wenning's (2005) 'hypothetical inquiry strategy' was adapted. To understand the inquiry process, Kemmis and McTaggart's spiral model of action research is employed. I used the qualitative approach to collect the data. The main tools for data collection included personal reflections, semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis as well as informal talks with a critical friend. In this study, I played a dual role; as a researcher as well as a classroom teacher. During the study the main role of the physics teacher was as a nonparticipant observer, who helped me to monitor some of the groups at different stages during inquiry teaching. There were thirty students (in class IX) who participated in this study as learners. Their major role was to learn physics concepts through inquiry strategy, where they performed and observed hands-on activities, developed hypothesis, created and conducted experiments to give empirical evidence to their hypothesis and defended it by presenting their findings to the classmates. The study was conducted by implementing three action cycles (a total of nine lessons) where each learning cycle consisted of three lessons. The main finding of the study reveals that teaching physics through inquiry strategy in a Pakistani secondary school context was challenging but possible. Besides some facilitating factors, there were challenges and constraints ranging from content specific issues such as teaching and learning abstract ideas in physics to problems and challenges of general classroom management and the motivation of students towards inquiry. On the basis of the findings, the study suggests some implications for different stakeholders including myself, followed by recommendations for further study.