The Aims of the Prophetic Hijrah and its Teaching and Guidance

The aim of Hijrah is not to run away from problem that occurred in the process of giving da'wah, but rather to establish the resolve in solving the problem. Hijrah as a movement carried out by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions from Makkah to Madinah, aimed to keep, maintain and uphold the message of Allah, in the form of Islamic aqeedah and shari’a, in order to achieve the mercy and pleasure of Allah SWT. This move, as we can see in the seerah, later brought a great impact to the success of the Islamic da’wah which was increasingly evolving. Hence the fundamental problem that has led to the migration has been solved. In fact, the Hijrah brought a significant impact not just to the Islamic world but also to world civilisation. The story and background of the migration of Rasulullah (PBUH) from Makkah to Madinah is touched in this writing to show that there were a lot of lessons and guidance that can be inferred. It did not merely signify a final destination for Makkah Muslims, but was also the beginning of a continuous effort to establish a strong and resilient ummah. The event of Hijrah in fact had changed the world after that forever. It highlighted the perseverance of the Rasulullah (PBUH) and the early Muslims through the difficult times. Hijrah demonstrates that for people with faith, there is hope for ease after difficulties. There was also a great unity model among Muslims of different backgrounds. The Hijrah had also marked the beginning of the Islamic State under the leadership of Rasulullah (PBUH) which then became a reference for all state governance everywhere in the future

Distributed Leadership: Ideals and Realities in a Private Secondary School in Karachi, Pakistan

The concept of distributed leadership (DL) is relatively a new notion of school leadership which refers to multiple leaders in school, both formal and informal or designed, or by default. DL practice can be shaped through bottom-up and horizontal multiple interactions among a web of leaders at various levels. The purpose of the study is to explore the perceptions and practices of school leaders about the distributed leadership, while looking at roles, nature of role distribution and the nature of decision- making as distributed phenomena. This study can be sought an acknowledgement as the first of its kind in the context of Pakistan which would contribute to the improvement of schools by identifying how the leadership roles are distributed among multiple leaders in schools to achieve common goals. Furthermore, it will also contribute to the development of a healthy working relationship among all stakeholders of schools in general. This study may also open the avenues for future studies with reference to effective governance of schools in the developing world context like Pakistan. The central research question that guided the study was: How is distributed leadership idealized and practiced in a private secondary school in Karachi, Pakistan? This study has been conducted through the case study method, within the qualitative research paradigm. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observations. Since the purpose of the study was to explore the phenomenon of distributed leadership through studying different roles; therefore, certain actors were the target of the study. The principal, three section heads and two subject coordinators were selected as research participants through purposive sampling. The findings of the study reveal that leadership roles are distributed among multiple stakeholders at FSSI. The leadership roles are distributed formally in collective and collaborative ways. Some leadership roles are informally distributed on the basis of skills, strengths and voluntary spirit of staff members in the school community. Decisions take place at different levels according to the nature of work and are based on consultation and discussion, but personal, time-based decisions were also made. Exploring the leadership talent and division of labour are two important reasons for role distribution among various stakeholders. 1 Five Star School, the pseudonym of the school.