Contemporary Curriculum Design for Higher Education: An Islamic Appraisal

Education is a key to developing positivity in human beings. It helps to become a good citizen. In Islam, education has a central role that every Muslim must seek. Islamic education is centered on the teaching of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The Quran is revealed in Arabic, therefore sources of the teachings of Islam are in Arabic. It is the religious duty of the Muslim Ummah to learn Arabic and have command in it. The Quran is the only Book that provides complete guidance to humanity, whether the matters related to social life, economic matters, political issues, or religious life. Keeping this in view, the curriculum should also be prepared in the light of the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Focusing on the contemporary curriculum design for Islamic studies for higher education, this paper describes the missing material in the existing curriculum and suggests that the use of modern resources, arranging conferences, and an expansive transformative framework for Islamic studies are the key tools for its implementation. It stresses the curricular designers to approach the existing curriculum more comprehensively which covers Islamic Law, comparative studies, contemporary trends in world traditions, peace dialogue, and practical involvement of students too. This goal can be gained through amendments or revising the existing curriculum. The outcome of it will results in students' critical thinking, positivity, comprehensive knowledge, language proficiency, and character building.

The Potential and Impact of Perceived Internal Service Quality in Business Process of Pakistani Banks and its Relations to Organizational Performance

During the last one and a half decades the financial and banking sector in Pakistan has observed a substantial transformation from a sluggish government subjugated sector to a more receptive and competitive one. Today, many financial services, especially the Banks are organizing themselves to become customer centered. In the modern and competitive era the internal services quality is getting more importance in all areas of service industry like banking sector and it has received an ever-increasing interest among the scholars and practitioners especially during the ongoing decade. The purpose of this study was to establish a framework for the internal service quality considering the basic dimensions of the human resources management and the impact of the organizational performance. The data were collected through a cross-sectional field study of the frontline employees and management of both the public and the privatized commercial banks located in Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan (N=450, the response rate was 88 %). A particular banking sector was selected because of the perceived poor human resources management climate and the high running amounts of deficiency in the organizational performance. The internal services quality in the banking sector is found to relate positively to the organizational performance, with partial mediation by the employees’ selection, training and development, rewards and recognition, work design and job definitions . The regression analysis shows that two factors, namely the internal services quality and the IIIemployee job satisfaction contribute a great deal to the banks’ performance, but unexpectedly, the employees’ retention and productivity did not contribute, however. This study demonstrates the important effects of the internal services quality in general and HRM in particular on the frontline employees and management in the banks. The management of both the public and privatized banks should benefit themselves from noting the links and the like service quality outcome for the organizational performance. Key Words - Banks, Pakistan, Internal service quality, organizational performance.