اسلام اور مغرب: ڈاکٹر محمود احمد غازی کے افکار کا خصوصی مطالعہ

The comparative study of civilizations, their conflicts, clashes and their harmony are the significant issues of this era. It's a reality that in the present clash of civilizations, Islam is being pushed to a tight corner. The Islamic world today is facing severe challenges and odd circumstances in maintaining their vital values and re-establishing their identity and gaining their due place in the modern world because some of the western thinkers believe that after demolishing the Soviet Union, their next encounter would be with the ideology of Islam. In this situation, the comparison of civilizations and their comprehension has acquired a significant place and it is necessary to highlight the essential elements of various civilizations in such a way that they can sustain their individuality and the misunderstandings among them may be removed to create a peaceful atmosphere which is based on love, mutual tolerance, co-existence and  the supremacy of basic human rights so that the world may return to the merger of various civilizations and harmony among different religions. Allama Iqbal is the thinker who has shown extraordinary depth in his approach towards the study of Islam and the western world, highlighting their differences and the traditions, points and levels of their merger and harmony with a balanced and impartial approach. It's necessary to comprehend Iqbal's ideas keeping in view the history of Islam and the western world, the current demands of the present age and considering organized, solid, argumentative analysis in an objective way  revealing the soul of Islam and the spirit of the west in context of Iqbal's philosophy so that the modern world can move towards a peaceful and creative situation. Dr. Mehmood Ahmad Ghazi was the realization of Iqbal's dream. He is simultaneously an educationist, a great researcher and an illustrator and interpreter of the Holy Quran and narrator of Hadiths. His personality was equally well versed in Islamic art and learning and all their offshoot disciplines. It's the trait of his personality that in spite of travelling far and wide and having done a vast study, he is not impressed at all except by the ideology of Islam. He has very successfully passed on the ancient heritage to its modern heirs with honesty, skill and sagacity. Here an effort has been made to present a review of his views where he has propounded a critical, analytical and scholarly analysis of the western world.

Implementing Discussion As an Instructional Strategy to Facilitate Students Learning in a Social Studies Classroom in Pakistan

The national curriculum for social studies (2002) states that like most countries of the world, the purpose of teaching social studies in Pakistan is citizenship education. It also recommends teachers to use innovative ways of teaching such as, activity-based approach, question-answer strategy, discussion and others; which could enable students to be active and democratic citizens of Pakistan. However, in real practice most of the social studies classes are based on the teacher's lecturing or dictating notes. These strategies serve transmission and learning of the content, but do not facilitate development of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for democratic citizenship. This small scale action research is an attempt to improve my practices of the strategies of discussion in order to facilitate students in their learning of social studies. In this study, I played the dual role of a teacher and an action researcher. The data was collected through observation, reflective journals and informal talks with the principal, with the teacher and the students. The findings suggested that it takes time for a teacher to become proficient in conducting effective discussions. It indicated that lack of discussion skills and lack of sufficient background knowledge of the topics discussed could affect students' participation in discussion. Teacher's questioning and creating a nonthreatening environment are facets that further improve students' participation. Furthermore, it was found that discussion develops students' thinking, communication skills such as, active listening and agreeing or disagreeing in a constructive manner. On the basis of these findings, recommendations are drawn to suggest teachers and schools to effectively implement the discussion strategy in their classrooms.