The first teacher, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, observed a number of noble educational principles; He was extremely sublime in morals, and mental perfection, and that in his comment on what was issued by some of the companions, it made the guidance settle in their hearts and remained in front of their insights; Because of the noble educational meanings associated with it, and these are some of the lofty principles that the Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, used:
A – Encouraging and praising the benefactor:
To become more active and interested in knowledge and work; As he did with Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari – may God be pleased with him – when he praised his recitation, and his sweet voice with the Holy Qur’an. On the authority of Abu Musa – may God be pleased with him – that the Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: “If you had seen me listening to your recitation yesterday! You have been given one of the flutes of David’s family” [Bukhari (5048) and Muslim (793)].
B – Compassion for the sinner and not punishing him:
He, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, appreciates people’s circumstances, takes into account their conditions, excuses them for their ignorance, gentle in correcting their mistakes, and in teaching them what is right. There is no doubt that this fills the heart of the advised person with the love of the message, its author, the desire to preserve the fact, the guidance and its reporting, and the hearts of the attendees that admired this attitude, the thin guidance is designed to preserve the incident in all its circumstances; Among that is what Muawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami narrated, may God be pleased with him, who said: “While I was praying along with God’s Messenger a man in the company sneezed, and I said, “God have mercy on you!” The people gave me disapproving looks, so I said, “Woe onto me! What do you mean by looking at me?” They began to strike their hands on their thighs, and when I saw them urging me to be silent [I became angry],1 but I said nothing. When God’s Messenger finished his prayer (and I declare that neither before him nor after him have I seen a teacher who gave better instruction than he for whom I would give my father and mother as ransom), I swear by God that he did not scold, beat, or revile me, but said, “No talk to others is fitting during this prayer, for it consists only of glorifying God, declaring His greatness, and recitation of the Qur’an,” [Muslim (537), Abu Dawood (930 and 931) and An-Nasa’i (3/14-18) and Ahmad (5/447)]. So look – may God have mercy on you! To this great ease in education! And look at the effect of this kindness on the soul of Muawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami, may God be pleased with him, and his influence on his good education, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him!
C- Not declaring, and making do with insinuation in what is slandered:
For what that contain in taking into account the feelings of the wrongdoer, and emphasizing the generality of guidance; among that is what happened with Abdullah bin Al-Lutbiya, may God be pleased with him, when the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used him for the alms of Banu Sulaym, so he accepted gifts from the alms-giving. On the authority of Abu Humaid al-Saadi, may God be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of Allah (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) appointed a man from the Azd tribe called Ibn al-Utbiyya, in charge of Sadaqat to be received from Banu Sulaim. When he came (back), the Messenger of Allah (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) asked him to render his account. He said: This wealth is for you (ie for the public treasury) and this is a gift (presented to me). The Messenger of Allah (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) said: You should have remained in the house of your father and your mother, until your gift came to you if you spoke the truth; then he addressed us. He praised God and extolled Him, and afterwards said: I responsible appoint a man from you to a post sharing with him authority that God has entrusted to me, and he comes to me saying: This wealth is for you (ie for the public treasury ) and this is a gift presented to me. Why did he not remain in the house of his father and his mother and his gift came to him, if he was truthful? By God, any one of you will not take anything from (the public funds) without any justification, but will meet his Lord carrying it on himself on the Day of judgment. I will recognise any one of you meeting Allah and carrying a growing camel, or a cow bellowing or a goat bleating. Then he raised his hands so high that whiteness of his armpits could be seen. Then he said: O my Lord, I have conveyed (Thy Commandments). The narrator says: My eyes saw (the Prophet standing in that pose) and my ears heard (what he said). I will recognise any one of you meeting Allah and carrying a growing camel, or a cow bellowing or a goat bleating. Then he raised his hands so high that whiteness of his armpits could be seen. Then he said: O my Lord, I have conveyed (Thy Commandments). The narrator says: My eyes saw (the Prophet standing in that pose) and my ears heard (what he said). I will recognise any one of you meeting Allah and carrying a growing camel, or a cow bellowing or a goat bleating. Then he raised his hands so high that whiteness of his armpits could be seen. Then he said: O my Lord, I have conveyed (Thy Commandments). The narrator says: My eyes saw (the Prophet standing in that pose) and my ears heard (what he said).” [Bukhari (6979) and Muslim (1832/27)].
d – anger and violence; When it is important:
That is, such as if a legitimate mistake occurred on the part of people who have a special circumstance, or the error exceeded the limits of individual and partial, and it represented the beginning of sedition, or deviation from the method. However, this anger is directed anger, without being wasted or extravagant. but as needed; Among that was his anger, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, when Omar came to him; and with him a copy of the Torah; For him, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, to read it, it was narrated that Jabir ibn Abdullah, may God be pleased with them that: Omar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, brought the Messenger of God, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, a copy of the Torah, and he said: O Messenger of God! This is a copy of the Torah. He remained silent, so he began to recite and the face of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, changed. Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, said: May the bereaved be bereft of you! What do you see in the face of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him? Omar looked at the face of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: I seek refuge in God from the wrath of God and the wrath of his Messenger, we are pleased with God as our Lord, with Islam as our religion, and with Muhammad as a prophet. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said : “By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad! If Moses appeared to you, and you followed him and leave me; You would have strayed from the right path, had he been alive, and realized my prophecy; he would follow me” [Ahmad (3/338 and 387) and al-Bazzar (124)].
Among that is his anger, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, at the lengthening of some of his companions, who are imams, after he, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, forbade that; Because of the hardship and difficulty it involves, and the temptation it leads to for some of the weak, the excused, and the people with work, it was narrated that Abu Masoud Al-Ansari, may God be pleased with him, said: A man came and said, “O Allah’s Messenger (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him)! By Allah, I keep away from the morning prayer only because So and so prolongs the prayer when he leads us in it.” The narrator said, “I never saw Allah’s Apostle more furious in giving advice than he was at that time. He then said, “Some of you make people dislike good deeds (the prayer). So whoever among you leads the people in prayer should shorten it because among them are the weak, the old and the needy.” [Bukhari (90) and Muslim (466)].
And from that is his anger at the quarrels of the Companions, and their arguments over fate. On the authority of Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aas, may God be pleased with them both, he said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came out to his Companions when they were disputing about the Divine Decree, and it was as if pomegranate seeds had burst on his face (i.e. turned red) because of anger. He said: ‘Have you been commanded to do this, or were you created for this purpose? You are using one part of the Qur’an against another part, and this is what led to the doom of the nations who came before you.'” ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr said: “I was never happy to have missed a gathering with the Messenger of Allah (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as I was to have missed that gathering” [Ibn Majah (85)].
Among that is his anger, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, when the Companions go against his command and insist on exaggerating the religion and stressing themselves, thinking that this is better than what they were commanded, and closer to God. On the authority of Aisha, may God be pleased with her , she said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was if he commands them; He commanded them to do what they could do, they said: We are not like you, O Messenger of God! God has forgiven you your previous and future sins, so he becomes angry until anger is visible on his face, then says: “The most pious of you and the most knowledgeable of you about God is I” [Bukhari (20)].
The anger of the Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, in these situations was nothing but a guiding and educational act. To incite the Companions to be vigilant, and to warn them against falling into these mistakes, the preacher “would be in the form of an angry person; For his place requires the burden of being disturbed; Because it is in the form of a warning, and the same applies to the teacher if he denounces from the one who learns from him a misunderstanding and the like. Because it may assist more to accept it from him, and this is not necessary for everyone; Rather, it varies according to the conditions of the learners.”
e- Taking advantage of some facts to clarify and teach appropriate meanings:
Certain events may happened in front of the Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, so he used what he saw to resemble a specific meaning that he wanted to teach to the Companions, and likened it with an appropriate directive that he wanted to transmit to his companions, and then this meaning, and that guidance is clearer in their souls, may God be pleased with them; Among this is what was narrated by Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, who said: A captivity came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and a woman from captivity would milk her breasts for watering, if she found a boy in captivity; She took him and attached him to her stomach, and nursed him. The Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Do you see this woman throwing her child into the fire?” We said: No. And she is able to throw him away, so he said: “God is more merciful to His servants than this one to her son!” [Al-Bukhari (5999) and Muslim (2754)].
So he, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, took advantage of the occasion present in his hands with his companions, in which the tenderness of a mother who lost her infant was witnessed when she found him, and he likened it with the mercy of God Almighty; To make people know the mercy of the Lord of people to His servants.”
This article follows the series ” Education in the Civil Covenant “
Educational methods and principles used in the Madinah era (1)
Educational methods and principles us
