Many institutions around the world celebrate World Teachers’ Day, believing in the importance of this category in education and educating society and contributing to its culture and development. The universal fact is that the teacher is the fundamental element of learningand developing the future generation, and it is the cornerstone in building nations and civilizations. With regard to Islamic perspective, it values and positions the teacher to the higher stature as stated in several verses in the Qur’an and Prophetic traditions.As knowledge is a valuable attribute, therefore, the holder of the flag is of high value, given what it carries of a valuable matter. The position of the teacher in the Qur’an are the lamps of the servants and the pillars of the country, and their disciples must pray for them, praise them and respect them for their hardship with them. Islam has raised the status of knowledge and the teacher, the Almighty said, ‘God will raise those among you who have believed and those who have been given knowledge by degrees.(Al-Mujadilah:11). Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has also acknowledged and appreciated the status of a teacher, stated, “The scholars are the heirs of the prophets, and the prophets did not bequeath a dinar and did not inherit them, but rather they inherited knowledge, so whoever took it took a good fortune.” (Abu Dawood). The Prophetﷺ also says: “God and his angels send blessings on the teacher of people with goodness, even the ant in its hole and the whale in the sea.”(Tirmidhi) This prophetic tradition implies a great status to the teacher that all the creations of All are praising and even supplicating of his welfare. The Holy Qur’an brought together many verses that encourage knowledge, striving for it, and flourishing it. Again, the Quran distinguishes the position of a teacher and argues, ‘Say, Are those who know and those who do not know equal?’ (Al-Zumar:09). The Prophetﷺ said, speaking about himself: “God did not make us stingy or stubborn, but He sent me as a teacher who facilitates.” (Muslim).Quran clearly highlights the piety of a knowing person and defines him as the most fearful to Allah. It states, ‘Only among His servants are the scholars who fear Allah. (Al-Fatir:28). As mentioned in the surah Al Imran verse 18, God Almighty has associated the scholars with Himself and His angels in the testimony of His oneness.While interpreting the verse, Imam Ibn Kathir praises the scholars that this is a great specialty for them, because their testimony is combined with the testimony of God Almighty, and the testimony of the honorable angels.
The words of the Prince of Poets Ahmed Shawqi in describing the traits of a teacher and explaining his virtue argues that“Stand up for the teacher and pay him respect, as he could have been a messenger”. Other poetic verses of Shawqi confirms that the teacher is the one who builds minds and souls and brings them out from ignorance to enlightenment and from darkness to light, this is evidence of God’s elevation to the people of knowledge, and that the teacher’s message is not a job but a sublime message that he implants in the hearts of his students, where God raises the people of knowledge in degrees above degrees and the saying “Knowledge is Enlightenmen” did not come from futility. While appraising the phrase “Knowledge is Enlightenment”, it is theknowledge that illuminates the path for humanity to walk the path of progress and prosperity, and it is the light that illuminates the mind of human beings to come out of the darkness of ignorance. Without knowledge, human life would remain primitive, close to the life of large animals, and that no nation can advance if it does not have a high-quality education, and if it does not continue to do so with real investment. The teacher is one of the highest and noblest people in this world, for his great role in society, so his role is never less than that of other professionals such as doctors, engineers, pharmacists and others. On the contrary, without the teacher, knowledge would not have reached people until they become what they are. They are on it now. If the world was without a teacher, ignorance and backwardness would prevail among the people, and the spread of knowledge would be limited to a very small group. The spread of knowledge would have been limited to a very small group, but the existence of the profession of the teacher has made science a beacon that shines on everyone. The teacher must always be respected and given all his material and moral rights, and honored on every occasion, and the greater the respect directed to him, the more he gives with passion and creativity; because the teacher is the end, his first and primary goal is to see his students at the forefront, and to see them excel and succeed in all.
(The author is a Research Scholar at the Department of Arabic BGSB University, Rajouri. Views are his own)