Islamic Vocational Academy
Worldly Qualifications and Divine Pleasure
Talk to students of the Islamic Vocational Academy
April 11th, 2012
by John Mohammad Butt - the head and founder of the Islamic Vocational Academy
The other day I learnt that students of the 4th semester wished to speak with me, most probably regarding the official registration and recognition of Mahad'ad-Dawa.
I decided it would be more appropriate for me to say a few words to students on this subject, rather than hold a meeting which would only serve to distract students from their studies - registering Mahad'ad-Dawa is our work not theirs and I do not know how students have become so involved in this process.
I want to say a few words to you about the establishment of Mahad'ad-Dawa, in the context of my own experience as a student of Islam, and then as a journalist and broadcaster in Afghanistan. One of my first impressions on entering Islam more than forty years ago was that scholars of Islam did their best to have some profession. They did not wish to earn money out of their teaching and preaching of Islam. This was in accordance with the Hadith that forms the basis of the mission statement of Mahad'ad-Dawa:
ما أكل أحد طعاماً خيرا من أن يأكل من عمل يده
No provision is better than that which one earns from the labour of one's own hand.
When I went from Peshawar to Deoband for acquiring Islamic knowledge, I did not have any other source of income, so I continued to do business and trade - Islamic books, attar and such-like - between Peshawar and Delhi. My teachers in Deoband applauded this. They said that doing business, and supporting oneself in this way while one was a student was the practice of Imam Abu Hanifa.
While I was still in Deoband, I became an apprentice with an Islamic scholar in Delhi who was bringing out a monthly magazine - Al-Risala - dedicated to presenting Islamic teachings in a contemporary idiom:
عصري اصلوب میں اسلامي لچریچر
I brought out Al-Risala in English. This was my first step in the field of journalism. Much of our traditional model of journalism - journalism with a message - is derived from my work with Al-Risala.
Within ten years, I had advanced as a journalist and broadcaster to senior management with the BBC where I became founder of New Home, New Life. It was here that I became acquainted with another branch of traditional journalism - storytelling in a contemporary context. When, as head of the BBC office in Peshawar, I went to Kandahar during the time of the Taliban government in 1997, the deputy head of the municipal corporation in Kandahar called New Home, New Life "tadbeer-e-manzil" - home education. His use of a Quranic term to refer to our drama made me especially happy.
Now I tell you all this to show you that my career as a broadcaster is directly related and derived from my Islamic education. I want young Islamic scholars to have the same opportunities that I had. That is why we are putting on career-oriented vocational education for madrassah graduates.
In all this time, as a student we never worried about our certificates being recognized by any government. We knew that this would never be the case. Our teachers would have shuddered if they thought that this was our intention: "Empty your minds of everything else and study," they would say to us:
خالی الذهن هو کر پڑهو
The greatest compliment they could pay to a student was, "He is a very focussed boy."
بهت یک سو لڑکا هے
This was in accordance with a Hadith that you all know:
، عن أبي هريرة ، قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "من تعلم علما مما يبتغى به وجه الله لا يتعلمه إلا ليصيب به غرضا من الدنيا لم يجد عرف الجنة يوم القيامة. "
(رواه احمد و أبو داؤد و إبن ماجة)
If anyone acquires knowledge of things by which God's good pleasure is sought, but acquires it only to get some worldly advantage, he will not experience the fragrance of paradise on the day of resurrection.
Having completed my studies in Deoband, and while pursuing my career as a journalist and broadcaster, no one ever asked to see my certificate. It was my ability that mattered.
Now please don't get get me wrong. It is not that we do not attach importance to gaining full recognition for our certificate from the government. There are people working full-time on this and there is a process that is on-going that we hope and pray will reap results. But this process is in our hands, and of course in the hands of the government. It is our job, not the job of students. Some students who went to Kabul the other day to try and accelerate this process saw for themselves the great difficulties one works under - and which we also are working under - in Afghanistan nowadays. We do not want students to have this distraction, to have to bear this load.
Your job as students is to study and to acquire a skill which will enable you to stand on your own two feet and also serve your community. This skill will stand you in good stead, with or without a recognized certificate. It is our work to do things like working with the government to ensure full registration of the Islamic Academy. Let's not confuse our roles.
April 11th, 2012
by John Mohammad Butt - the head and founder of the Islamic Vocational Academy
The other day I learnt that students of the 4th semester wished to speak with me, most probably regarding the official registration and recognition of Mahad'ad-Dawa.
I decided it would be more appropriate for me to say a few words to students on this subject, rather than hold a meeting which would only serve to distract students from their studies - registering Mahad'ad-Dawa is our work not theirs and I do not know how students have become so involved in this process.
I want to say a few words to you about the establishment of Mahad'ad-Dawa, in the context of my own experience as a student of Islam, and then as a journalist and broadcaster in Afghanistan. One of my first impressions on entering Islam more than forty years ago was that scholars of Islam did their best to have some profession. They did not wish to earn money out of their teaching and preaching of Islam. This was in accordance with the Hadith that forms the basis of the mission statement of Mahad'ad-Dawa:
ما أكل أحد طعاماً خيرا من أن يأكل من عمل يده
No provision is better than that which one earns from the labour of one's own hand.
When I went from Peshawar to Deoband for acquiring Islamic knowledge, I did not have any other source of income, so I continued to do business and trade - Islamic books, attar and such-like - between Peshawar and Delhi. My teachers in Deoband applauded this. They said that doing business, and supporting oneself in this way while one was a student was the practice of Imam Abu Hanifa.
While I was still in Deoband, I became an apprentice with an Islamic scholar in Delhi who was bringing out a monthly magazine - Al-Risala - dedicated to presenting Islamic teachings in a contemporary idiom:
عصري اصلوب میں اسلامي لچریچر
I brought out Al-Risala in English. This was my first step in the field of journalism. Much of our traditional model of journalism - journalism with a message - is derived from my work with Al-Risala.
Within ten years, I had advanced as a journalist and broadcaster to senior management with the BBC where I became founder of New Home, New Life. It was here that I became acquainted with another branch of traditional journalism - storytelling in a contemporary context. When, as head of the BBC office in Peshawar, I went to Kandahar during the time of the Taliban government in 1997, the deputy head of the municipal corporation in Kandahar called New Home, New Life "tadbeer-e-manzil" - home education. His use of a Quranic term to refer to our drama made me especially happy.
Now I tell you all this to show you that my career as a broadcaster is directly related and derived from my Islamic education. I want young Islamic scholars to have the same opportunities that I had. That is why we are putting on career-oriented vocational education for madrassah graduates.
In all this time, as a student we never worried about our certificates being recognized by any government. We knew that this would never be the case. Our teachers would have shuddered if they thought that this was our intention: "Empty your minds of everything else and study," they would say to us:
خالی الذهن هو کر پڑهو
The greatest compliment they could pay to a student was, "He is a very focussed boy."
بهت یک سو لڑکا هے
This was in accordance with a Hadith that you all know:
، عن أبي هريرة ، قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "من تعلم علما مما يبتغى به وجه الله لا يتعلمه إلا ليصيب به غرضا من الدنيا لم يجد عرف الجنة يوم القيامة. "
(رواه احمد و أبو داؤد و إبن ماجة)
If anyone acquires knowledge of things by which God's good pleasure is sought, but acquires it only to get some worldly advantage, he will not experience the fragrance of paradise on the day of resurrection.
Having completed my studies in Deoband, and while pursuing my career as a journalist and broadcaster, no one ever asked to see my certificate. It was my ability that mattered.
Now please don't get get me wrong. It is not that we do not attach importance to gaining full recognition for our certificate from the government. There are people working full-time on this and there is a process that is on-going that we hope and pray will reap results. But this process is in our hands, and of course in the hands of the government. It is our job, not the job of students. Some students who went to Kabul the other day to try and accelerate this process saw for themselves the great difficulties one works under - and which we also are working under - in Afghanistan nowadays. We do not want students to have this distraction, to have to bear this load.
Your job as students is to study and to acquire a skill which will enable you to stand on your own two feet and also serve your community. This skill will stand you in good stead, with or without a recognized certificate. It is our work to do things like working with the government to ensure full registration of the Islamic Academy. Let's not confuse our roles.