By Amal Al-Sibai
Teachers are shaping the minds and personalities of future generations. Teaching should be acknowledged as the most challenging and respected career choice, vital to the social, cultural, and economic health of any nation.
A teacher’s job is not simply to stand in front of a classroom and deliver a lecture. As any good teacher knows, a teacher must wear many hats: counselor, mentor, nutritionist, evaluator, interior designer, artist, and someone who has the best interest of every child at heart.
Rather than being confined to teaching certain subject matter, teachers must also inspire a love of learning. They must be leaders and set a positive example in their knowledge of subject matter and in their character. The most respected teachers have discovered how to make students passionate participants in the learning process.
The teaching profession should be held in the highest regard, way up there alongside doctors.
Respecting teachers is part of our faith.
We can argue that the survival of Islam in its most difficult and earliest times when Muslims were being harshly persecuted was made possible by an outstanding teacher. The success of the migration of the Prophet (peace be upon him) from Makkah to Madinah, and the spread of Islam to regions outside of Makkah were made possible thanks to a teacher.
Not many of us know that the very first teacher in Islam, second only to the Prophet (peace be upon him), was a young man of eighteen years, Musab bin Umair.
Musab was from one of the wealthiest families of Quraish in Makkah. He had grown up in affluence, luxury, and comfort. He wore the finest of clothes; his garments were so long that they dragged behind him when he walked. He wore shoes that were especially made for him from Yemen. He wore scented oils that people could smell his fragrance before he even walked into a room. Musab was extremely handsome, and he was the apple of his mother’s eye.
When he heard that a group of people had been gathering in Al-Arqam house to listen to Prophet Muhammad preach a new religion, he was intrigued. Those people, the Muslims as they called themselves, followed this new religion which transformed their lives.
Musab went to Al-Arqam house and he found Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) speaking softly, yet with an unwavering conviction, to the people. He (peace be upon him) was saying that this is but a transient world and that there is an everlasting afterlife, heaven and hell. Musab knew in his heart that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was speaking the truth and that he (peace be upon him) was delivering a message from God.
Musab bin Umair accepted Islam but he kept his faith hidden at first. He secretly went to the meetings at Al-Arqam to study the Qur’an. He quickly became known among the Muslims as one of the best students of the Holy Qur’an and among the most proficient in recitation and understanding its meanings.
On several occasions, he was spotted praying and walking to or from Al-Arqam house until word spread that Musab bin Umair was a Muslim.
His mother, Khunaas bint Maalik chained her son in the house to coerce him to revert back to their ways, the worship of idols. Musab managed to escape and he fled to Abyssinia and returned several months later to Makkah, only to find that the persecution of the Muslims persisted and had even intensified. Musab’s family threatened to cut him off from all of the family’s wealth and leave him with nothing, but still he remained firm in his belief in Allah and devotion to Islam. Indeed he was left with nothing but the clothes on his back, but he did not turn away from the true path of Islam.
A group of 12 men came from Yathrib (Madinah) to Makkah to pledge their allegiance to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They also asked Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to send someone who will return with them to Madinah and teach them about Islam.
This teacher would be the first teacher in Islam, the first ambassador in Islam. This teacher must teach the people of Madinah about Islam, teach verses from the Holy Qur’an, teach them an entirely new way of life, and prepare the community of Madinah to receive Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Muslims fleeing from Makkah. He would plant the seeds from which the new Muslim community would grow in strength.
Who did Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) select to carry out the role of a great, influential teacher?
It was Musab bin Umair, and he was eighteen years old at the time. He traveled to Madinah to teach the people about Islam. He was intelligent, calm, eloquent, and well-spoken. He had a beautiful voice when reciting the Holy Qur’an, and he educated the people of Madinah through the Qur’an. When people asked him questions about Islam, he answered them by reciting verses from the Qur’an relevant to their questions. He understood people and had a way of reaching their hearts.
On one occasion, a leader of a large tribe in Madinah was angered with this young newcomer, Musab, who was changing the ways of his people and denouncing their religion. This man, Usaid bin Hudair, carried his spear and hurried over to Musab who was sitting amidst a crowd of people, calling them to worship Allah.
Usaid angrily approached Musab and threatened to expel him from the city.
With surprising composure, Musab said to him, “Won’t you sit down and listen? If our matter pleases you, accept it, and if you hate it, we will stop calling you to what you hate.”
Usaid was a man of reason and logic so he agreed to listen. Musab started reciting the Holy Qur’an, and he explained to him about Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
An overwhelming feeling of peace and clarity overcame Usaib and he announced his acceptance of Islam.
Musab was extremely influential. Scholars say that through Musab’s efforts, around 8,000 people in Madinah embraced Islam by the time that the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated from Makkah to Madinah.
Ever since he had become a Muslim, Musab was filled with the energy and fervor to be of service to the religion of Allah. He fought in the Battle of Badr alongside the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the great companions.
In the Battle of Uhud, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) assigned Musab bin Umair to carry the Muslim flag. Towards the end of the battle, the disbelievers came in close contact with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), putting him in grave danger. On realizing this, Musab raised the flag high and shouted, “Allah is the greatest!” to divert the enemies’ attention to himself, allowing Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to escape. His plan worked. Musab was attacked, and his right hand was severed. He held the flag up with his left hand, and his left hand was cut off. Eventually Musab was dealt a number of blows and was hit by a spear and was martyred.
This was a man who, by teaching people in Madinah, ensured the survival of Islam and he set the stage for Islam to flourish and spread to all corners of the world. And until this day the name Musab bin Umair is mentioned as one of the best teachers in history.
Food for Thought
Teachers work on average 12 to 16 hours per day. That is broken up into 8 hours for the standard school day, plus 1 hour before school to prepare, and more time after school to offer extra help to those who need it. About 3 to 5 hour is spent planning, grading, answering e-mails, making phone calls, attending meetings and teacher training, and holding teacher-parent conferences.
When comparing the job of teachers across the world, according to a report in The Guardian, Chinese teachers are treated with the greatest respect.
A study of 30 countries by Gems Education Solutions found that teachers in Switzerland are paid the highest annual salary, an average of $68,000. Switzerland is followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in terms of having highly paid teachers.
The country with the least paid teachers was found to be Indonesia.
The student to teacher ratio is highest in Brazil; 32 students to every one teacher.
The student to teacher ratio is lowest in Portugal; 8 students to every one teacher.
The UN estimates that 8 million extra teachers will be needed worldwide by 2015.
The Huffington Post reported that only 5% of 1.85 million high school students surveyed in the US in the year 2014 declared education as their college major of choice.
Some of the most famously successful and influential people have credited their success to the efforts and inspiration of a great teacher in their lives growing up, including Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and President Bill Clinton.
