BEATING IN ARABIC SCHOOLS

©Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

Our society is in danger already. If students of Arabic schools can engage in things like that, one wonders what could be happening in the conventional schools. Since I have started learning Sunnah, I had declared within myself that taking children to boarding schools is a dangerous mission especially in this time of ours when evils have become normal to many people. I wrote an article recently on how many children in schools are into different kinds of evils.

As far back as early 2000, what we faced in secondary school in term of boarding house experiences were so bad. I know what used to happen then must be a child's play compared to what would be happening now. There are many videos flying around on the atrocities going on. There are too many viruses around. Many of these children taken to Arabic schools are already infected with many evils, especially if they are from cities where morals are not valued. So, what they do eventually is to infect other people's children.

Nevertheless, the school would have done better if they had instructed just one person to do the beating and not as massive as we saw in the video. They didn't also take cognisance of the fact that someone can be capturing the incident. The world is now a global village. I support beating where necessary and moderate, but sometimes, it is not the best to correct the anomalies in kids and students. Beating even tends to make some kids and students become more dangerous upon their evils. Talking to them and praying hard over them are better ways of curbing the evils. Then, we should always catch them young with admonitions on Islamic moral values. Just imagine if a child understands the purport  of the statement of the Prophet صلى الله عليه: fear Allāh wherever you are. With the rate at which the video had gone viral, the so called human right watch groups would soon stand in defence of the lady deeming the beating to be inhuman without even considering what she did and its implication under the shar'iah.

The role of the Kwara State Government so far is commendable. Further investigation would reveal the root cause of the problem with a view to curb the excesses of many of our Arabic institutions who are guilty of merciless beating of their students. There are many of them like that. Their activities need to regulated. In fact, sometimes, students who didn't do anything wrong are beaten because they believe beating is a must. This kind of mindset is barbaric.

Finally, until we are all ready to live a sunnatic life that Allāh prescribes, there will always be problem. Any Arabic institution where the Sunnah is not entrenched may not achieve much in term of moral upbringing of their students. Then, parents and guardians who send their children and wards respectively to Arabic schools and still play music of different kinds, attend birthday parties, watch movies and BBN are only deceiving themselves. The impact of the Islamic education can't be felt in their children and wards, except Allāh wishes to them by His Will.

Don't be surprised if some of these Alfas beating their students are experts in the use of different kinds of alcohol for whatever purpose they use it for. It is a matter of common knowledge. Many of these students learn magic of different kinds from them. They gather them to engage in bidah prayers they might even involve sihr. There are reports that in some of the Arabic institutions, students are beaten for appearing according to Sunnah. They beat their boys for keeping their beards and wearing trousers above the ankle (nisfu saq). Many of their females students don't wear proper hijāb as prescribed in the Qur'ān and Sunnah. They beat their students for not kneeling down to greet when it is crystal clear in the Sunnah that it is harām to do that. The most respected scholars of Islām are unanimous on this. So, what are they teaching them?

Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْ بِالْعِينَةِ وَأَخَذْتُمْ أَذْنَابَ الْبَقَرِ وَرَضِيتُمْ بِالزَّرْعِ وَتَرَكْتُمُ الْجِهَادَ سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ ذُلاًّ لاَ يَنْزِعُهُ حَتَّى تَرْجِعُوا إِلَى دِينِكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ الإِخْبَارُ لِجَعْفَرٍ وَهَذَا لَفْظُهُ ‏.‏

When you enter into the 'īnah transaction, hold the tails of oxen, are pleased with agriculture, and give up conducting jihad (struggle in the way of Allah). Allāh will make disgrace prevail over you, and will not withdraw it until you return to your original religion. [Sunan Abu Dāwud, 3462]

May Allāh guide us aright.