In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Ever Merciful.

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Teach them religion

I think what we should do is that Maulvi Sayyed Muhammad Ahsan or Maulvi Hakim Nurud-Din should teach the students the Holy Quran, the Hadees and tell them how to answer the objections raised by the opponents; this should be done through verbal teaching. This programme should be acted upon for at least two hours and on a holiday. I can tell you with certainty that all along, it has been the verbal teaching that has been carried on and the science of medicine has also been taught verbally. When the students are taught verbally they get the practice in talking specially when the teacher is a good speaker. Verbal teaching at times is so beneficial that a thousands books cannot do the same. That being the case arrangement must be made for this kind of teaching courses. These programmes should be carried on during holidays. The Holy Quran should be read out to their hearing; its meaning and its commentary should also be a part of the programme; the students must be told of the supporting proofs from the books of Hadees. They should also be told how to answer the objections raised by the Christians and at the same time they should be made aware of the hollowness of the Christian teachings; they should be made well versed in these subjects. Likewise they should be told of the objections raised by the atheists and the Aryas.

All this should be done systematically and in a graded manner. That is, they should be taught one thing in one week and another thing in the next week. If proper arrangement is made for this, I am sure a lot will have been done and they will be well prepared to go into the field. Just to teach them the Arabic language cannot do them much of good. What was the influence of this language over the people before the birth of the Holy Prophet (sallallaho alaihi wa sallam) ? And what is the influence of this language now on the Syrians and the Egyptians. Of course it is true that if one knows Arabic nicely, he can make it serve the Holy Quran and one would be able to know the meanings and the significance of the Holy Quran better. Since the Holy Quran and the Hadees are in Arabic language, it is very essential that this language must be learnt. He who does not know this language cannot understand the Holy Quran and Hadees. Such a person cannot even know whether a certain verse is there in the Holy Quran or not. A certain person was having controversy with a Christian Missionary and he told that "Lau laka lama" was a verse of the Holy Quran. The Christian Missionary asked him to show it in the Holy Quran. The man was put to great shame (for this is not a verse of the Holy Quran)

One cannot draw full benefit from just reading the translation of the Holy Quran. The branches of knowledge which are subservient to the Holy Quran should also be acquired. The Holy Quran and the Hadees should be studied with full understanding of their meaning as well as significance; the students should also be told about the correctness of the beliefs of this dispensation. Some books should also be compiled to help the students in these branches of knowledge.

If this programme is acted upon, I would feel that my aims have been achieved to a large extent.

It should be noted that the subjects have to be taught according to a fixed time table and then the students are to be tested in all that they have been taught.

(Malfoozat Vol. 8, pg. 329)