The book that all of these techniques are based on, which in sha Allah I recommend you get,

is called Ar-Rasool Al-Muallim (The ro!het, The Teacher" by Abu #attah Abu $huddah rahimahullah% This book is in Arabic and you can find a lot of these techniques in other older books of Arabic% &ome contem!orary authors ha'e also com!iled this information and written their books in a way that is easier to gras!% All of these techniques are taken from the books of &unnah and the &huru(- the &harh of those books of &unnah% )ismillah Technique *+, -o .ot )ore the /istener 0a1rat Aisha radi Allahu anha said that when RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would s!eak, a !erson listening to him, sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, could count the words on his own fingers% The !eo!le could count that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said this, this, this, and this% 2hen I studied in Madinah 3ni'ersity, I would not say, 4I(m going to memori1e this hadith%5 Instead, I would hear the hadith once or twice, then, if someone asked me what the daleel for something is, I could immediately say the hadith because I had automatically memori1ed it due to its shortness, directness, and the clarity of words that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam used% That was the way that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam s!oke6 when he would s!eak, he would not gi'e a marathon lecture% I do not know if you ha'e e'er been to a fourhour lecture, but if I were to ask you to recount from the beginning what the s!eaker was discussing, I(m sure you would not know% Afterwards, all you would remember is the !ain of a four-hour lecture% There is a reason why !eo!le do marathon lectures, If the s!eaker says, 47kay e'erybody, +8-minute break, go ha'e some water or some tea,5 then the audience will lea'e and not come back% &o the s!eaker instead decides to 9ust e:tend it another half hour, and another half hour, and another half hour, because he is afraid !eo!le will lea'e% 2hat that s!eaker does not understand is that the !eo!le are not listening anymore and they will not understand what is being said% They are only staying out of res!ect for the !erson% The method I use to determine if I ha'e bored my audience is to notice how quickly they lea'e after I conclude% That indicates how much !ain they went through in the e:tension of the lecture% In &ahih Al-)ukhari, Imam )ukhari has a cha!ter titled something to the effect of The ;ha!ter of )eing Moderate 2hen Teaching% In this cha!ter he gi'es the hadith of how the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would not always consistently gi'e the !eo!le a lecture% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would gi'e a lecture occasionally, then there would be a time when he would not s!eak, and then there would be another lecture% As a result, e'ery time the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam s!oke, it was a s!ecial occasion% In the story of Ibn Mas(ud radi Allahu anhu < and in the olden days the !eo!le were much stronger as students so they could go the entire day learning < Ibn Masud radi Allahu anhu used to teach on Thursday e'ery week% The !eo!le wished that he, radi Allahu anhu, would teach e'ery single day% 0e said, 4I could do this, I could teach you e'ery single day, but this is not how the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam taught us and I(m afraid that I will bore you and you will not learn%5 I used to do a halaqa e'ery two weeks and some !eo!le would tell me do it e'ery single week and some would ask for one e'ery single day% There were always !eo!le who wanted

to do it more often and I would ask them, 40a'e you come e'ery two weeks to the class=5 And they would say, 4.o%5 I would say in re!ly, 4Then what would make me belie'e that you would come e'ery week, if I increase the number of halaqas= In fact, you would miss more halaqas than you are missing right now%5 #urthermore, when I was doing these lectures sometimes there would be a s!ecial e'ent occurring at the same time so !eo!le would choose to attend the s!ecial e'ent rather than the weekly halaqa which occurs regularly% &o it can be hel!ful to cou!le the weekly lecture with a s!ecial e'ent% #or e:am!le, once, I announced that the ne:t halaqa would be titled >ourney to Mas9id Al-Aqsa, A ower oint resentation based on !hotos from my tra'els% As a result, the halaqa that normally had fi'e or ten !eo!le was a full mas9id of about ?88 !eo!le% #our hundred !eo!le, 9ust because it was a s!ecial e'ent and not 9ust a boring consistent acti'ity% I am not saying the consistent things are not im!ortant6 indeed they are im!ortant, but they ha'e to be cou!led with s!ecial e'ents e'ery now and then% 0ow can you identify if the audience is bored= -uring a lecture these are the !eo!le who are slee!ing% @'en if a !erson is tired for some reason other than boredom, if the lecture is interesting enough, he will tell himself, 4@'en though I am tired, I will stay awake and listen to the lecture%5 Rather than slee!ing, other !eo!le who are bored will read a news!a!er during the lecture% I ha'e actually seen this ha!!en during a khutbah, and the !erson was sitting right beside the imam% 2e can blame that !erson for not !aying attention and for being disres!ectful to the lecturer and so on, but that is not always the case% It might be that the lecturer has to change his technique so that he can hold his audience(s attention, in sha Allah, during that lecture% Another way to determine if a !erson is not !aying attention in a lecture is that his eyes are no longer focused on the s!eaker% &o if you see e'erybody in a lecture looking around, looking for the clock, and so on, that means that they are not !aying attention% The s!eaker has to either sto! talking or do something to ca!ture their attention after that% Technique *A, &!eak at the Intellectual /e'el of the /istener 2hen an indi'idual is s!eaking to someone, he should be aware of how much that !erson already knows% 7therwise, if he s!eaks at a le'el that the !erson does not understand, it will be a fitnah for that !erson% It could e'en go as far as to shake the !erson(s eman or !ush him away from Islam because he is e:!osed to an argument that he cannot yet com!rehend% In )ukhari we find a cha!ter titled, Teaching Bnowledge to &ome and .ot to 7thers for #ear of Them Misunderstanding% The hadith regarding this issue is the hadith of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam when he told Muadh radi Allahu anhu, 42hoe'er says la ilaaha illAllah Muhammad ur RasulAllah sincerely from his heart will enter !aradise%5 The com!anion radi Allahu anhu said to RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, 4&houldn(t I tell e'eryone=5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4.o, because they will begin to lean, they will

become la1y in their deen after that%5 /ater the com!anion radi Allahu anhu did e:!lain the hadith, which many of you know% &o, what was the !roblem in telling e'eryone in the first !lace= The !roblem was, as the ulama mention, that some !eo!le would think that if they 9ust said la ilaaha illAllah, only by their words, they would enter >annah no matter what actions they do, e'en committing shirk, which is not true% 7n the other hand, these !eo!le do not understand that if someone is sincere to la ilaaha illAllah Muhammad ur RasulAllah then he will be the best Muslim% &imilarly, Ibn Ra9ab rahimahullah says that facilitations, called rukhsa in Arabic, 4should not be !assed on to the lay !eo!le because these !eo!le would then take them as the com!lete &unnah%5 #or e:am!le, if there is not enough water, it is !ermissible to only wash the body !arts one time rather than three times in wudu, but the !reference, or afdal, in normal situations is to wash three times% Imagine if you taught this rukhsa to a child6 you(ll see that the child fore'er will only be washing once, and this is not the &unnah of rasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam% That child does that because his understanding isn(t u! to the le'el where he reali1es that this is only a rukhsa and not what we should be doing regularly% Along the same lines as s!eaking at the intellectual le'el of a !erson, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would also res!ond to !eo!le according to their unique situations% #or e:am!le, in the hadith of the !erson that asked the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam about kissing while fasting, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ga'e !ermission to one !erson and did not gi'e !ermission to another% 2hen they asked about this, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said that the difference was that one !erson was an elder and the other was a newlywed% The elder has more control o'er himself com!ared with the newlywed% Thus, the ruling of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam changed based on the situation of the !erson who was asking% &imilarly, des!ite all of the aayaat and ahadith s!eaking about encouragement of 9ihaad fi sabilillah, there is a hadith about a !erson a!!roaching the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam wanting to go for 9ihaad, and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked him, 4Are your !arents ali'e=5 3!on hearing that they were, he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4$o and do 9ihaad in the kind treatment of your !arents%5 &o the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam looked at the situation of the !erson who was asking and saw that he might not be the best candidate to be doing 9ihaad% In his case, there was another 9ihaad, something more !referable in his s!ecific case, that would be more rewarded by Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala% In order to be able to answer a !erson according to his situation, the one gi'ing ad'ice or teaching should know who it is who is asking the question% &ometimes when someone asks me a question, the first thing I do is ask about C questions in re!ly% #or e:am!le, I might ask, 42hat country are you from=5 and some !eo!le might misunderstand why I(m asking the question% )ut when you understand the nationality of a !erson, there are also different cultures that come with that nationality, which hel! you to understand where that !erson is coming from% &ometimes someone will ask a question regarding a sim!le issue in Islam, but the one gi'ing a res!onse may reali1e that because of focusing too much on the sim!le issue, the

!erson is missing out on a lot of the furood and could be focusing on something more im!ortant instead% #or e:am!le, if someone asked me how to gi'e da(wah to con'ince someone of the im!ortance of using miswak, I would first ask, 4-oes this !erson !ray=5 3!on hearing that this brother doesn(t e'en !ray I would say, 4True you should use miswak, but work on the salah and talk to this !erson about that%5 That is the fiqh of understanding the !erson who is asking% Technique *D, 3se Euestions and -ebate In the book of &unnah, you will find that using questions and debate is one of the most !o!ular techniques that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam used% 7ne way that we are used to seeing this technique used is in schools by teachers% A teacher can make a statement to a child and the child will not learn because he 9ust has to memori1e what is being said% )ut, when a teacher e'okes the child(s thinking and asks, 42hat do you all think about this,5 and good teachers know that this is the way to teach, the child learns to make conclusions on his own% If children are sim!ly told something, then they will forget what was said% &o, in a well-known hadith the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked his com!anions, 42hat would be the situation of someone who has a ri'er at his door and e'eryday, fi'e times a day he comes out and he takes a bath in that ri'er= At the end of the day would he ha'e any dirt on himself=5 They res!onded, 4There would be no dirt on him, 7 RasulAllah%5 Then the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4&imilarly there are the fi'e salawat, cleansing the !erson in this way%5 &o he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked them the question and they were able to make a meaningful conclusion, radi Allahu anhum% In another hadith, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked, 42ho is the Muslim=5 2e know the common definition- one who has submitted to Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala% 0owe'er, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam res!onded with the literal meaning of the word salim, saying, 4The Muslim is the one who other !eo!le are at !eace from his hands and his tongue%5 Then the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked, 42ho is the muha9ir=5

The !eo!le res!onded, 4The one who emigrated from Makkah to Madinah%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam re!lied, 4The !erson who emigrates and goes away from those things that Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala forbade%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam then !osed another question, 42ho is the bankru!t !erson=5 Today we would say a !erson who does not ha'e money is the bankru!t !erson6 our focus is always on money% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4It is the !erson who comes on the -ay of >udgment with all these good deeds, but he is hit and cursed and his good deeds start being taken from him until he has no good deeds left and he goes bankru!t% Then he starts getting the bad deeds of the !eo!le he hurt and he is thrown into the 0ellfire%5 &o again it was a debate and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was doing a back and forth question and answer with the !eo!le he was s!eaking to% I know in a lot khutbahs or when we gi'e lectures the s!eaker may not do this, or a teacher in an Islamic school, or a

!arent to their children might not s!eak like this, they might not ask questions% )ut subhan Allah these questions are so im!ortant% I ha'e seen books written on how to create the question so that it will !ro'oke the thinking of the !erson% I will gi'e you an e:am!le of two children% 7ne of the children is !laying with a toy and says, 4My toy, my toy,5 and the other child starts crying, waiting for the !arents to come% 2hat ha!!ens is that most !arents would come and take the toy from the first child, who has been hogging the toy and taking it the whole time, and say, 4.o, you ha'e been !laying with it the whole time and its time for this other child to !lay with it%5 &o it(s ri!!ed out of the child(s hand, gi'en to the second child, and the first child will start crying 9ust as loud, or louder, than the child who was crying earlier% Then when the !arents are gone, what will he do= 0e will take his fist and knock out the child who got the toy% Then the toy gets dro!!ed and they both get in trouble from the !arents% This is how this ty!e of situation usually gets resol'ed% In a book called 0ow To Raise a Thinking ;hild, the author gi'es another scenario of what a !arent could do% If the !arent or the teacher goes u! to that child, let(s call him Faid, and says calmly, 4Faid, is it fair that you !lay with the toy all the time and Amr !lays with it for no time=5 Again, this is said 'ery calmly and !olitely% 2hat will the child answer= 0ow can the child answer= 0e has to answer in fairness% If he says, 4Ges it is fair, it is my toy,5 9ust re!eat, 4Is it fair that you !lay with the toy the whole time and Amr does not get to !lay with it any of the time=5 This forces the child to think about what he has done% I know a lot of Islamic school teachers who, when a student is talking in class, will say harshly, 42hy are you talking in class=5 -oes that teacher really care about the answer= .o, the teacher does not care about the answer% This is an incorrect a!!roach to the situation% If you are going to ask a question, then you need to listen to the answer or e'en set u! a list of !ossible solutions% Ask the child for e:am!le, 4Are you talking in class because you are bored or are you talking in class because you ha'e something to say=5 It could be either of the two, so the child might say, 4.o, I am talking in class because I wanted to know what you were saying%5 Gou would !ro'oke an answer from the !erson and he will start thinking about what you are saying% That is the !ower of asking the !ro!er questions and getting the audience thinking% Again, if you ask a question then listen to the answer and gi'e the !erson a chance to res!ond% 7therwise, if we raise our children on rhetorical questions like 42hy are you talking in class= $et outH5 not allowing them to s!eak, then they will not learn how to !ro!erly answer questions and they will not be able to think critically% They will 9ust think, 47h boy, I am in trouble,5 and they will not use their minds% Technique *?, 3se Analogies The fourth technique of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is using analogies% 2hen gi'ing e:am!le of fard (obligatory" actions, I often make the analogy of cash fard and credit fard, which are terms I made u!% &omething that is cash fard refers to an action that you ha'e to do immediately% &omething that is credit fard is fard fiddhimma, meaning it must be made u! later and it is owed to Allah in the meantime% The e:am!le for this is if a !erson is tra'eling in Ramadan% @'en in a state of tra'eling, it is fard for that !erson to fast, but it is fard fid-dhimmah6 he is not eternally e:em!t from that fast, but rather it is owed% In other words, that fast he missed due to tra'eling is on debt to Allah suhaanahu wa ta aala% Therefore, after Ramadan he has to make it u! because it maintains its fard status% I call this a credit fard% 7n the other hand, cash fard is something that a !erson has to do right away% #or e:am!le, if someone misses fa9r, he thinks it is a credit fard - that he automatically gets an e:tra si: hours to !ray fa9r - so he !rays it at ++,CI a%m% e'en though he has been awake and ha'ing breakfast% 0e does not reali1e that he has to do it

right away% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa &allam said that the commandment is that a !erson has to !ray it as soon as he wakes u! or as soon as he remembers that he missed the !rayer% I made this analogy in an 3sool Al-#iqh class that I taught, and I noticed that on the e:am the students started using the terms cash fard and credit fard to describe 'arious situations% I said, 4.o, I made u! those terms%5 And they said, 4I don(t remember a lot of things from class, but I do remember cash fard and credit fard%5 I use other similar analogies like football field fard, community fard, and !ersonal fard because we think of the Arabic terms like $reek terms6 we do not understand the true meaning behind the words% )ut an Arab !erson actually understands fid-dhimmah as something that is owed,while the !erson who does not know Arabic will 9ust memori1e it as a term without a meaning% &o, because I used analogies that the students could relate to, they were able to gras! the meaning and continue to use the knowledge after the class% An e:am!le from the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is the hadith of the woman who came and asked him sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam about her mother who made an oath to do 0a99 but then died% &he asked the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, 4&hould I do 0a99 on her behalf=5 .ormally someone would 9ust answer with a fatwa, 4Ges you ha'e to do 0a99 on her behalf,5 but the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4If your mother had any debts, would you !ay them on her behalf=5 The woman re!lied, 4Ges%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4The debt owed to Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala is more worthy of being fulfilled and !aid off5 ()ukhari"% I am sure many of you, when you now read this hadith, understand the seriousness of fulfilling the oath of 0a99 for one(s !arent who has !assed away, because the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam com!ared it to a real financial debt that a !erson would ha'e to !ay off% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would also often com!are many of the ahadith to Mount 3hud% Today someone might gi'e an e:am!le com!aring something to the weight of Mount 3hud, but since many !eo!le ha'e not seen Mount 3hud, they will not understand the analogy% )ut when the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would say it to someone, all that !erson had to do was listen to the ro!het and he would know what the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was talking about% There was no tall building, no 0ilton and no &heraton blocking the 'iew, so they could look directly and see Mount 3hud and see 9ust how enormous was the reward the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was talking about% It is im!ortant to understand that analogies ha'e to gi'en in the a!!ro!riate conte:t and with

the audience in mind% #or e:am!le, when I was young, some !erson came and started gi'ing us an e:am!le saying, 4Imagine if you are boiling milk%5 And then I said, 42e don(t boil milk here6 they boil our milk for us%5 )ut ob'iously he had a different understanding because he was coming from a different country% 0e went on, 4Imagine if you(re boiling milk and someone dro!s a dro!let of urine into the milk%5 2e cried in res!onse, 4@wwwww,5 and I said, 4.umber one, we don(t boil our milk and number two, nobody dro!s urine into a !ot of milk%5 I knew what the !erson was trying to say, but no one could com!rehend this analogy because this situation does not ha!!en here% 0owe'er, subhan Allah, that same situation could ha'e been described using a similar yet slightly different analogy% The analogy is where you are at an iftar or dinner and you finish your glass of coke but there is a little bit of coke left when someone says, 4Gou want some water=5 &o the !erson !ours you water in the same glass and the water is brown and the !erson is like, 47h noH I didn(t know there was coke in that cu!%5 This is the e:act same analogy but stated in terms that the !eo!le can com!rehend 'ersus something that they cannot com!rehend% This will make the difference in them understanding what you say% Technique *C, 3se -iagrams or -rawings The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam taught !eo!le to use drawings on the earth, or on the dust% 7nce the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam made a straight line through the sand and after that he made lines to the right and lines to the left, and then he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned 'erses relating to the sabeel (way" of Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala, 4And do not follow the other !aths as it will distract you and di'ide you from the !ath of Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said the 'erse and the !eo!le were looking down at the drawing in the sand% &o, when a teacher is e:!laining something, if he e'er gets the chance to make a diagram of what he is talking about, the chance of the students who are 'isual learners remembering things will increase% If there is a lecture that is only audio, meaning the !eo!le are 9ust listening and not interacting, then the audience will only remember about A8J of what was discussed% If 'isuals are introduced, your ability to remember might go u! to K8J% 2hat kee!s u! the ability to remember more than that is to do an acti'ity% That little qui1 at the end, some !eo!le may not think it(s im!ortant, but that will increase your retention u! to I8J because you are getting in'ol'ed with what you learn% And this is 9ust an e:am!le of how the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would draw in the sand% Alhamdulillah, these things are easily a'ailable to us, whether it is a blackboard, or a dry erase board, or e'en 9ust !utting u! a !iece of !a!er, or e'en gathering the students around a notebook% The fact that they ha'e to ste! out of their chair means that they are getting in'ol'ed% The students will a!!reciate getting out of their chairs rather than sitting in their desks% Another diagram that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam drew was a bo: with a line

going from the middle of it to the outside of it and then he drew other lines that were cutting into that line% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said the middle re!resents a !erson and the line going out are his ho!es% #or e:am!le, his wish is to li'e for +88 years and to win a D88 million dollar lottery 9ack!ot% That is the man(s goals beyond the bo:, and the bo: is his qadr, for e:am!le his destiny to die, and his a9l (a!!ointed term", for e:am!le when it is written for him how long he will li'e% And those arrows that are coming to the !erson, they are different things that will ha!!en in a !erson(s life% &o someone may ha'e the desire to be a great hockey !layer and he !lays college hockey% )ut the first minute he goes out onto the ice, he gets slammed into the board, his s!ine sna!s, and he is fore'er !araly1ed% @'en though he desired something, those lines came in and cut into his desires% If one of these lines( misses, then surely another one will hit the !erson, changing what he was !lanning for% Technique *K, 3se $estures 2hile Talking The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam used both statements and hand mo'ements or gestures while talking% The first hadith e:am!le of this is well known, which is when the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam raised his hand saying, 4I and the one who takes care of the or!hans are in !aradise, like this5 ()ukhari"% And he 9oined his fingers% Gou rarely find that someone recalls this hadith without following the &unnah of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam in !utting his fingers like that% Another e:am!le is when the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was gi'ing one of the com!anions radi Allahu anhu ad'ice, saying, 4)eware of this,5 and he grabbed his tongue, which is 'ery descri!ti'e (Al-Tirmidhi"% It is not like telling someone, 42atch your tongue%5 If you actually grab your tongue and hold it, you will !ro'oke so many emotions in the !erson(s mind that your message will become ingrained and it will ha'e much more of an effect on the !erson% 7ftentimes, the !sychology of hand mo'ements is studied and used in business for material reasons% )ut when it comes to teaching our kids about Islam, these books get ignored% #rom this field we find that if I wanted to make you comfortable, I would start imitating where your hands are% If I start imitating the way the other !erson is acting, then he will feel comfortable% #or e:am!le, you might find a teacher who is a little bit too unlike the students and so they do not feel comfortable around him% 0owe'er, another teacher, who 9ust got out of uni'ersity and is twenty-three years old with long hair and has a hobby of skateboarding and he is teaching Islam would be the most successful da(ee because his students would feel most comfortable with him% If someone starts imitating the way !eo!le act, he will make them comfortable, and that ha!!ens with hand mo'ements% &o, if someone is standing leaning back with his hands on his hi!s, then maybe I could stand leaning back with my hands on my hi!s% &imilarly, if I don(t want to scare someone when talking to him, I would stand beside him, rather than in front of him% &tanding in front of someone gi'es off the feeling of confrontation, while standing to the side gi'es a feeling of working together in a !roblem%

Technique *L, 3se Tangible @:am!les, @:hibits, or Artifacts The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would occasionally raise something u! that was haram as an e:hibit to em!hasi1e it as haram% An e:am!le of this is the hadith of gold and silk for men% Gou may know that gold and silk are haram for men, but what you might not know is that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam raised u! actual !ieces of gold and silk and said, 4These are haram for the men of my ummah and halaal for the women of my ummah5 (Abu -awud"% Any teacher knows that if you e'er ha'e the chance to bring in a three-dimensional e:hibit to the class, it will always ha'e a much more !rofound affect on the students than does 9ust lecturing% #or e:am!le, if you tell a child about a !arrot and then you !ull one out from under your desk, the kids will be ama1ed and will ne'er forget that class% They will remember it because they were able to see, hear, and maybe e'en touch the !arrot% In another hadith, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was s!eaking about ghulul, which is to steal from the war booty before it has been distributed by the ameer of the army% 2hen the battle is taking !lace, the ameer needs !eo!le to do different things6 he needs these !eo!le to stand and guard certain areas6 he needs other !eo!le to work in communications% If the soldiers or e'en the towns!eo!le become !reoccu!ied with the war booty, there is the fear of human 9ealousy coming in% &o to take from the war s!oils before the ameer di'ides it is haram% 2hen talking about ghulul, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam actually !icked u! the war s!oils and he began e:!laining to the &ahaabaa radi Allahu anhum about the intensity of the haram of stealing from the war s!oils% 0e did this holding and standing beside the war s!oils after battle% &o he didn(t 9ust make a reference to the war s!oils6 he actually held it u! ()ukhari"% Technique *I, Answer Euestions )efore They are Asked 2hen I am trying to e:!lain something to a !erson, I often think to myself, 4To this !erson, what might be confusing about what I am saying= 2hat questions might this !erson ha'e=5 Then, I res!ond to these questions that I ha'e come u! with before the !erson asks the questions himself% This technique works well when the teacher is able to relate to the mindset of the students% #or e:am!le, take the issue of non-Muslims going to the 0ellfire% $rowing u! in this culture, our youth are automatically made to belie'e that it(s not a !erson(s fault that he was born into a non-Muslim family and that e'erybody should go to >annah in the end% &o these aayaat that s!eak about 0ellfire for the disbelie'ers do not make sense to these youth because they are indoctrinated with a certain 'iew or mindset% This occurs frequently and, although these youth don(t say it out loud, these thoughts are in their minds% 0owe'er, when they are !ro'oked it will come out% &o what ha!!ens with a .orth American audience is that they are li'ing with ahlul-kitab, they hear an aayah that is so strong against the disbelie'ers, and they think, 42hat about my friend >ohnny at work= 2hat about &ally and Robin= This can(t !ossibly a!!ly to them%5 &o when I would !re!are for a tafseer class that I taught, these subconscious refutations started !o!!ing in my head because I also grew u! here% I thought to myself, 4If I had not gone o'erseas to study Islam, I would ha'e re9ected this%5 0owe'er,

from my learning I could say that the answer to this is that these aayaat are talking about !eo!le who are arrogant6 those who ha'e heard the message and ha'e re9ected it% Through this way of formulating the refutations myself, I could address the refutations before my students brought them u!% &o, if one is able to understand the culture of a !eo!le so that he can relate to the issues that come to their minds, then he is better able to address these issues before they are e'en asked% An e:am!le of this is when the ro!het sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4The &haytan will come to a !erson and say, 2ho created this, who created that=( until the &haytan finally brings the !erson to the conclusion, 2ho created Allah=( 2hoe'er has this ha!!en to them should recite &urah Ikhlas and should s!it three times to the left, dry s!it, and say aMoodhubillah he minash shaytan nira9eem%(5 -id this ha!!en to someone and he asked the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam about it= .o, this did not actually ha!!en% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said that this may ha!!en to someone so when it comes about, do like this% &o here, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam answered a question before the situation e'en came about where someone asked it% Technique *N, Answer 2ith More Than 2hat is Asked The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would answer with more than what he was asked by !aying attention to the questioner(s situation and trying to recogni1e how this !erson could benefit e'en more% An e:am!le is the hadith, one of the first from the )ook of Tahara, about the !eo!le who came to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and asked him sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam about making wudu from sea water% )ecause they couldn(t drink the sea water, they were also thinking that it was not tahir% They asked about a situation where they ha'e drinking water, but if it is used for wudu, then there would be none left to drink when they are thirsty% &o the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said the famous hadith, 4The water is tahoor%5 &o one can make wudu with sea water, but then the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam also began talking about seafood, that the animals that die from the water are halaal to eat% -id the !erson ask about dead fish or fish that are not slaughtered from the water= .o, these questions were not asked% )ut the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam res!onded more than he was asked because he knew that this !erson, 9ust like he had an issue with making wudu, he would similarly later on ha'e an issue with the fish% &o the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam answered the questions !lus what would benefit the !erson e'en more% It is said that this is a key characteristic of a successful teacher because !eo!le do not always ask the questions that are most im!ortant to them% &o the teacher has to reali1e that, 4Ges, they(re asking about this, but this other issue is more im!ortant and will also benefit them%5 An interesting thing with regard to Muslim youth, or any time a !erson is talking to someone else, is that they already ha'e in mind what they want to learn% I(ll gi'e you an e:am!le, if someone came into a tafseer class and he wanted to learn asbab-un-na1ool (the reasons for re'elation", and then the teacher said, 42e are not going to learn the reasons for re'elation

because you don(t know the Arabic in the first !lace, so let(s learn the Arabic words%5 This is im!ortant, but at the end of the class the student will feel like he did not get what he came for and he(ll feel like he is missing something% A technique used in some of my classes is that right in the middle of the lecture, I ask the students to take a !iece of !a!er and write on it what benefit they want to get from the class% &o the student now has the o!!ortunity to communicate e:actly what he is seeking to learn and I might find that a cou!le of !eo!le are saying the same thing% Although what I am teaching may be more im!ortant, I can now at least try to incor!orate some of the students( wishes so that they feel fulfilled at the end of the class% That is the !ractice of good teachers < to recogni1e what is beneficial to the students while also answering what they want to know and then mo'ing them on to more beneficial things% 7ften at conferences or retreats there is an o!en question and answer session where for e:am!le, from Maghrib to Isha the shaykh will say nothing6 all he will do is answer questions% )ut after Maghrib after e'erybody has had donuts so when the shaykh asks, 4Are there any questions=5 nobody raises his hand% Is it !ossible that nobody has any questions6 they know e'erything about Islam= .o, that is not true, e'erybody has questions% &o what should a !erson do if he is the teacher and he is e:!ecting questions= 0e should think of interesting questions that the students should be asking so that if the students do not come with questions, he could say for e:am!le, 4If you don(t ha'e any questions, I(m sure many of you are confused about the halaal meat issue% Allow me to e:!lainO5 &o the teacher is already !utting questions into the students( minds% Another e:am!le of !ro'iding more than what is asked is the hadith of the woman who asked the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam about 0a99 for her infant% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked, 42ho are you all=5 They said, 42e are so and so% 2ho are you=5 0e said, 4I am RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam%5 2hen he said that, the woman raised her baby and said, 4Is there 0a99 for this baby=5 The answer is yes, and that was the end to her question% )ut the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4And you will ha'e the reward%5 Meaning that you will be rewarded for the effort that you !ut into taking this infant for 0a99% In fact, that addition is something that e'erybody focuses on when they are taking their children for 0a99 because they are always seeking the reward from Allah subhaanahu wa ta aala% They(ll say I(m taking two children for 0a99 because I want three times the reward% The woman did not ask about this additional information but the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam re!lied with more than she asked because the issue would later come u!% Technique *+8, Turn the Euestion into &omething That 2ill )e of More )enefit An e:am!le of this is the hadith where a !erson came to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and asked, 42hen is the hour=5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam disliked this question because it was one of the techniques that the mushrikeen used against the him sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam% 7ftentimes when he s!oke about the hereafter, >annah and .ar, the

re!ayment, the recom!ense, yowm-ad-deen, they would say to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, 42hen is the hour=5 They said this to make him look bad in front of the other !eo!le and to hurt the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam% 2e see aayaat in the Eur(an, es!ecially in 9u1 amma describing how !eo!le came asking the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam this question% )ut once a Muslim came, not a com!anion, but a )edouin who did not know this situation and he asked the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, 42hen is the hour=5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam did not say, 4-on(t you know you(re not su!!osed to ask that question=5 )ut he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 42hat ha'e you !re!ared for that final hour=5 Meaning, it is surely going to come, it does not matter e:actly when, but it will come% The more im!ortant question is, 42hat ha'e you !re!ared for it=5 The questioner said, 4I ha'en(t !re!ared a lot of salah and I ha'en(t !re!ared a lot of 1akah (in addition to the fard", but I am !re!aring one thing < my lo'e for Allah and 0is messenger%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4Gou will be with who you lo'e%5 The com!anions, radi Allahu anhum, and Anas radi Allahu anhu said that there was no hadith more belo'ed to him than this hadith% &o, it went from a question that did not ha'e any benefit, to the most belo'ed hadith of the com!anions, radi Allahu anhum% Another e:am!le of this is the hadith where the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was asked, 42hat should the muhrim (someone in ihram" wear=5 Imagine if the question was answered directly, 4The muhrim should wear two white towels made in ;hina%5 2hat if someone has a !iece of cloth made in India6 would it be haram to wear it= .o, it would not% &o instead of defining what e:actly the muhrim shoud wear, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam answered the question by enumerating what the muhrim should not wear% This way, the ty!e of clothing is restricted, so if someone wants to wear some inno'ati'e new !roduct, he will ha'e to look at this hadith and see if it is included in this hadith or not% This shows the hikmah of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and should increase your lo'e for him sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam% Technique *++, Allow 7thers to Answer the Euestions An issue would come u! and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would occasionally ha'e the question answered by one of the com!anions in order to train them to answer the questions% #or e:am!le, there is the hadith of Abu )akr radi Allahu anhu, which is authentic, that a man came to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and said that he had a dream that there were clouds dri!!ing honey and ghee and there was a ro!e that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam had climbed u!% Then the !eo!le had come and one !erson climbed u! the ro!e, and some !eo!le were collecting many of the dro!lets that were coming down from the clouds while others were not collecting that much% )efore the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam answered with an inter!retation of the dream, Abu )akr radi Allahu anhu said, 4Ga RasulAllahH Allow me to inter!ret it,5 and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam allowed him to do so% &o we see in this hadith that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam allowed Abu )akr radi Allahu anhu to answer the question and then he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam told him that

he was correct on some !oints and mistaken on others% There are other cases where a !erson would come to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam with a legal issue and he would tell a certain com!anion to get u! and make a 9udgment between them% That com!anion would say, 4Ga RasulAllah, shall I 9udge between them while you are here, in our midst=5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would res!ond in the affirmati'e% These are the com!anions who later became Muslim 9udges, and they were the ameers that went out to Gemen, @gy!t, and other !laces% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam had trained them in his midst and then they went on later to become the qudaa( (9udges"% This technique of ha'ing the students answer questions is considered a modern teaching technique% &o, if a student asks his teacher, 42hat is an alligator=5 instead of the teacher answering the questions, if he is smart and wants to get the meaning of the word across to the students, he will say, 4&tudents, &uhaib is asking what an alligator is% -oes anybody know=5 )y allowing the children to answer the question, they are being in'ol'ed in the answer and are more likely to retain the answer% &ometimes they may say some things that are wrong, but the teacher will be able to correct them% They consider this a modern technique, but it was a technique of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam that he often a!!lied% Technique *+A, Take Ad'antage of Teaching Moments( An e:am!le of this technique, which commonly occurs amongst the !eo!le, is 0a99 lectures that occur near 0a99 time% If I announced that I was doing a seminar about 0a99 (at a time not near 0a99 season", not many !eo!le would attend% )ut e'en at 0a99 time when I tell !eo!le that we(re going to be answering questions on a certain night the !eo!le still will not come% Then at the end of 0a99 someone will say, 4Ga &haykh, this ha!!ened at the >amaraat,5 and I tell him, 47kay, you ha'e to !ay a !enalty6 go slaughter a shee!,5 and I think to myself, 4Remember the lecture you missed=5 )ut this shows that !eo!le !refer to ask questions when they are actually in the moment% And it(s in the moment that you(ll ha'e the attention of the !eo!le% Another e:am!le from 0a99 is the day of Arafaah% Try to e:!lain the im!ortance of this day outside of the moment and the !eo!le will not !ay attention% )ut at 0a99 on Arafaah day when someone is e:!laining to the !eo!le what the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam did on this day and the background of the day of Arafaah, you will ha'e all the attention of the !eo!le and they will listen% And that(s the hikmah of the da(ee < to recogni1e when an o!!ortunity to teach the students comes u!% Teachers call this a teaching moment(% It(s when an interesting question comes u! from a student, and though it may be off to!ic it will be of benefit to the whole class% The teacher might ha'e the curriculum in front of him, but because of this moment and the question the child brought u!, the students are all !aying attention to this issue so the teacher should take ad'antage of the teaching moment and answer that off to!ic( question% &u!!ose, two children get into a 'ery large fight at recess time, so much so that one of them swears at the other and the other one retaliates by throwing a rock at the child and so that child has to be taken to the hos!ital% This doesn(t ha!!en e'eryday (and if it does you ha'e a !roblem in your school", but the teacher can sei1e the moment and gather the children and

o!en to the aayaat in &urah Al-0u9urat about how a belie'er treats his Muslim brother% Another e:am!le is the hadith of the road kill% There was, I belie'e, a dead goat with a deformity in its ear and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam !assed by it% 7thers were !assing by, and no one was !aying attention to the dead animal, yet the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4/ook at this% 2hich one of you would buy this for such and such amount of money=5 They said, 4Ga RasulAllah, e'en if it were ali'e, no one would want to !ay money for it% )ecause of its deformity, no one would care for it, and how much more so since it(s dead%5 In other words, it(s road kill and nobody cares about it% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4Perily, the dunya is more worthless to Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala than this animal is to you% >ust like you don(t care about this, in the sight of Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala, this dunya is less worthy than this%5 &o this was an occasion where there ha!!ened to be this dead animal !eo!le were !assing by and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam took it as a moment to teach us what the dunya should mean in our li'es% The ne:t e:am!le is the hadith of the woman throwing her child into the fire% This woman had lost her child, who was still nursing, for a long !eriod of time% The child was away from his mother for so long that he could ha'e died% &o when the mother finally found the child, she grabbed it and immediately started feeding him% The com!anions were looking and were ama1ed at the immense lo'e of this mother% At that moment, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4-o you imagine that this woman would throw this child into the fire and burn it ali'e=5 They said, 4Ga RasulAllah, she would ne'er do it so long as she is ca!able of !rotecting the child from that%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam then said, 4Indeed, Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala is more merciful to 0is sla'es than this woman to her child%5 Technique *+D, 3se layful #un 7ut of all the techniques this one is the most foreign to our communities% Take the science of smiling% If I had a big smile on my face and I said to you, 4I hate you all,5 what would your reaction be= Gou cannot hate someone who is smiling at you% @'en if their words contradict what they are saying, you ha'e to lo'e them% )ut if I changed the tone of my 'oice then I could make you cry, or e'en hate me in return% 2hen !eo!le gi'e da(wah they may think that from their taqwah to Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala they must frown at e'eryone% Meaning that they feel they are being rewarded by Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala for showing hatred% I asked some of the ulama regarding this and was told of a 'ery e'il man who came to the home of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam told MAisha radi Allahu anha about how e'il this !erson was yet when that man came into his home, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam smiled at him% This intrigued MAisha radi Allahu anha so much so that when the man left, she asked the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and he said,

4Perily, we smile in the faces of some !eo!le and our hearts curse them%5 The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam had the greatest character, sal Allahu alayhi was sallam, by !laying and 9oking with children% There were e'en some situations where the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would s!ray water in the face of the children% &ome adults would ne'er do anything like that% )ut imagine the kid who the ro!het s!rayed water in his face% 2ould that kid e'er not lo'e the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam after that= .ow on the other side of this !layful fun is that some !eo!le go to the e:treme of hysterical laughter and rolling on the floor in amusement% There shouldn(t be e:aggerated laughter, and we shouldn(t always be laughing or 9oking% Rather, we should be moderate% &ure we smile, but there are times when we should be serious% &ometimes there will be teachers who always teach through 9okes% &o when they try to say something serious, !eo!le start laughing% They(ll say, 4I(m serious about this, no, don(t laugh,5 and the !eo!le are thinking, 47h we(re not su!!osed to laugh,5 because they 9ust think that e'erything is a 9oke% @'erything is not a 9oke% Actually, this e:cessi'e laughter and 9oking causes the heart to harden because e:cessi'e laughter distracts the heart from the remembrance of Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala% &imilarly, among all of these techniques there is not one that is the best and should be done all the time% Rather, they should be done in moderation% Technique *+?, 3sing 7aths for @m!hasis The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would em!hasi1e something by swearing by Allah a11a wa 9all% This occurs in many ahadith that you hear 'ery often, and now in sha Allah when you go back to those ahadith, you will be able to gras! the full intensity of what was said% If you go through >u1 Amma, most of the surahs ha'e aksam (oaths" in them% #or e:am!le, &urah Ash-&hams, was shamsee wa-duhaahaa6 &urah Al-/ail, wal layli ee-dha yagh-shaa, and &urah ad--huha, wad duhaa, 9ust to name a few% Gou see that all of them start with a qasm (oath"% If I say to you, 4I swear by Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala,5 and then I 9ust mo'e on to the ne:t !oint, what would you do= &omeone would raise their hand and ask me why I am swearing by Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala and hence the oath caused the listener to !ay more attention% &imilarly, when you are reading Eur(an and you hear a qasm from Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala, !ay attention to what Allah subhaanahu wa ta(aala is testifying to% Technique *+C, Re!eat, Re!eat, Re!eat -uring the ro!het(s, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, time !eo!le didn(t ha'e notes or sometimes they would write notes in% Get, a lot of !eo!le would memori1e things that were being said% &o you see someone like Imam )ukhari Rahimahullah, sitting in a class and the !eo!le would ask him, 42hy aren(t you taking notes=5 Then he would say back all the ahadith% 0e had memori1ed them 9ust from hearing them one time% )ut those are the e:ce!tional !eo!le, ob'iously they didn(t ha'e TP, and their intelligence and their strength at memori1ation increased because of this% If there was something that needed em!hasis, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam,

would re!eat it three times% The statement of Anas radi Allahu anhu regarding this is that he said the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would re!eat something three times so that !eo!le would understand what he was saying, sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam% An e:am!le of this is the hadith where the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4)eware and destroyed from the ankles of the 0ellfire%5 There are a cou!le of techniques in'ol'ed in this% The com!anions had sto!!ed for &alat-ul#a9r, and the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was coming behind them% 2hen he neared them he saw that because of the coldness of the night, they were not fully cleaning their feet and getting the water onto their ankles when making wudu% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam came near to them, raised his 'oice, and said, 4)eware and destroyed from the ankles of the 0ellfire% )eware and destroyed from the ankles of the 0ellfire% )eware and destroyed from the ankles of the 0ellfire%5 >ust imagine how you would feel if you were not making wudu !ro!erly and you heard these words% I know a lot of times when a !erson is re!eating a hadith they might say, 4And he said it three times%5 )ut it doesn(t ha'e the same effect as actually saying it three times so the !erson can get the feel for how the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said it three times% Technique *+K, ;alling 7ut to the /istener and Remaining &ilent The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would call the listener by his name, causing him to !ay attention, without answering or telling the listener why he is calling him% #or e:am!le, the hadith of Muadh where he is tra'eling with the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4Ga Muadh,5 and Muadh radi Allahu anhu said, 4/abbayk ya rasulAllah wa sa(dayk5 (I am consistently here for you and constant in your assistance", and then the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam remained quiet% They tra'eled on and then the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam again said, 4Ga Muadh,5 and then Muadh res!onded, 4/abbayk ya rasulAllah wa sa(dayk,5 and then he, sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, remained quiet% A little time !assed and for a third time the ro!het sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, 4Ga Muadh,5 and Muadh said 4/abbayk ya rasulAllah wa sadayk%5 ;ould you imagine Muadh radi Allahu anhu not !aying attention after that= This would com!letely gras! a !erson(s attention% 2hen someoneMs gi'ing a s!eech, the !auses are almost as im!ortant as are his words% &ometimes a s!eaker will say some ama1ing !oints and then mo'e on to the ne:t !oint without gi'ing !eo!le time to mentally digest what was said% &ubhan Allah, if a !erson knows when to !ut in those !auses between im!ortant !oints and 9ust remain silent, there will be attention !aid to what he is saying% I a!ologi1e for this really bad e:am!le from the )atman and Robin cartoon% 7ne of )atman(s arch nemeses is the 9oker% 0e likes to talk a lot, but you ne'er remember what he says% 7n the other hand, )atman is always staring at !eo!le in the dark and then right at the end of the cartoon he says, 42hy did you kill him=5 or something like that and e'eryone is shocked% I was listening to an inter'iew with the !eo!le that make the )atman cartoon and they said that they do this on !ur!ose% Their reasoning is that when )atman s!eaks they want e'erybody to !ay attention so they make sure that he remains

quiet and thoughtful in his !auses all throughout the cartoon so that when he does s!eak he naturally causes the !eo!le to !ay attention to what he says% &o no one is listening to the !erson who s!eaks a lot and does not !ause% Rather, he 9ust goes on and on% 2hen a !erson s!eaks directly to the !oint and is thoughtful with !auses, then !eo!le will hear those words% Technique * +L, Making hysical ;ontact 2hen &!eaking The ro!het !eace be u!on him would hold the hand or the shoulder of the !erson to whom he was s!eaking, to make the !erson !ay attention% The hadith that you may know 'ery well is the hadith where the ro!het !eace be u!on him told the com!anion, 4)e in this dunya as if you are a stranger or a !asser by%5 The ro!het !eace be u!on him was holding the shoulders of the com!anion when he said this% Imagine not only the ro!het !eace be u!on him s!eaking, but the touch, which is kinesthetic, and the feelings that some !eo!le might get from this contact < they will learn from the feeling% The fact that they are being touched will add an additional element of attention gi'en to the s!eaker% In teaching, certain touches can be 'ery useful and in fact this is a technique that many teachers fail to use successfully, but it is a 'ery im!ortant one% Take the e:am!le from the hadith where the boy came and asked !ermission of the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam to commit 1ina% .ot only did he already know that this is haram, but the boy was asking di'ine !ermission to do it% Imagine how angry the com!anions would be% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam e:!lained to him with questions, not answers% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam e:!lained it so that the boy came to the conclusions himself and at the end of the dialogue the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam touched the boy(s chest !lacing his hand near the boy(s heart and made du(aa for him% 0ow many teachers do that6 actually !ut their hand on the child and make du(a for him after e:!laining something to a child who(s maybe in detention or did something wrong= I used two techniques when I used to teach young grades from kindergarten to eighth grade% I would use either technique de!ending on the mood I wanted to create with the child% &ome of the children would get in a 'ery arrogant !osition and so to enforce my authority, I would stand u! 'ery close to them in a 'ery aggressi'e stance and look down at them so that they would know who the boss is% In the second style, I would bend down to a le'el lower than the child so that I was looking u! at him and I would !ut my hand on the child(s chest and start s!eaking to him% My hand would be touching the child(s body and I found that the child starts to change6 he(ll start getting a little tense and then the emotions and bond changes% 2hen a !erson does this successfully, he can get closer to !eo!le% #rom among the non-Muslims we ha'e this e:am!le of a !arent who was ha'ing a lot of trouble with his child, who was constantly getting into fights and other trouble% Then one day the father said, 4I lo'e you,5 and he grabbed the boy and hugged him% The boy started crying and said, 4-ad, you ha'en(t hugged me in the last si: years6 you('e ne'er touched me%5 That(s the ty!e of !ower that a touch has% Technique * +I, 3sing ;liffhangers The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would say

something and the listeners would not entirely understand what was said% Then he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would !ause and gi'e them a chance to think about it, thus increasing their desire to learn it and listen to his e:!lanation% .ews!a!ers and TP stations do this all the time% #or e:am!le they will say, 4The 'erdict of the 7%>% &im!son case% Tonight at ++O5 and you think, 42hat ha!!ened in the 7%>% &im!son case=5 They say it in such a way that you ha'e to watch it, the !erson has to know < it(s a cliffhanger% The worst thing you could do is to use a cliffhanger and then not answer it% This would !ro'oke the anger of the !eo!le% An e:am!le of how to effecti'ely use a cliffhanger is if a teacher has some interesting news to share with his class% Instead of saying, 4$uess what class, I ha'e some interesting newsO5 and 9ust telling the news right there, he should instead say, 4In sha Allah if you are good in class, then at the end of class today I ha'e some good news that I am going to tell you%5 .ow if you lea'e the class without telling the children the new, belie'e me, they will run in the hallways after you and tell you that you didn(t tell them the good news% )ut tell them the good news at the end of class and e'en if it(s something 'ery sim!le they will still consider it to be something 'ery great because of the way it was !resented% Technique * +N, 3sing &tories and Accounts from the ast The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam taught !eo!le using the stories and the accounts of !eo!le who came before% This is a commonly used technique that you see throughout the Eur(an and the &unnah < that there will be stories from !eo!le of the !ast and lessons are taught through these stories% There are many ahadith, which may be statements that are not well known amongst our communities% 7n the other hand, there are other ahadith that ha'e stories in them and so they are well known e'en to the lay !eo!le% This shows you the !ower of those stories and why they are so easily !assed on from generation to generation% 2hen I gi'e a khutbah I might start it off with a story because this is a technique to !ro'oke the hearing of the !eo!le6 when the aayah comes after the story, the !eo!le will hear the aayah% 2hat sometimes ha!!ens if a s!eaker o!ens with an aayah is that the !eo!le 9ust disregard the aayah, e'en though it may be the to!ic of the khutbah, and they(re 9ust waiting for the e:!lanation% )ut the beautiful thing about stories and about teaching with stories is that you ha'e the attention of the !erson from the beginning to the end of the story% There(s no way you will lose their attention because e'eryone wants to know what ha!!ens at the end of the story% .o one will do1e off at the conclusion of the story6 they ha'e to see what ha!!ens at the end% &ome !eo!le take this to the e:treme and they only use stories and nothing else and that(s not necessarily the best way to teach% There has to be a mi: of the techniques because if you only use one technique you could bore the !eo!le% &o remember that telling stories is a technique, but it is not the only technique% Technique *A8, aying Attention to #ocus $rou!s The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would !ay s!ecific attention to women(s education by admonishing them and gi'ing them ad'ice% .ot only this, but the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would also !ay s!ecial attention to the children, such as what we saw with Abu 3mair !re'iously% Gou will also find that the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would go into the souk s!eaking to business !eo!le, the !eo!le dealing with dates and so on% The ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam

would !ay s!ecial attention to focus grou!s, which is a term you might know% This refers to !eo!le that are focused on one thing, for e:am!le if there is a conference for Muslims who deal in business% .ot e'ery conference has to be general for e'erybody% There can be focus and attention gi'en to the s!ecial needs of those !eo!le in a !articular focus grou!% In the @id Bhutbah, the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would gi'e the khutbah and then go in front of the women and gi'e a s!eech directly to them and for them% Gou will see in the hadith that the words come in the feminine < he(s s!eaking directly to them < and if you look at what the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam s!oke about, one of the things was to gi'e sadaqah% The men would o'ercome the women in s!eaking to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and so the women mentioned this to the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ga'e a s!ecial day to them so that he could teach them and they could freely ask their questions% If nobody raises their hand to ask a question, does that mean that there are no questions= .o, it doesn(t mean that% It means that !eo!le are shy to ask in front of so many !eo!le% &o what the s!eaker should do is change the situation so that !eo!le can feel comfortable about asking the question, 9ust as the ro!het sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam made a way for the women% Allahu ta(aala alim% Technique *A+, 3sing Anger An e:am!le from the ro!het sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam about using anger to teach or make a !oint is when the !eo!le tried to do shifaa( for a woman who had stolen and ha'e her e:cused from the !enalty% The ro!het used anger in that moment to make the !oint that she cannot be e:cused% &o there are times where !eo!le learn through anger, but it only works when you don(t use it too often% If you use it too often !eo!le will say, 4Isn(t he e'er going to smile=5 In my classroom when I teach Islamic studies I ne'er shout% The students know that if I am angry I will lower my 'oice and if I am really angry, I will whis!er in their ear and they know they are in big trouble then% I sa'e shouting for e:treme situations where a child is going to get harmed 'ery badly% #or e:am!le, if a child is lifting u! a chair to smash it on another child(s head, I will shout and the children will free1e because they will be shocked since they('e ne'er heard me shout% 7n the other hand, the children will not res!ond to a teacher who shouts all the time, e'en in a harmful situation, because the children are used to the shouting% May Allah a11a wa 9all continue to gi'e you barakah in your acti'ities and work%