Reading vis-à-vis Listening
"Read! In the name of
your Lord who created; created man from the clot of blood. Read! For thy
Lord is most generous; He who taught the (use of) pen; He taught man what he
knew not." Qur'an 96:1-5
Usually, to study is to read. To be a student is more to be a reader than to
be a listener. As a high, if not the highest, institution of learning,
university is more noted as venue of reading than that of listening. While
it's true that we literally listen to our professors, yet textbooks are at
our disposal to be read so as to verify the authenticity of what we have
heard.
In the same vein, while dealing with controversial questions in Islamic
history, students worth the name are expected to embark on critical reading,
probe and fair judgment rather than on mere listening, blind imitation and
bias judgment. Contrasting views are to be heard and analyzed on the basis
of common beliefs. Opposing parties are to be judged according to the merits
of their respective claims and counterclaims. And any accusation is to be
considered true or false based on both the accuser's and accused's
contentions.
It is only then that the truth everybody is seeking could set us free---
free from the quagmire of compound ignorance or what is called "little
knowledge".
Lastly, O All-Knowing, inflict us not with the mental malady of "not knowing
that we do not know."
"Read! In the name of your Lord who created..."
Qur'an 96: 1
© 1998-2004 Shajaratun Muntazirah
Email: [email protected]
Address: http://www.geocities.com/smuntazirah
