‘Assalamu alaikum’ an unsurpassed universal peace greeting - Dr Sudha.

“In the study of language such as Arabic, young women must play a primary role in conducting linguistic research and memorization” said Dr Sudha, professor at Besant women’s college. She conveyed the need for young girls to take a primary stand on the area of education at the graduation ceremony for the students of Hidayah Arabic Teachers Training Institute held on April 2, Saturday, at IMA Hall, Mangalore.

“The language of Arabic holds the key to unlock a treasury of literature from a different era, while it also unveils the very core of Islamic values that are otherwise hidden. An Arabic greeting such as ‘assalamu alaikum’ in itself conveys the greeting of peace to the world, if every individual in today’s world were to utter this greeting of peace, there is no doubt this simple greeting would in turn become a universal slogan for global peace”, said Dr Sudha.

“It’s not just the Muslim community, as an individual even I have immense curiosity towards learning and understanding this language. On a global platform, I have witnessed the participation of Muslim women in disseminating thesis in this very language. Rather than using this language to merely obtain a degree and build a career, it is better to implement the learning’s imbibed through the language in one’s everyday life”, she said.

Speaking at the event, the President of Dakshina Kannada Principal’s Association, Mrs Saraswati B said, “There is not a single religious scripture that preaches injustice, and hence instead of blindly following a religious text on face value, one must put in an effort to understand its content and then inculcate its message in one’s life. In order to obtain a better understanding of another religion, as individuals we need to learn the language of other scriptures. In this context, Hidayah Foundation is doing a tremendous job in teaching the language of the Quran to students and training them to become teachers of the Arabic language.”

Inspiring the numerous women in the audience to take control of their lives, Mrs Saraswati said, “As women let’s not put ourselves down by saying ‘women are meant only for housework’, instead as womenfolk, we must become well educated and then we will witness that we will exceed in earning respect, honour and a higher place in society as compared to our male counterparts.”

Mrs Ruksana Hassan, winner of the Indira Priyadarshini award marveled at the academy’s achievements and said, “Hidayah Foundation’s Arabic Teachers Training Institute has trained and produced 163 teachers in the last 7 years and placed them in more than 35 various prominent schools and colleges around the district as teachers of the Arabic language. It is indeed a proud feat for the Hidayah Arabic Teachers Training Institute to state that every year more than 35 thousand students are being taught the Arabic language by the teachers trained at the ATT Institute.”

Advising the outgoing students of the years, Mrs Ruksana Hassan said, “Education without action and talent that does not help is both futile. First and foremost we must build our moral compass and become honest individuals.”

Hidayah’s ATT classrooms are composed of students from various parts of the district. In addition to learning the Arabic language and speaking English, the students who have completed their pre university education will be receiving a diploma certifying completion of the course. Apart from having imparted the message of Islam in different languages during the duration of the course, the students have also received exposure in serving the less fortunate which has in turn developed not just diploma holders but also full-fledged social workers. Scientific analysis of the Quran and Prophetic biography is also part of the curriculum. The students have inculcated the ideals learned in the duration of the course without just taking the syllabus at face value, by conducting beneficial activities such as organizing field visits to villages and rural areas to interact with the less fortunate, orphans, destitute and the physically challenged; in a bid to understand the plight of the suffering and likewise offer aid within the capacity of the individual student. The course has succeeded in producing teachers of highest moral and intellectual caliber through its selected curriculum.

To inspire the outgoing batch of 2015-2016, the institute invited four prominent women personalities and felicitated them at the graduation ceremony. Documents and videos pertaining to their individual achievements were presented at the gathering. On the community service front, Mrs Leelu Sana, an individual from Mysore who helped in aiding the numerous families with regards to Women and Child welfare was felicitated for her contribution towards social service. For taking revolutionary measures in providing education to the rural youth of Kadaba, Miss Fauziya and Miss Shameera were felicitated for their societal contribution. The women who became a sole parental figure for the many children neglected after being affected by HIV, Mrs Tabassum, founder of Snehdeep was felicitated for her humanitarian contribution. Mrs Priya Rego, the head of Hidayah special needs centre was also felicitated at the event for her humanitarian contribution.