What Are the Rights of a Teacher over Their Students?
Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Question
What are the rights of a teacher over their students?
Answer
In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, his Family, his Companions, and those who follow him.
The Teacher’s Role in Knowledge Pursuit
A teacher has numerous rights over their students. As derived from Allah’s command:
“And pray, ‘My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.’” [Quran, 20:114]
The pursuit of knowledge requires a teacher’s guidance. Regardless of a person’s intelligence or understanding, they cannot achieve comprehensive knowledge without a teacher who helps them enter the world of learning and guides them along the right path.
Among the teacher’s many rights, the most important are:
Respecting the Teacher
This is an indispensable right. Respect forms a fundamental basis, and without it, the process of learning and seeking knowledge cannot be properly established. As the saying goes:
“The teacher and the doctor both offer guidance,
They cannot do so if they are not respected.
Be patient with your illness if you disrespect your doctor,
And be patient with your ignorance if you disdain your teacher.”
Classroom Etiquette
Within the classroom, the teacher’s rights include:
- Attentive Listening: Students should listen carefully to understand the lesson being delivered.
- Avoiding Interruptions: Students should wait for the teacher to finish before speaking.
- Facing the Teacher: Students should give their full attention and avoid distractions during the lesson.
- Avoiding Fault-Finding: Students should not look for faults in their teacher. If a mistake is noticed, it should be corrected with politeness and wisdom.
- Refraining from Mockery: Students should never mock their teacher’s speech or appearance, as this is contrary to proper etiquette.
- Addressing the Teacher Respectfully: Students should not address the teacher by their bare name but should use respectful titles such as “Professor” or “Teacher.”
- Avoiding Embarrassing Questions: Students should refrain from asking questions meant to embarrass the teacher, as this is not the conduct of serious students of knowledge.
Recommendations
There are many valuable books authored by our righteous predecessors that outline the etiquettes of both the teacher and the student. It is beneficial to refer to these works, including:
- Al-Faqih wa al-Mutafaqqih by Khatib Baghdadi
- Tadhkirat al-Sami‘ wa al-Mutakallim fi Adab al-‘Alim wa al-Muta‘allim by Ibn Jama‘a
- Ta‘lim al-Muta‘allim Tariq al-Ta‘allum by Zarnuji
These and other similar books provide profound insights into the proper conduct and manners expected in the pursuit of knowledge.
We ask Allah to grant us the ability to adhere to proper manners and to instill in us the character of the people of knowledge and the Quran. Allah is the bestower of success and the guide to the straight path.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Shaykh Dr Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib is a prominent Islamic scholar from Yemen born in Shibam, Hadhramaut, in 1976. He received his degree in Shari‘a from Al-Ahqaf University, a master’s degree from the Islamic University of Beirut, and a PhD in Usul al-Din from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
He studied under great scholars such as Shaykh al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Fadl Ba‘ fadl, Habib Salim al-Shatiri, Habib Ali Mashhur bin Hafeez, and others. He has served as the Director of Publications at Dar al-Fiqh, the former Deputy Director of Cultural Relations at Al-Ahqaf University, a former Assistant for Employee Affairs at Atiyah Iron Company, a researcher at the Sunna Center affiliated with the Dallah al-Baraka Foundation, and a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch.
Currently, he is a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch, teaches traditionally through the Ijaza system at Dar al-Fuqaha in Turkey, supervises the Arabic department at Nur al-Huda International Institute (SeekersGuidance), and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript House in Istanbul.
His works include “The Efforts of Hadhramaut Jurists in Serving the Shafi‘i School,” “Contributions of Hadhramaut Scholars in Spreading Islam and its Sciences in India,” “Hada’iq al-Na‘im in Shafi‘i Fiqh,” in addition to verifying several books in Fiqh, history, the art of biographies, and Asanid (chains of narration).
