BY ZUBIA NOOR
‘INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS’ is my most favorite and preferred subject at KU. There are many reasons for loving this subject but there are a few I would want to share with you guys.
I.R. is a very beautiful department with a calm atmosphere and a lush green garden outside our classroom. The classes are large and airy with big maps of the world; they really come in handy while studying world politics. It really creates an environment that we all are present (and alive) in an ‘international relations’ class. Besides this, I am impressed by many teachers at I.R. Miss Nabiha Gul, Sir Moonis Ahmer, Sir Faheem uddin and Sir Faisal Awan are some prominent names of the capable I.R. teaching faculty. My favorite is Sir Faisal Awan. I can safely label him as the ‘back bone of I.R. dept’. He taught us in our first semester and did it with absolute perfection. He never ignored his purpose: passing on his knowledge to his students. He made us fall in love with I.R. which is, according to some, a really dry subject. The concepts he taught us, are engraved on our minds forever.
I would like to appreciate him since he is a hard working teacher and is well- informed about all the politics, history and all the policies of the world. I know he should know that since he is a world politics professor, but what makes him different is his compassion and perspective and outlook towards the world which is outstanding and better than all the other teachers of I.R. at KU. His examples go nicely with the information and are clearly understood by the students. He gives lectures both in English language and Urdu.
Sir Faisal Awan is a very polite teacher and has never scolded a student in his class, ever. It’s because he believes that if a student is given what he likes, no problems can erupt between the teacher and a student. His words are like tranquilizers that take us deep down where he wants us to be…world politics of course. Yeah, I know I am exaggerating, but once you attend one of his lectures, you will definitely agree.
He also gives us Islamic information while maintaining a balance with his actual subject. He also adjusts timings with the consent of students and help us get rid of the ridiculous time table revealed from ‘his highness’ office. I really enjoyed taking his classes and he has had a good influence on my personality. For all the aspiring I.R. students, watch out for him, you will only benefit from this man. He is truly an inspiration, one that you hardly find at public universities nowadays. hats off to you!
ohhhhhhhhh wao zubia really very very well done written mere mu ki baat cheen li . sir faisal is great we want him back!
ReplyDeleteSIR FAISAL IS ALSO MOST FAVOURITE OF OUR I. R DEPT . HE IS VERY TALENTTED . THOSE WHO HAV'NT MEET HIM TILL NOW MUST MUST MEET HIM
ReplyDeleteWE MISSSSSSSSSS U sir faisal no one is like you u are the one
ReplyDeletesir faisal is really a nice teacher
ReplyDeleteTOOBA ALTAF
hats off to sir faisal
ReplyDeleteyou have done a great job zubia.....
ReplyDeletesir faisal wah kia baat hai unke jsa koi nhi , and obviously sir fahem is great too.
aise teachers jinko miljain to kia baat hai parhaye ka maza ajai.
we love u both
the view out side the i.r is really lush its fun to be there with friends
ReplyDeletesir faisal kai lie
ReplyDelete"ye ezat shurat ye nam ap say hai
khuda nai jo bhi dia maqam ap sai hai"
u are the best of all, allah apko apnai hifz o iman mai rakhey ameen
"SIR FAISAL I.R KI SHAN HAIN UNHE SAY I.R MAI JAN HAI"
ReplyDeleteZUBIA KIA KHOOB LIKHA HAI KIA TAREEF KI HAI UNKI SHAN MAI IK DAM PERFECT.
"JO BAAT DIL SAI NIKALTI HAI ASAR RAKHTI HAI
PAR NHI TAKAT E PARWAZ MAGAR RAKHTI HAI"
ZUBIA TMHARE DIL SAY KAHI V BAAT DIL MAI UTAAR GAYE HAI . HOPE SIR FAISAL READ THIS ALSO
aap jsai loug jb sahil pai ajatay hain,
ReplyDeletelehreen shour machati hain lo aj samandar doob gaya
sir faisal u are best of all . the line zubia said that u are really made for i.r that very true.we ll remember u for our entire life bc peole like you are not easily found
Being an Ex-KU'ite ( Economics 2009-Evening ) I still remember when I tried to change my subsidiaries to I.R. and Mass Comm. ( as Maths and Stats were being taught in a very miserable way ). Like all the other freshmen, me and a friend of mine didn't knew much about I.R., so we decided to take a few classes of our new subsidiaries.
ReplyDeleteOn our very first day, we found out that Faisal Sahab was quite popular among the students of I.R. and he is sort of a like a 'living legend' at the I.R. dept. He was giving us a lecture on the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, he looked quite well informed ( my friend used to be a history freak, he told me that this guy looks good ). But after a few minutes he took a few sharp turns and started to explain about "The Roman Empire in the context of Islam". I was a bit surprised, I looked at my friend sitting beside me he had a wild smirk on his face showing that he was disgusted by all this blathering.
Finally when the class ended, me and my friend decided to get a cuppa to loosen up our minds from all the mumbo jumbo we had at the I.R.
My friend (Ahsan) told me that what's the whole point of Islamizing the Roman Empire,i.e. something which existed in the pre-Islamic period.
and as far as Sir Faheem is concerned, I don't have words to explain why such a teacher is being allowed to fill young minds with totally ridiculous ideas. Somebody showed me a paper of his makeup quiz, in which I found questions like "Mohabbat ka Karishma" and "Khutbaat-e-Nabwi" .... I don't have any idea what these gotta do with I.R. ???
ReplyDeleteWhat I am trying to say it that, the way in which subjects like history and I.R. is being taught in at the university level is highly distorted (specially in the public sector universities).
Still, there are a few voices of sanity left in KU ( and I.R.). I have read the work of Dr. Monis Ahmer which is well-researched and historically accurate, Nabiha Gul is another member of the faculty who is (thankfully) not in the league of Sir Faisal and Sir Faheem.
P.S. I suggest all the followers (read blind followers ) to read a few books of K.K.Aziz and Dr. Mubarak Ali to get a taste of some "realistic" history.
And last but not the least, I have nothing personal against Sir Faisal and Sir Faheem.
smuix.vu@gmail.com
all of us have our own choices.ap ko hata kai ik bhi aisa shaks nhi hoga i.r mai jo sir faheem or sir faisal ko appreciate na karta ho you can do a survey on dat "jibra an". beside this sir faisal is the most favourite of us all and our new first year (mass comm) and they wish if they could get him in their second year also. sab teachers ka apna apna tareka hota hai parhana kai or mjhye aise teachers pasand hain simple. our class was mashallah very very happy with sir faisal.
ReplyDeleteseriously were we in the same IR class? I am sorry, but I may have been very taken in by him in first year because I was young and naive, it is now that his "blathering" makes sense(that it was all propaganda). I agree with Jibraan "and as far as Sir Faheem is concerned, I don't have words to explain why such a teacher is being allowed to fill young minds with totally ridiculous ideas" This is why I am so repulsed by I.R as it is being taught in KU.
ReplyDeleteI have been Sir Faisal's student...Well my personal opinion about Sir Faisal is that he is a great teacher...no doubt about it....my friend Jibran it seems that you decided about Sir Faisal on the very first day you attended the class with your friend...quite impressionable personality is yours...for me first impression is not the last impression at least in terms of deciding about a teacher...as far as "HISTORY" is concerned let me correct you and your friend (History Freak) that Roman Empire era is not only the pre-Islamic era, rather they existed even after the advent of ISLAM though in the form of successive Roman Empire and Byzantium Empire....they fought with Islamic fighetrs ...it is Sultan Muhammad Fateh who conquered Constantinople and about whom Prohpet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) predicted....so what's wrong in telling this truth...only that he was a Muslim conquer and people like Dr. Mubarak Ali get irritated by Muslim conquerers and are bent upon distorting history and presenting it in materialist-socialist-marxist paradigm. Read about "Orientalism" how WEST and weterns-minded "rational" scholars have distorted the history of Muslims. What's wrong in teaching in the class that power+justice=Peace and power-justice=anarchy and letting us know in the class while reciting from quran and refering that Allah prioritizes Justice at the top of things to do in society....what's wrong in saving the young generation from "cultural degenration" while teaching cultural imperialism and letting us what our values are and how can we protect them. What's wrong in teaching "SAFAAI NISF EMAAN HAY" while teaching environmental degradation and climate change. And as far as what Islam has to do with subjects like International Relations I can hardly control smile at this innocent question in young innocent and naive mind....please read something about "Religion and IR" and "Islam and International Relations"....my friend Islam is an important ideology of the world how can we detach it from our analysis of things and events taking place around us ...this is what west demands us not to contemplate things in Islamic perspective....if a teacher can give liberal, marxist, socialist, communist interpretation of events (writer like Mubarak Ali and some teachers at KU) then equally Sir Faisal also has the right to interpret, analyze and comment on events in Islamic perspective using Islam as a guiding principle. If one teacher can give reference of Karl Marx, Lenin, Hitler, Mao-ze Tong, Napolean, Washington, Abraham Lincon, Trotsky, the other teachers should also have the right to give reference of Hazrat Ali (R.A), Hazrat Fatima (R.A) Imam Ghazali, Ibn-e-Khuldoon, Muhammad Bin Qasim, Salahuddin Ayubi and above all Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) during lectures. What;s wrong if he gave references of these people.
ReplyDeleteIf what they teach is "blathering" ...only because you and Atiya do not agree with them then I hope you would give others, who do not agree with distorted and uninformed or misinterpreted or his own interpreted historical account of Dr. Mubarak Ali (I personally know him by the way), the equall right to call it "blathering" or PROPAGANDA. Well as far as comment that both my friends Atiya and Jibran have given about a teacher is deplorable. If morally corrupt teachers can be allowed to teach morally corrupt ideas than why can't we tolerate morally spirited and great teachers like Sir Faheem and Sir Faisal to teach young people...ONLY BECAUSE YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE IDEAS (that for you are ridiculous) OF THE TEACHER, THE TEACHER SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED....come on my friends get mature now...you are university level students now...not kindergarten that mom i don't like this teacher i don't like that teacher...if this decision of allowing or not allowing one man to teach at University is left at the mercy of students than I think there will be no teacher left at the university to teach. Only We students will come for picnic:):):) Now last thing about "ridiculous" ideas...well again for both of you they might be ridiculous but for many others the same ideas would be "great"....please disagree but don't impose your decisions about hiring and firing teachers from university and don't impose your ideas too. I believe many my class mates including me agree that it's not that Sir Faisal or Sir Faheem is filling young, naive and innocent minds with ridiculous ideas rather they are doing great job when they take out (throw out) ridiculous ideas from our mind heavily influenced by the PROPAGANDA of other ideological forces or western oriented social sciences:):)...any way purpose here is not dwell deep into intellectual debate but to say that being a teacher SIR FAISAL is great and that our disagreement with teachers should not lead us to "insanity" or unacceptable remarks. Hats off to SIR FAISAL THE GREAT!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour humble fellow
For my humble fellow, if you are not willing to write your name then your opinion doesn't matter as they are anonymous.
ReplyDelete>>> Atiya
Shukhar hay Khuda ka kay KU main ab bhi kuch sensible log payay jaatay hain ! Thanks for your lending your support.
>> Anon
Well, you are a perfect example of radicalization happening in our institutes in particular and the society in general. Just the way masses are following the likes of Zaid Hamid etc. I don't blindly follow Dr. Mubarak Ali, the point is about a balanced approach. If you relying on quoting "Gospel Truth" ... there will be no room for logical arguments as taking a different approach to religion always lands you in hot soup and people may even issue a "Kufr ka Fatwa" ( especially in this part of the world ) and by the way, I also don't approve of the first impression approach ( I didn't left I.R. because of Sir Faisal, I simply left KU and switched my career ).
It's good to see the name of Imam Ghazali and Ibn-e-Khaldun as we have the habit of glorifying warriors and worshipping personalities and yes, I stand firm on what I've said that such teachers are not allowed to brainwash a young and naive generation ( most of them don't have a clue about History as they are fed with distorted facts from a young age ). I am not suggesting any aggressive measures i.e. to abuse a particular teacher etc.
Last but not the least, I have not used any foul language against both the teachers, I disagree with their approach and I have every right to raise my voice ( even if I belong to the mostly "silent minority" ).
P.S. We don't write much history we read even less of it. Not much history is taught in schools and the littler that is taught is not very accurate and reflects many biases that don't help us to understand what we are and where we are headed.
The best teacher i've ever saw in KU.. Miss him so much because they dont teach us IR in next semister..
ReplyDeleteI never saw such type of great teachers at ku. i am not student of ir .but i know both sir faheemudeen and sir faisal. they r doing great job. they are giving the right path to the students. i love both of them. no matter some students disagree with them, actully they are living in material life, they don't know the real history and the real power of spirituality.
ReplyDelete