Scribe

In The Right to Education, Work and Welfare in Islam Professor M.H. Kamali develops an Islamic perspective on three connected and complementary areas of rights and liberties. He urges that education is often a necessary ingredient of professional work even more so now than in earlier times when the range and variety of specialised knowledge were relatively limited. A person who acquires education, whether generally or at advanced levels of specialisation, is more likely to stand in a better position to enter the workforce and thus to contribute to the welfare of the community.

The author commences his discussions on education, work and welfare in Islam by focusing on how each is treated in the Qur’an; and follows this by the example of the Prophet and, after him, the Pious Caliphs who gave prominence to the education and welfare needs of people at times both of scarcity and affluence. Professor Kamali then moves forward to our time and discusses the right to education, the education of children, institutionalisation of learning, academic freedom and the debate between science and religion.

The section on work elaborates on the value of work, work ethics, workers’ and employers’ rights and responsibilities, and the role and responsibility of governments.
Finally, the section on welfare focuses on the importance in Islam of caring for those who are in need and the different forms of provision that can be made available by individuals, the state and charities.

The present work focuses on the Muslim community requires for purification, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage, and warfare. A lengthy introduction to Islamic law and the Hanbali’ school has been included to prepare the readers. The language employed in the translation has been kept simple, straightforward, and modern to make the work accessible to everyone who speaks English – law student or otherwise. This bilingual edition, with its parallel Arabic text, will allow readers to access the original Arabic and hopefully help with vocabulary building, oracy, and future translation. Muslims for many centuries have turned to Dalil al-Talib for study, and ultimately to be informed of their religious practices. It is hoped the translation, The Student’s Guide, will produce a similar response and convey the spirit and manner of the original owing to its style and simplicity.