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to men, they regard sinning very lightly. And for women, they regard it very seriously. Apart from pride, there is a very great possibility of passing a fatwa (religious verdict) of istikhfaaf (belittling the rules of the Shariah).

Now, just the third group is left. These people support and defend the education of women but have erred in determining or laying down a system for it. Some of their mistakes have already been incorporated when discussing the second group above. For example, teaching the women to read the alphabets only and thereafter leaving them to read the different booklets and magazines of their choice. Or, for example, not ensuring that they put into practice what they learn - different examples in this respect were also mentioned. We will now mention some other mistakes of theirs. For example, instead of teaching them Deeni knowledge, some of the women are taught History, Geography and English. Worse than this, they also teach them the Bible. This is due to just blind following of the Europeans. In other words, they feel that the worth and credibility of their syllabus is dependent on this. But they do not think that even if there was no difference between the two of us in regard to customs, habits, natural inclinations and peculiarities, the greatest distinction of religion still exists. That we follow the religion of Islam and they either follow no religion (which is the case with a majority of them), or they follow a religion opposed to our religion. Therefore, they will either have no religious education, or if they do have, it will be superficial, or it will be worldly education, or education of some other religion. In any case, this system of education of theirs has a specific basis. But if we had to choose their system of education, on what basis is it going to be? If the purpose of their education is different, as has just been mentioned, and our goal is different, as had been briefly explained when rectifying the mistakes of the first group, i.e. rectifying the beliefs, actions, transactions, social dealings, and morals; and this goal is dependent on Deeni knowledge - then it is obvious that for us to adopt their system of education is unsuitable or incompatible. However, if one also feels the need to earn a livelihood as well, then there will be no harm if one learns those sciences after having acquired Deeni knowledge. Those sciences refer to those things upon which one's livelihood is dependent, such as English, History, Geography, etc. Apart from these things, such a person will have no need to study the Bible.

It is obvious that the need to earn a livelihood is only experienced by men and not women, the reason being that the responsibility for supporting and providing for them is on the men. Secondly, Islam has emphasized purdah for women, and those specific ways whereby a livelihood could be earned are dependent on specific branches of knowledge. And these branches cannot be learnt while in purdah. Therefore, to teach them these things is fruitless and a waste of time. In fact, apart from being fruitless, it will also be harmful, as will be explained later. In any case, these sciences which are known as "modern education" are in no way proper for women. However, it would be good to have sufficient knowledge of certain worldly aspects such as writing, Mathematics, some sort of handicrafts, etc., so that if at any time there is no one to see to their needs, they could earn a living.

As for learning good manners, then whoever wishes, he could check and see for himself that no other system or education can teach good manners and character the way Deen can. Hence, take a person who has been totally influenced by Deeni knowledge and another person who has been totally influenced by modern civilization. Thereafter, compare their character, social dealings and transactions, and you will find that there is a world of difference between the two. However, if someone regards pretention and deception as culture, then his mistake will be that he has misunderstood the meaning of a particular concept. At this very moment, if some religious person comes to mind who has some short-coming in real character, then the reason for this will be that he did not take full benefit from Deeni knowledge. In other words, Deen has many aspects: beliefs, actions, mu'aamalaat (transactions), mu'aasharat (social relations), and self-purification. Some people regard only salaat and fasting as knowledge of the Deen and only people who fulfil these