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duties as religious people. This is a mistake in itself. To have sufficient knowledge of all the aspects of Deen mentioned above is called Deeni knowledge. And those who abide by the rules of all these aspects are called religious people. So that person who was called a religious person but was found to be wanting in his character, is in reality not fulfilling all the aspects of the Deen. And the discussion is on that person who is influenced by all the aspects. Now the doubt has been cleared. The author has written a booklet entitled "The Rights of Knowledge" which clears similar doubts and is worth reading.

In short, culture and good manners cannot be learnt from any system of education the way it can be learnt from Deeni education. It is this very Deeni knowledge which brought about that character and good manners in our ancestors, and which was not only acknowledged by Europe but also adopted by it. However, we are totally unaware of the "wealth" that is in our homes and begging from others. How beautiful the words of Maulana Rumi are! He says: "There is a basket full of bread on your head, and yet you are going door to door searching for a crumb. You are standing in knee-deep water, and yet you are distressed out of hunger and thirst."

Some people get their daughters educated at the hands of liberal and shameless women. Experience has shown that the company one keeps has a definite effect on one's character and emotions. This is more so when the person in whose company one is, is followed and respected. Obviously, who can be more worthy of following and respect than one's teacher? So in this case, that liberalism and shamelessness will also come into these girls. In my opinion, the best woman is the one in whom hayaa'(shame and self-restraint) is natural. This is the key to all good. When this is not found, then no good can be expected, nor can any evil be discounted. The rule, "when hayaa' goes away from you, then do whatever you wish", is general. But in my opinion, the generality in "whatever you wish" is applicable more to women than men. This is so because men still have aql (intellect) as a deterrent, while women have a shortfall of this as well. Therefore, they will not have anything to s them.

Similarly, if the female teachers are not like this, but the class mates and school mates are like this (i.e. liberal and shameless), then being close to them will also cause many harms.

After this discussion, the condition of two evils, which are presently widespread, may also have come to the fore. One is the construction of girl's schools, and like normal madrasahs, to allow girls of different communities, classes, and thoughts, to come there daily. Even if the teacher is a Muslim, even if they come in cars, and even if they come here and stay in secluded places; incidents have shown and experience has proven that here such causes are combined, that they have a detrimental effect on their morals. This company has proven to be destructive to their chastity. And if the teacher is also like this, then it is like having a double dose of a bitter pill.

The second evil is that if a girl mixes with a teacher of a mission school by going to her daily or weekly for tuition in something or some craft, then both her chastity and Iman will be in danger. It is extremely distressing that some people regard these evils as a means of honour and call these teachers into their very homes. In my opinion, let alone these great evils which a girl gets trapped in on account of being a child and blindly following someone; even if an elderly Muslim woman follows this teacher and gets into a conversation with her even once, then too it will be dangerous. Some of those harms which we had promised to enumerate are these which have just been mentioned. And some of them have been mentioned when discussing the opinions of the second group.

The best method for girls is the one that came down to us from generation to generation. That two or three girls get together according to their relations and then study. As far as possible, they should try and get a female teacher who does not charge any fees because experience has shown that this type of education is more blessed and more effective. But if there is no alternative, there is no harm in paying. Where no female teacher is available, then the menfolk of the house should undertake to