RELEVANCE OF ISLAMIC THEMES FOR SUBSTITUTING MAIN THEMES IN ENGLISH SYLLABUS

Abstract

This study aims to assert the viability of Islamic principles for teaching humanities, specifically the English syllabus at higher secondary school (HSSC) level in Pakistan.  The Present study establishes that education must be aligned with the basic human tenets that are enshrined in Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet. Islam preaches compassion, harmony and forbearance. Islam stands for humanity and teaches morality. The Holy Quran puts forth the strong evidences of these ultimate goals of Islam. The interpretation of the Holy Quran’s verses and Surahs can become the part of our curriculum and syllabus in form of short stories. The theoretical framework of Vermeer’s Skopos theory (1978) has been used for the translation of verses and Islamic incidents. The sample for this study is the English text book of Intermediate Part 1. The method of content analysis has been used. The book is explored to study its major themes. The themes are extracted manually by extensive reading and they are presented in tabulation form. The events and incidents from the history of Islam and the holy verses of the Quran have been explored corresponding to the extracted themes from the selected text book.  Translations of such texts that shape the minds of young learners should be the essential component of our academia. The study asserts that text books of English must be designed to teach the Islamic values of life by exemplifying true incidents from Islamic civilization. Translation of the Holy Quran will assist in maintaining cross cultural relationship and creating awareness among people.