Splitting Subjects into Points

teachers rarely rely on this method of education. a few educators use this educational technique in lecturing their students or explaining subjects. the teacher should study the subject that he will discuss with students, then he should divide the content into stages, paragraphs or points. finally, he should teach these points to students. such method is very useful to students, because it enables them to gather all elements of the subject, memorize them and comprehend them quickly. for example, if the student forgets a piece of information, then in his mind he reviews the points and their number, this would help him recall the missing information. if we look through islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) books, we will find many kinds of divisions and subtitles such as duties, prohibitions and commands, etc. these divisions and splits were not reported from the prophet muhammad (peace be upon him), they were set by scholars and scientists to help students attain knowledge, understand it and memorize all points. the prophet (peace be upon him) used to do the same with his companions when he (pbuh) taught them a new thing.

1- narated by abu huraira: the prophet said, "seven (people) will be shaded by allah’s shade on the day of resurrection when there will be no shade except his shade. (they will be), a just ruler, a young man who has been brought up in the worship of allah, a man who remembers allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears, a man whose heart is attached to mosques (offers his compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque), two men who love each other for allah's sake, a man who is called by a charming lady of noble birth to commit illegal sexual intercourse with her, and he says, 'i am afraid of allah,' and (finally), a man who gives in charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given."

2- narrated 'abdullah bin 'amr: the prophet said, "whoever has the following four (characteristics) will be a pure hypocrite and whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy unless and until he gives it up. whenever he is entrusted, he betrays. whenever he speaks, he tells a lie. whenever he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous. whenever he quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent, evil and insulting manner." [volume 1, book 2, number 34]

the sirah (prophetic teachings) has many examples of this educational method. if we pursue more examples in the sirah (prophetic teachings), it might take a very long time. what we have mentioned above is enough and detailed. looking through the hadiths by the prophet muhammad (peace be upon him), this will show how the prophet mentioned the whole number then he divides it into splits, or he mentions the main point then he divides it into subdivisions. no doubt, this method is more appealing and organized. teachers should adopt this method if they want to make knowledge easier for their students.

summary:

1) splitting information into points helps students memorize information and keep them in mind.

2) this method requires accuracy and talent in delivering information.

3) when teachers adopt this method, it is preferred to follow summation then elaboration.