The Story of a Science Teacher and His Student
-by Sister Zabrina

Bismillaah - As Salaamu 'alaykum and Peace to all,

I was watching one of my favorite family sitcoms that day and was amused by their wittiness and ability to use and abuse the English words that tickled my funny bones to the core. How they did this is beyond me. I know that all the credits should go to the script writers who had slogged hours in front of their laptop to come up with such brilliant pieces.

For an example, there was a scene where a group of girls were discussing about how they were being fooled by some bad companies. So, girl A said something like, “How do we end up with these bad companies? We're good people.” Girl B agreed with her and said, “Maybe we're like some kind of magnets.” Then, without any hesitation, girl C said, ‘I know I am. That's why I can't wear a digital watch!”

Ya Allaah, how did they come up with that idea, MashaAllaah. All praise to Allaah, the Creator who had created man with the ability of such creativity.

Can you imagine how flabbergasted Girl A and Girl B were when Girl C said that? Their facial expression said it all. It was so funny.

The sitcom had me thinking. There were many times, we misunderstood what others were saying to us. You know, like how many times did we misunderstand another person’s words? Or people misunderstood what we said to them? Misinterpreting the meaning of what we said or what others said to us? It happened to me many times as I am sure that it had happened to you too.

Language is a tricky thing, and there are issues like pronunciation, limited vocabulary and slang that impair our understanding of one another when it comes to communication. But is that reason is enough that we should not try to overcome this problem?

Allaah has said it clearly to us…

O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. one of the Muttaqun (pious - see V.2:2)]. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware (Surah Al-Hujuraat : Ayah [13] )

Allaah has given us a clue. We are made this way, being different, so that we could get to know one another. Learn from each other. Everything that Allaah created is for a reason. Subhanallaah.

So, now that we know there are definite differences between us, how do we overcome the communication problems that we have? How do we minimize the potential misunderstanding between us? I really wanted to find out the answers to these questions.



My curiosity was answered when I found this wonderful hadeeth that clearly showed me the communication technique that was used by my beloved Prophet SAW…


Anas reported that when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say something, he would repeat it three times so that it would be understood. When he came to a people, he would greet them three times." [al-Bukhari]

Subhanallaah, So, that is the technique of communication. Repeating three times of what we say so that we will be understood better. Three times would be sufficient to deliver the message. I love that. It is so simple.

Then, I found another hadeeth which my beloved Messenger of Allaah left for me to follow…

A'isha said, "The words of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were clear words which could be understood by all who heard them." [Abu Dawud]

Not only he repeated three times, but, he also made sure that his words were clear to everyone. Not only that, he used words which could be understood by the ones who heard him. Such a straightforward advice for a maximum result! Subhanallaah…

So, this is the technique. One, I should repeat three times if I feel that the other party could have problems making sense of what I am saying. Secondly, I should speak with clarity, word by word. And thirdly, I should use words that are understood by my audience.

Ahh.. I feel so good to know that there are answers to communication problems, MashaAllaah.



Let me share with you a story about what would happened if and when we fail to exercise his advice.

TEACHER : John, can you tell me what is the chemical formula for water?

JOHN : H I J K L M N O.

TEACHER : What are you talking about?

JOHN : Yesterday you said it's H to O. (From the letter "H" to the letter "O")

Opps! What else can I say? Shouldn’t we all take heed? :))


Copyrighted (c) Sis Zabrina 2007

Now blogging at http://wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com