By: Nida Hanif, Karachi
It was almost impossible to find a single person in central High School who didn’t like Sir Abdul Hadi. He was PhD in Physics and taught science to school students. His teaching style had made him to be praised all over the school.
The central High School was the only high school in town, Sir Abdul Hadi was teaching there for four years and during this time, he had his fans to be counted in thousands. He had worked hard to understand Physics to its depths and had succeeded in transferring this spirit to his students. He had made men observant and studious. They were naturalists and scientists more so than students. He was teaching three classes; VIII, IX and X
“Class VII is the naughtiest class of the school.” One day a teacher exclaimed. These were the last days of the session and all the students were preparing for their final exams, meaning sir Abdul Hadi would have to teach them in the session. What a horrible idea!
But it was not horrible for Sir Abdul Hadi. He understood that the class consisted of intelligent students; only their intelligence was being used in the wrong direction. Now he had the most difficult task at hand; to make the students use their intelligence in a positive way, simply meaning, to bring a revolution over the benches of new class VIII.
Muneeb was very popular among the naughty ones of class VIII. Teasing others and misbehaving were his two common features and he was not ready to change his behavior. Suddenly he was forced to transform into Muneeb – more respectful, well mannered and scholarly, and the source of this change was Sir Abdul Hadi. This is how the transformation tool place.
“So students, now I am going to tell you about a particle we are still not able to see, yet we have to study and base the whole universe over it. It is called the ‘atom’. Isn’t it strange that we know the whole structure of an atom when we haven’t even seen it?”
Stunned, students heard quietly as Sir Abdul Hadi explained about an atom. “It consists of a nucleus and electrons which revolve around the nucleus in the same manner as planets revolve around the Sun. The nucleus consists of neutrons and protons. Electrons are electronically negative and protons are positive. They both are present in equal numbers inside an atom.
The particles inside an atom are held together by strong binding forces, which resist any change in the main structure. The atom on the whole is neutral as negative electrons balance positive protons and the neutrons are neutral. However, if an atom loses an electron, it becomes positive and if it gains one, it becomes negative.
Every atom of an object is important but to build a powerful structure, unity of thousands of atoms is necessary. That’s why we say everything is made up of atoms. And if only one of these atoms fails in doing its work properly, the whole object will be destroyed. Atomic bomb works on this fact. The disintegration starts from only one atom and the end result is complete destruction.
The nucleus of an atom is rather powerful. If it is bombarded on another nucleus, it may reform it”.
Now the individuality of Sir Abdul Hadi woke up. “Let’s have an insight. If we go out in space, we cannot see human beings residing on earth. I hope you have noticed this in the photographs of our earth taken from the moon. The moon is the nearest heavenly body from earth and from there we cannot see human settlements, what will happen if we go far out in space. Meaning we, humans, can just like atoms not be seen even from moon. We are so minute, can you imagine?
But, the life of the whole cosmos depends on humans. If we become positive i.e. give up bad habits, that’s beneficial for the whole universe. And if we become negative by adopting bad habits, the whole system will be destroyed. Each and every human is important in this regard. Remember, destruction starts from one atom.”
Sir Abdul Hadi was so absorbed in this topic that he forgot Muneeb who was sitting in a corner with his face turning red.
“Sahaba Kiram (Radhi-yAllahu Ta’ala an-hu) were positive, the whole world obeyed them from deadly earthquakes to molten magma and from fierce carnivores to poisonous snakes. They knew that united we stand, divided we fall and the history is replete with the unmatchable examples of their unity.
And people of today are negative. When we cannot control our own desires, how can we control others? To lead our lives successfully, we need a system, which we import from the west. Without realizing that the most successful life style is Islam, our religion. If we become positive, we can become a guiding star for the western people.
Remember dear ones, Sun rises from the east and sets in the west. Where the Sun loses its startling light, how come we will get light from there! Hmm!”
The last period was over. Having said these final words, Sir Abdul Hadi walked out of the class. All the students rose up to pack for their homes, stunned and thoughtful. But Muneeb, he was still sitting, very weak, and not able to stand up, with his face covered with his hands. Yes, these were the tears, which reformed the most naughty boy into the most obedient, respectful and well-mannered boy of the Central High School. The nucleus of Sir Abdul Hadi had collided with Muneeb’s and had succeeded in reshaping it.