The Role of the Sharia Colleges at Gaza Governorates in Preparing Preachers and Their Means of Development

Abstract

The study aims at investigating the role of the Islamic colleges at the governorates of Gaza Strip in the preparation of educators who are involved in Da’wah, calling to Allah. The study also questions the ways that could be implemented to develop this role. The study implemented the descriptive analytical methodology, and used two tools: the questionnaire and the interview. The questionnaire included 45 statements distributed over three fields: the field of faith and morals (16 statements), the field of knowledge (13 statements), and the field of Da’wah skills (16 statements). The interview included several personal interviews with specialists in education and Sharia. The sample included 501 sampling units selected from the fourth level students at different Islamic colleges, namely Islamic University of Gaza, Faculty of Islamic Da’wah, and Al-Azhar University in Gaza. The most important results were as follows: The Da’wah colleges in the governorates of Gaza significantly contribute to the preparation of educators who are involved in Da’wah. The relative weight of this role was 76.40, which is significant. There are no statistically significant differences at a significance level of a≤0.05 between the means observed between the sampling units with regards to the contribution of Da’wah colleges in the governorates of Gaza to the preparation of educators who are involved in Da’wah. These differences examined considering the variables of the governorate, and the GPA. There are statistically significant differences at a significance level of a≤0.05 between the means observed between the sampling units with regards to the contribution of Da’wah colleges in the governorates of Gaza to the preparation of educators who are involved in Da’wah. These differences examined considering the variables of gender, and the institution of study. Based on the above-mentioned results, the study recommends the following: To establish academic research centers specialized in the field of Islamic Da’wah, and to encourage students to carry out studies in this field under the supervision of the Islamic colleges. To add some modules related to the media and psychological fields to the curricula of Islamic colleges to enable the students to learn the new methods in Da’wah which are required to make an impact in the society. To carry out specialized workshops and seminars to discuss the methods and means of practicing Da’wah. To pay attention to the educational and cognitive preparation of people involved in the field of Da’wah prior to their practice of Da’wah. Keywords: role, Islamic colleges, the educator involved in Da’wah, Gaza governorates.