Teachers: The Quiet Architects of Our Lives

On Teachers’ Day 2026, Prof. Emeritus Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar, Editor-in-Chief of HunarNama and Rector of the University of Southern Punjab, Multan, Pakistan, paid a heartfelt tribute to teachers, calling them the quiet architects whose influence continues to shape lives long after they leave the classroom.

In a deeply personal message, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar said that teachers had been among the most enduring sources of guidance, encouragement, and wisdom at every stage of his life. From his earliest education to his professional and academic journey, he said, teachers had repeatedly opened doors, offered counsel at difficult moments, and inspired him to believe in possibilities that were not always immediately visible.

“Whatever we become in life, somewhere behind that achievement stands a teacher who believed in us, corrected us, encouraged us, or simply taught us to keep going,” he said. “I have experienced this throughout my life. At every important turn, teachers’ guidance and prayers have helped me find my way.”

He expressed his profound respect and gratitude to all teachers who continue to devote themselves to educating and nurturing generations of students, often under circumstances that require patience, sacrifice, and extraordinary commitment.

Prof. Dr. Mukhtar also remembered with reverence those teachers who have passed away. He offered prayers for their departed souls, asking Almighty Allah to show them mercy, elevate their ranks, and grant them eternal peace in the hereafter. “The classroom eventually becomes empty, but the lesson remains,” he said. “A teacher may leave this world, yet his or her words, values, and example continue to live in the lives of students for generations.”

He called on parents, students, educational institutions, and society at large to restore respect for teachers and for knowledge itself. In an age increasingly defined by technology, artificial intelligence, and rapidly changing forms of learning, he said, society must not lose sight of the human relationship at the heart of education. “Respect your teacher not merely because he or she teaches a subject, but because every genuine teacher gives something of himself or herself to another human being,” he said.

He further emphasized that the word “Ustaad” means far more than a professional title. A teacher may be found in a university classroom, a school, a laboratory, a workshop, a workplace, a family, or even in an unexpected encounter that leaves a lasting lesson. “We should respect every person who teaches us, even the one who teaches us a single word,” Prof. Dr. Mukhtar said. “Knowledge has no small teacher. A single word can change a thought; a thought can change a decision; a decision can change a life.”

Prof. Dr. Mukhtar, Editor-in-Chief of HunarNama, a platform devoted to skills, learning, and the dignity of knowledge and work, said that Teachers’ Day offered an opportunity not only to celebrate teachers but also to renew society’s commitment to learning. He urged students to express gratitude to their teachers while they still have the opportunity and encouraged teachers to recognize their profound influence beyond examinations, grades, and classrooms. “Teachers do not simply prepare students for examinations,” he said. “They prepare them for life. Their greatest achievement is often not the student who remembers a lesson, but the person who becomes better because a teacher once cared enough to teach.”

On this Teachers’ Day, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar expressed his deepest respect for teachers everywhere those still guiding students in classrooms and laboratories, those serving quietly in schools and communities, and those whose earthly journey has ended, yet whose teachings continue to illuminate others' lives.

He concluded with a message of gratitude that, he said, should belong not to one day alone but to every day:

“To every teacher who taught us, guided us, corrected us, encouraged us, prayed for us or gave us even one word of wisdom: we owe you our respect, our gratitude and, in many ways, the lives we have become.”