Why do you educate? We live in a time of high anxiety. Despite the world's unprecedented total wealth in the West, there is vast insecurity, unrest and dissatisfaction at home. In the United States, a large majority of Americans believe that the country is “on the wrong track.” Pessimism has soared. The same is true in many other places. Against this backdrop, one my reconsider going to school. The relentless pursuit of a high school diploma or degree is leading to unprecedented stress rather than greater happiness. Is education worth the pain? Will we ever use it in life?
This is the question we as Muslims need to address on an international scale because it seems that we all have our own approach to education. For some its obvious, its a social obligation. The first thing we say to people after telling them our name, is our qualification - i.e. what we do. I am an undergrad student, I just started grade 9. I am a biochemist, I am graphic designer, I play hockey for the NHL (lol. you wish). No one likes a dummy, someone who knows nothing and does nothing. I think we call those guys hobos or bimbos? Once Umar (r.a) saw a man sitting in the Masjid continuously for a few days, upon asking him the man said that his brother supports him financially while he worships Allah at the Masjid. Umar (r.a) threw him out saying go work for yourself and don't become a burden on anyone.
Another predictable reason is money. No one will hire you if you haven't finished school. So if you don't want to end up in a burger joint covered in grease serving fries and ketchup all your life for $6.00 an hour then I guess you better study something that would pay better and look better. It is not to say that everyone should take business courses in in grade 12 IBT or apply for Osgoode Hall law school. In Islam, every area of study and field of work is respectable so long as it is halal. Restaurant business for example is highly celebrated. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said that "the best Islam (the best Muslim) is one who تطعم الطعام feeds others" [Bukhari] and that "غرفا تري ظهورها من بطونها the lofty rooms of Jannah are for those who feed the needy." [Tirmidhi] In Islam even a plumber and a janitor is dignified because "cleanliness is half of faith" [Muslim] and "Allah loves those who purify themselves." [Qur'an, 2:222]
Okay, back to school. We need an alternative, holistic approach to going to school. Sometimes social acceptance and big bucks are not enough motivation. Just imagine your own mental health after three, three hour lectures back to back in one day. You are so brain dead after that, you can't even walk straight. Or the level of your compassion when you are trying to pull an all night-er for an assignment and your mom asks you to help in the kitchen or the local Masjid calls you to volunteer for a food drive. Yeah! Like that's ever going to happen? SubhanAllah, this is exactly why we should be going to school, to grow as persons, to become more cultured and community oriented.
Even some parents don't realize why they are sending their kids to school. Like I heard parents saying, they can't wait for school to start; they can't wait to have some peace and quiet in the house after a long, tiring summer with the kids. Yes, children can be a handful but schools are not babysitters. Firstly kids get out of control when they have nothing to do. A proper schedule and a polite instructor can make a world of a difference. Secondly, we can't just throw our kids in a classroom for some seven or eight hours in a day for twelve to sixteen years of their lives without knowing what they are learning and who they are learning it from. A bad subject, like biology only taught around the theory of evolution, or a bad teacher, like a gay professor - can make an atheist or a homosexual out of your child. In English class last year we read Skim (graphic novel) about a Chinese immgrant girl who had a lesbian teacher. Let's just say things happened between the two and by the end of school year, the teacher was fired and girl turned lesbian.
Now you might be thinking, forget public school, I'll just homeschool my kids. Islamic schools aren't really affordable, they aren't even Islamic to begin with. I'll just keep my kid at home and teach them myself. Sure, that's a great idea but it doesn't really work with everything. Even if your child learns Arabic grammar at the age of eight and the hypotenuse theorem by nine, they not know how to use it in their life. They may not have confidence to reach out to other people and help them with their knowledge. In order for children to be pragmatic with their studies, they need to see practical examples. School is a place where young people learn how to think with each other, how to jointly puzzle over a problem, how to make sense of discordant views, how to arrive at consensus. School is a place where the world can open up -- mine certainly did -- through learning history, geography, and literature, but also through the people you meet and a growing sense of where you fit in the scheme of things. School taught me to self-reflect, to think with words and numbers, become systematic and methodical, edit/improve upon my weaknesses and of those around me, to make friends etc.
Even if kids are homeschooled till grade 12, they won't have the luxury to do the same when it comes to university. At least by university you have to decide why you are going to school and what you are going to do once you are in. Which path are you going to take over the other? Well here is my justification...one of the top schools in the world has created one of the most powerful societies in the world. You see, a society is only as good as the sum of its parts. If you fix, or in our case, educate all the parts (people) of society, together they can build a titanic state.
Take for example the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It is Israel's oldest and best university to date. One of the visions of the Zionist movements was to establish the state of Israel via the Jewish University. So in 1884, the groundwork was laid and in 1918 the facility was opened at a gala ceremony attended by the leaders of the Jewish world, distinguished Jewish scholars and public figures including Earl Balfour, the former UK Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Viscount Allenby, British soldier and administrator to expeditions lead against Syria, Palestine and Egypt during 1918. The First Board of Governors to the Hebrew University included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber and Chaim Weizmann. I hope you are realizing a trend here? The world's best Jewish men of academia, diplomacy and military opened a haven of courses from communications, analytical chemistry, economics, geography, law, philosophy, to psychology, archaeology, history and computer science to breed a unique brand of progressive Jews. It was this intelligentsia that produced Israel. This university not only prepared the paperwork for the country but it fought in many wars against Arabs to preserve the country.
Do Muslims have any university that can do the same? For every Jew in the world there are a hundred Muslims. There are 57 Muslim countries in the world, with only 500 universities put together. There are over 600 universities, colleges, schools and learning centers in Israel alone. India by itself has over 8,407 universities (Pakistan has only 127 - though both countries were founded just a day apart from each other. Clearly the Indians focused on education, we didn't). 90% of the Western world is literate while only 40% of the Muslim world knows how to read or write in their own language. 40% of the 90% of the Western population attends universities and only 2% of the 40% of literate Muslims go to university. After the military complex, the Western world spends most of its GDP on research and development while the Muslim world only spends 0.2% of that on the same. We also produce the least amount of books, we innovate (and know how to operate) the least amount of technology, or any other product that is of social service. It is not to say that there are no hard working people anywhere in the Muslim world. No there are many exceptions, Dr. Farhat Hashmi, Dr. Zakir Naik and Dr. Bilal Philips have done a lot in the field of education but obviously we cannot let the world's weight rest on their shoulders. More people need to rise and take responsibility. Did you know that the most used language on facebook is Arabic! What are all these Arabs doing on Facebook when we need them to protect Palestine? Pakistan has more than a 100 million cellphone users, 6.2 million Twitter users, 4 million Facebook users and 3 million bloggers. Like WOW! We don't have food or electricity in Pakistan, don't have education or employment but we have all these tech-savvy social-networking outlets for millions of people?
This is what I mean by why go to school when you can get a part time job anywhere to get by and catch the latest gossip on the internet? So long as you look good (and with a credit card, everyone looks good) and know how to say what you want to say in a way that others listen, you are respected in society. You might look at someone with a Yves Saint Laurent New Rive Purple Gauche Handbag and wish you had that and she may look at you in your sugar and spice long layers, dramatically side-swept bangs and chocolate and ginger colored strands and wish she was you. What else is there to life? Let someone else go to school and do all the hard work. Let them build nations and bring peace. You have better things to do?
I hate that the fate of the world rests in corrupt hands. I mean once, there used to be men like Umar (r.a) who he would stay with his people all day and stay with Allah all night. He would say, "If I sleep by day, the subjects might be harmed, and if I sleep at night I might be lost."
One day a young lady followed him from the market place. She said, "O Commander of the faithful! My husband has died and I have small children. I am the daughter of Khifaf bin Ayman Al Ghifari who witnessed Al-Hudaibiyah with Allah's Messenger (s.a.w)." Umar (r.a) welcomed her and loaded her camel with two big sacks of food and clothing. He said, "Take these and Allah will send you another before it ends." Someone near by objected and said to Umar (r.a) that he had given the woman too much. Umar (r.a) said that her father and brother besieged an enemy fortress for a long time until Allah gave them victory and we took their wealth.
It touches your heart, doesn't it? A stray woman with no social backing was able to demand her rights, straight from the Khaleef himself without any political campaigning or propaganda. The Khaleef on the other hand, respected her and honoured her wishes on the spot. There was no long bureaucratic bakwass. He didn't ask her to wait in line, call his secretary, fill out a form, bring proof for her husband's death etc. The best part is that Umar (r.a.) remembered her father and cousin. He ruled over an Empire that stretched from Spain to China. He must meet thousands of people everyday and subhanAllah look at his benevolence, he remembers each and everyone of them. I appreciates the good that they did and extends his kindness to not only them but also their families. What a man, subhanAllah. He didn't even take credit for his altruism, he said to the woman, "Allah will send you more." He encouraged her to trust Allah with all things, He is the One Who provides so don't be impressed by anyone who is helping you, Allah deserves thanks.
At another time, Umar (r.a) was doing hospitality for some out of town folks. At night when he was standing guard outside, he heard a baby cry. He found his mother and said, "Fear Allah and do good to your child." When he returned to his position, the cries lapsed into silence. At Fajr time again he heard the baby cry so before going to the Masjid to lead the prayer, he visited its mother and said, "Aren't you a good mother? What is the matter with your child?"
SubhanAllah! Which President on this planet would tread back and forth in the city to welcome and host refugees or immigrants? I know fathers who don't care if their own son/daughter is crying or dying in the next room but Umar (r.a) was aggrieved for a stranger's baby and he went to his mother twice, beseeching her to be good to him, i.e. nurse him. Even if fathers bother with their kids today, its never to see whether they have eaten. Its only when its report card time will the dads ask why you got a 89 instead of 99. Dude if you are never home to help your kids with homework, don't even except them to pass. And when they are older, they hate you - they can't even stand to look at you, don't wonder then where you went wrong.
Needless to say, we need men like Umar (r.a). Men with his rigid simplicity, utter self-effacement, scrupulous regard for duty, intense devoution to his people, absolute trust and fear in Allah and strength. Ghandi said, "The best thing to happen to India would be to be reigned by a ruler as just and upright as Umar bin Al Khattab". Until a men like him can come along, I guess a radio clown like me should stay in school so I can, only with Allah's help, do a minuscule fraction of what he used to.
You know the sahaba (r.a) would teach their children about the ghazawaat like they would teach them the Qur'an. The ghazawaat gave the children heroes to emulate. One is to read several books on seerah and try to follow the examples as much as you can at a personal level. The other is to go to school inshaAllah to implement the sahaba's principles professionally; use our careers to reenact their lives. Which is more grandiose?
Go open your mind, inflame your heart. Lose some sleep, wander in the libraries. Chase your professors, write essays. You might become something big inshaAllah.
This is the question we as Muslims need to address on an international scale because it seems that we all have our own approach to education. For some its obvious, its a social obligation. The first thing we say to people after telling them our name, is our qualification - i.e. what we do. I am an undergrad student, I just started grade 9. I am a biochemist, I am graphic designer, I play hockey for the NHL (lol. you wish). No one likes a dummy, someone who knows nothing and does nothing. I think we call those guys hobos or bimbos? Once Umar (r.a) saw a man sitting in the Masjid continuously for a few days, upon asking him the man said that his brother supports him financially while he worships Allah at the Masjid. Umar (r.a) threw him out saying go work for yourself and don't become a burden on anyone.
Another predictable reason is money. No one will hire you if you haven't finished school. So if you don't want to end up in a burger joint covered in grease serving fries and ketchup all your life for $6.00 an hour then I guess you better study something that would pay better and look better. It is not to say that everyone should take business courses in in grade 12 IBT or apply for Osgoode Hall law school. In Islam, every area of study and field of work is respectable so long as it is halal. Restaurant business for example is highly celebrated. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said that "the best Islam (the best Muslim) is one who تطعم الطعام feeds others" [Bukhari] and that "غرفا تري ظهورها من بطونها the lofty rooms of Jannah are for those who feed the needy." [Tirmidhi] In Islam even a plumber and a janitor is dignified because "cleanliness is half of faith" [Muslim] and "Allah loves those who purify themselves." [Qur'an, 2:222]
Okay, back to school. We need an alternative, holistic approach to going to school. Sometimes social acceptance and big bucks are not enough motivation. Just imagine your own mental health after three, three hour lectures back to back in one day. You are so brain dead after that, you can't even walk straight. Or the level of your compassion when you are trying to pull an all night-er for an assignment and your mom asks you to help in the kitchen or the local Masjid calls you to volunteer for a food drive. Yeah! Like that's ever going to happen? SubhanAllah, this is exactly why we should be going to school, to grow as persons, to become more cultured and community oriented.
Even some parents don't realize why they are sending their kids to school. Like I heard parents saying, they can't wait for school to start; they can't wait to have some peace and quiet in the house after a long, tiring summer with the kids. Yes, children can be a handful but schools are not babysitters. Firstly kids get out of control when they have nothing to do. A proper schedule and a polite instructor can make a world of a difference. Secondly, we can't just throw our kids in a classroom for some seven or eight hours in a day for twelve to sixteen years of their lives without knowing what they are learning and who they are learning it from. A bad subject, like biology only taught around the theory of evolution, or a bad teacher, like a gay professor - can make an atheist or a homosexual out of your child. In English class last year we read Skim (graphic novel) about a Chinese immgrant girl who had a lesbian teacher. Let's just say things happened between the two and by the end of school year, the teacher was fired and girl turned lesbian.
Now you might be thinking, forget public school, I'll just homeschool my kids. Islamic schools aren't really affordable, they aren't even Islamic to begin with. I'll just keep my kid at home and teach them myself. Sure, that's a great idea but it doesn't really work with everything. Even if your child learns Arabic grammar at the age of eight and the hypotenuse theorem by nine, they not know how to use it in their life. They may not have confidence to reach out to other people and help them with their knowledge. In order for children to be pragmatic with their studies, they need to see practical examples. School is a place where young people learn how to think with each other, how to jointly puzzle over a problem, how to make sense of discordant views, how to arrive at consensus. School is a place where the world can open up -- mine certainly did -- through learning history, geography, and literature, but also through the people you meet and a growing sense of where you fit in the scheme of things. School taught me to self-reflect, to think with words and numbers, become systematic and methodical, edit/improve upon my weaknesses and of those around me, to make friends etc.
Even if kids are homeschooled till grade 12, they won't have the luxury to do the same when it comes to university. At least by university you have to decide why you are going to school and what you are going to do once you are in. Which path are you going to take over the other? Well here is my justification...one of the top schools in the world has created one of the most powerful societies in the world. You see, a society is only as good as the sum of its parts. If you fix, or in our case, educate all the parts (people) of society, together they can build a titanic state.
Take for example the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It is Israel's oldest and best university to date. One of the visions of the Zionist movements was to establish the state of Israel via the Jewish University. So in 1884, the groundwork was laid and in 1918 the facility was opened at a gala ceremony attended by the leaders of the Jewish world, distinguished Jewish scholars and public figures including Earl Balfour, the former UK Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Viscount Allenby, British soldier and administrator to expeditions lead against Syria, Palestine and Egypt during 1918. The First Board of Governors to the Hebrew University included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber and Chaim Weizmann. I hope you are realizing a trend here? The world's best Jewish men of academia, diplomacy and military opened a haven of courses from communications, analytical chemistry, economics, geography, law, philosophy, to psychology, archaeology, history and computer science to breed a unique brand of progressive Jews. It was this intelligentsia that produced Israel. This university not only prepared the paperwork for the country but it fought in many wars against Arabs to preserve the country.
Do Muslims have any university that can do the same? For every Jew in the world there are a hundred Muslims. There are 57 Muslim countries in the world, with only 500 universities put together. There are over 600 universities, colleges, schools and learning centers in Israel alone. India by itself has over 8,407 universities (Pakistan has only 127 - though both countries were founded just a day apart from each other. Clearly the Indians focused on education, we didn't). 90% of the Western world is literate while only 40% of the Muslim world knows how to read or write in their own language. 40% of the 90% of the Western population attends universities and only 2% of the 40% of literate Muslims go to university. After the military complex, the Western world spends most of its GDP on research and development while the Muslim world only spends 0.2% of that on the same. We also produce the least amount of books, we innovate (and know how to operate) the least amount of technology, or any other product that is of social service. It is not to say that there are no hard working people anywhere in the Muslim world. No there are many exceptions, Dr. Farhat Hashmi, Dr. Zakir Naik and Dr. Bilal Philips have done a lot in the field of education but obviously we cannot let the world's weight rest on their shoulders. More people need to rise and take responsibility. Did you know that the most used language on facebook is Arabic! What are all these Arabs doing on Facebook when we need them to protect Palestine? Pakistan has more than a 100 million cellphone users, 6.2 million Twitter users, 4 million Facebook users and 3 million bloggers. Like WOW! We don't have food or electricity in Pakistan, don't have education or employment but we have all these tech-savvy social-networking outlets for millions of people?
This is what I mean by why go to school when you can get a part time job anywhere to get by and catch the latest gossip on the internet? So long as you look good (and with a credit card, everyone looks good) and know how to say what you want to say in a way that others listen, you are respected in society. You might look at someone with a Yves Saint Laurent New Rive Purple Gauche Handbag and wish you had that and she may look at you in your sugar and spice long layers, dramatically side-swept bangs and chocolate and ginger colored strands and wish she was you. What else is there to life? Let someone else go to school and do all the hard work. Let them build nations and bring peace. You have better things to do?
I hate that the fate of the world rests in corrupt hands. I mean once, there used to be men like Umar (r.a) who he would stay with his people all day and stay with Allah all night. He would say, "If I sleep by day, the subjects might be harmed, and if I sleep at night I might be lost."
One day a young lady followed him from the market place. She said, "O Commander of the faithful! My husband has died and I have small children. I am the daughter of Khifaf bin Ayman Al Ghifari who witnessed Al-Hudaibiyah with Allah's Messenger (s.a.w)." Umar (r.a) welcomed her and loaded her camel with two big sacks of food and clothing. He said, "Take these and Allah will send you another before it ends." Someone near by objected and said to Umar (r.a) that he had given the woman too much. Umar (r.a) said that her father and brother besieged an enemy fortress for a long time until Allah gave them victory and we took their wealth.
It touches your heart, doesn't it? A stray woman with no social backing was able to demand her rights, straight from the Khaleef himself without any political campaigning or propaganda. The Khaleef on the other hand, respected her and honoured her wishes on the spot. There was no long bureaucratic bakwass. He didn't ask her to wait in line, call his secretary, fill out a form, bring proof for her husband's death etc. The best part is that Umar (r.a.) remembered her father and cousin. He ruled over an Empire that stretched from Spain to China. He must meet thousands of people everyday and subhanAllah look at his benevolence, he remembers each and everyone of them. I appreciates the good that they did and extends his kindness to not only them but also their families. What a man, subhanAllah. He didn't even take credit for his altruism, he said to the woman, "Allah will send you more." He encouraged her to trust Allah with all things, He is the One Who provides so don't be impressed by anyone who is helping you, Allah deserves thanks.
At another time, Umar (r.a) was doing hospitality for some out of town folks. At night when he was standing guard outside, he heard a baby cry. He found his mother and said, "Fear Allah and do good to your child." When he returned to his position, the cries lapsed into silence. At Fajr time again he heard the baby cry so before going to the Masjid to lead the prayer, he visited its mother and said, "Aren't you a good mother? What is the matter with your child?"
SubhanAllah! Which President on this planet would tread back and forth in the city to welcome and host refugees or immigrants? I know fathers who don't care if their own son/daughter is crying or dying in the next room but Umar (r.a) was aggrieved for a stranger's baby and he went to his mother twice, beseeching her to be good to him, i.e. nurse him. Even if fathers bother with their kids today, its never to see whether they have eaten. Its only when its report card time will the dads ask why you got a 89 instead of 99. Dude if you are never home to help your kids with homework, don't even except them to pass. And when they are older, they hate you - they can't even stand to look at you, don't wonder then where you went wrong.
Needless to say, we need men like Umar (r.a). Men with his rigid simplicity, utter self-effacement, scrupulous regard for duty, intense devoution to his people, absolute trust and fear in Allah and strength. Ghandi said, "The best thing to happen to India would be to be reigned by a ruler as just and upright as Umar bin Al Khattab". Until a men like him can come along, I guess a radio clown like me should stay in school so I can, only with Allah's help, do a minuscule fraction of what he used to.
You know the sahaba (r.a) would teach their children about the ghazawaat like they would teach them the Qur'an. The ghazawaat gave the children heroes to emulate. One is to read several books on seerah and try to follow the examples as much as you can at a personal level. The other is to go to school inshaAllah to implement the sahaba's principles professionally; use our careers to reenact their lives. Which is more grandiose?
Go open your mind, inflame your heart. Lose some sleep, wander in the libraries. Chase your professors, write essays. You might become something big inshaAllah.
DON'T take OSAP - part 1
ReplyDeleteNow here is another thing, if you haven't figured out WHY you are going to school, DON'T take hundreds and thousands of OSAP money on interest.
Let's be real, an average course in any university across Ontario costs almost $600 with tax.
If you are going to school (university) as a full time student (taking 5 courses a year - 4 during Fall and Winter sessions and 1 in summer school), you are paying at least $600 x 5 + $2,000 auxiliary fees for things like bus pass, access to university gym, dental plan etc. Thats $5,000 for one year of school. If you are in school for 4 years, you will pay over $20,000 just for tuition. Each year, textbooks, iclickers, past years' assignments and exams, stationary etc. cost anywhere between $200-$400.
So going to school is a $32,000 investment on average.
If you are taking OSAP then this means you are paying interest every semester on the $5,000 borrowed from the government. True, you don't have to pay back a dime from the total $32,000 you borrowed until six months after you graduate BUT you are still charged with interest every semester.
So taking OSAP = being a minimum of $37,000 - 45,000in debt.
Are you sure you want to blow $32,000 on school when you don't know why you are going there in the first place?
Are you sure you want to take $40,000 of loan + interest?
On my first day of class this year, I passed by the cafeteria on campus at the David Building. The high vaulted type roof with large windows filled the space with brisk sunlight and gave the dining hall a spacious and airy feel. There was not a single dark chocolate coloured round seat or beige square table unoccupied at noon. People chatted monotonously on their phones. Some ate from the food trays emanating the smell of pizza and ketchup, and ice cold boaster juice cans- wet to the touch.
Some students pulled their bags over their shoulders and scuffed to the OSAP line across the cafeteria. I spotted many desi kids in the line joking with their friends. They stood carelessly, listening to music, flicking their hair and thumbing away on their blackberries and iphones. They must be thinking triumph! FREE MONEY! They can pay for their tuition, their books, maybe even go eat out or catch a movie. I felt sick, nauseated and dizzy to be exact. My eyes went blurry and I just wanted to sit down for a while. The yellow glossy OSAP poster and sign up sheets send me shockwaves that still tremble me when I think about it. I imagine the OSAP line was the queue to hell. Those 39 kids are taking fire and banking Allah's anger. Their learning will not benefit them, instead it will become a means of their demise.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilyiji raj'iun. May Allah have mercy on our sorry conditions and purge the spiritual diseases of our hearts aaamen.
Do you know taking interest is declaring war against Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w). We are no match for an ordinary fighter with some strength. Allah also says that the people who take interest will be raised on the Day of Judgment as if they are possessed by shaytan.
DON'T take OSAP - part 2
ReplyDeleteI remember in my grade 10 boxing class, every kick and punch makes you acutely conscious of your body, you sense each individual cell and blood vessel bruising or bursting and each nerve ending blasting out electric shocks and pain. And this is just kids stuff. In a real boxing match, boxers get their eyes cut, their nose broken, their brain damaged. You know what brain damage can do? It can impair your memory, your speech, hand-and-eye coordination. Remember Rocky Balboua? He couldn't read because of the traumatic head injuries he sustained while boxing. I read about a boxer who got hit in jaw, this lacerated his bones and now he cannot open his mouth anymore. Remember Muhammad Ali? He got Parkinson's disease from boxing. That's just taking a beating from another human being. Imagine taking a beating from Allah over interest? Do we stand a chance against Allah? Is it worth it?
Watch a jinn possession video on youtube. I am not going to search for it and post a link for you here because wallahi this stuff scares me. Do you want to look like a possessed dude on the Day of Judgment or do you want your face and your hands glowing from the trace of wudu, drinking water from the hands of Prophet (s.a.w) at the spring of Kawthar? Yes, the choice is that simple. Don't take OSAP. Don't make Allah anger.
Tell me, if something is haram, is it really going to be good for you? Sure OSAP is a temporary fix to your current lack of finance but its going to blow up in your face in the dunya. Which is the the most depressed and mentally ill age group in Canada today? The most perplexed? The most prone to crime? The most broke? University students! Can taking OSAP be part of the reason? We are devoid of Allah's blessing, mercy and protection when we disobey Him. So can there be any goodness or happiness or security in our lives without Allah? Think about it.
Don't take OSAP - part 3
ReplyDeleteWhat if you want to go to school but can't afford it?
I recommend don't go to school until you know for sure what you want to study. University is an open government institution, the course syllabus are available online for free. You can walk in in any lecture, take notes and ask the prof. questions without formally registering in class. This should give you a fair idea of what to expect at your university and your program of interest. Talk to your parents, meet professionals in that field. Get comfortable first and then start your application process. Many kids gas thousands of dollars on a major only to change it and then change it again and then transfer to another university and change it some more! Its not fashion man its real life and its costing you your duniya and akhriah- get real! The following are two tips:
(1) If you are in highschool...
(a) Work your brain out for 96% average in grade 12 and a 80 hours of community service to qualify for rotary scholarships. A rotary scholarships that can cover all your school experience + residence. OR
(b)Take a year off and study the Qur'an. YES the Qur'an. If you can read 498 page of twilight and watch top gear videos 143,776 times then for sure you can and you need to read the Qur'an with meaning and understanding once. Alhamdulillah I did that after my highschool and ALHAMDULILLAH it worked out great for me. It gave me a sense of purpose, direction, stability, confidence and focus in life which benefits me everyday. Alhamdulillah because of the Qur'an I know why I am going to school, what I should do when I am there and how to achieve my goals.
(2) Until you figure out what to study, work. It is halal to work! I donno why people are so allergic to it? I mean, we want everything to be thrown in our laps. Why are we so lazy and self-centered? Find a job and start saving. Even if you work $8/hour for 40 hours a week, thats $320 for seven days, and $14,600 for the entire year which will cover at least 2 years of your university tuition fees + supplies. You can borrow the rest of the money from your parents, relatives, Masajid and/Muslim business with the promise to pay back. Working + borrowing money from other than a bank will not only teach you the value of money but inshaAllah save you from hellfire. You won't have to pay any interest and the other lending you the money will get reward from Allah for doing a good deed and freeing you from a sin that can lead to hellfire. InshaAllah be of the people of Jannah and in the dunya do the deeds of the people of Jannah aameen.
Sisters -
ReplyDeleteWhats with the high heels, tight dresses, water proof makeup and stuff? I am not picking on anyone but I would really like to know. I mean, forget nail polish and rings, I have seen churiyan as I walk from hallway to hallway in between classes. Are we at a shadi or at school?
To be honest, as a girl I know how important it is for us to look good but if we overdo it, its going to dull our spark. Its like you know how if you keep looking at something, even if it is something pretty like a flower or a chandelier - one too many times, its looses its charm. It just gets old. We aren't attracted to it anymore. So the more we deck out everyday, the more ugly and plastic we look. Beauty that can transcend all barriers and touch the depths of one's soul, is in simplicity and good character. A humble posture, soft eyes, gentle smile, a good word - that is enough. We don't need hair curlers and vanity sets every morning. Sure the Jurlique Day Care Face Cream, the Zia Natural Foundation and gloMinerals gloLiquid Lips Beloved will make head turn but is that really you? Or is that all there is to you? Just white and red lips? And even so, who are you doing this for? Why are you displaying yourself for the enjoyment of men who are not your husbands! I think this gets to me the most. The dude that passed you, that fully checked you out is not your husband!!!!!! Why did you give him yourself to look at???!!!! Ladies, yes you are gorgeous (even without the accessories) and you are precious. Don't sell yourself. Cover, respect and protect yourself. Dazzle only your husband. Be his eye candy and belle (from Disney's Beauty).
On a flip side, do you want to marry someone who has seen a thousand and one superficially attractive women? How would you feel if you found out your husband use to look at girls at his university. Yeah! Thought so...cover!