I came across an article this morning about the kind of knowledge we as ummah are lacking today. How we as a society are depriving our new generation (children) of Islamic education. No wonder we lack the motivation of becoming good Muslims. Our children don’t come across the kind of role models they need to look up to.
It was published in THE NEWS Daily and the author is Sumayyah bint Joan. It's a bit long but it is worth spending every second on it.


I hope everyone likes it



Knowledge: the key to success
The adage that ignorance is bliss could not be farther from the truth when seriously put into practical application. Throughout the annals of time, what great accomplishments has ignorance made? What great empires and what marvels of science and technology now bear witness to ignorance's strength and power? That's right, none. Nothing of true worth is achieved without wisdom and knowledge.
It was with supreme knowledge that Allah Almighty laid the foundations of the heavens and the earth. It was with wisdom, knowledge and understanding that Hadhrat Sulaiman (Alaihis Salaam) ruled the greatest empire the world has ever known. Our own Prophet, Hadhrat Mohammad (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) told us that acquiring knowledge was a duty placed on each and every Muslim. But the knowledge of what and who, remains the question.
Many of us have used the above saying of the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam), to justify dealing in Riba (interest), in order to send our sons and daughters to the finest universities to become doctors, lawyers and engineers. We use it to justify sending our children to private schools, because they supposedly have higher academic standing and prestige than ordinary Muslim schools. We say we are doing it, because the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said to get knowledge, but is this the knowledge he was speaking about?
It is narrated by Hadhrat Abu Musa (Radhi Allaho anho) that the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said: "The example of guidance and knowledge with which Allah has sent me is like abundant rain falling on the earth, some of which was fertile soil that absorbed rain-water and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance. (And) another portion of it was hard and held the rain- water and Allah benefited the people with it and they utilised it for drinking, (making their animals drink from it) and to irrigate the land for cultivation. (And) a portion of it was barren, which could neither hold the water nor bring forth vegetation (then the land was of no benefit). The first is the example of the person who comprehends Allah's religion and gets benefit from the knowledge, which Allah has revealed through me and learns and then teaches it to others. The (last example is that of a) person who does not care for it and does not take Allah's Guidance revealed through me (He is like the barren land.)" (Bukhari)
Through the above narration, the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) is telling us of the superiority of religious knowledge. This is the knowledge that we should give priority to. All other knowledge will not be of benefit if we do not have this one. First and foremost, comes the knowledge of Allah. Knowing His names and His attributes. Knowing what is expected of us in regard to our servitude to Him, and what mutual rights exist between us.
Secondly, we should strive to know Allah's Book, the Holy Qur'aan. We should learn to read it in Arabic, if we don't already know how to do so. We should also be trying to memorise as much of it as possible, and stressing the importance of both of these things to our children. Reading the Holy Qur'aan should be something commonplace in every Muslim home, and is an activity that the whole family can, and should participate in.
Thirdly, we should know about Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) and his Companions. It's by reading their stories that we learn of their bravery, love for the religion and their complete devotion to Allah. It's by knowing them that we grow to love them, and through loving them, we strive to become more and more like them. This is especially true, when most children nowadays want to be like Mike (Michael) or Janet Jackson or some other celebrity. They want to emulate these people, because they know so much about them. It then becomes increasingly important for us, Muslims, to introduce our children to our heroes. Who were braver in battle than Hadhrat Umar and Hadhrat Hamza (Radhi Allaho anhuma); who was more wise and gentle than Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhi Allaho anho); and which women were more graceful and honourable than the wives of the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) were?
Yes, in these times of increasing technology and information superhighways, it is important to obtain secular knowledge. Also, as a nation, we do need doctors, lawyers and engineers. But we need people who are knowledgeable of their religion first and foremost. What good will it do us to have a nation of professional people who do not know how to make the salah, or to calculate the zakat, or how to perform Hajj?
Ignorance is not bliss. Through it runs the deviant courses of innovation, polytheism (shirk), disunity and hatred. Knowledge is the key to our success. It gives us the power to govern ourselves, our households, and ultimately our communities. A nation, which forgets why it was founded, who it serves and what its responsibilities are, by embracing ignorance, is a nation destined to fail.

Today I planned to drive my two nieces to a near by shop, so that I could buy them some candies. Once in the car I turned on the ignition key and was about to drive out, when my youngest niece aged 3 asked me to put on an Indian song that she really liked. I had no idea which CD she was talking about because I had come back to Pakistan after a long time, so was not up to date with what was current. My eldest niece, who will be turning 5 this May inshAllah, reached into the glove box and took out the CD and handed it over to me to play. When I was about to play the CD, she requested that I play track no. 2 because that was their favorite song. I couldn’t believe myself when I heard the lyrics of that song; I was shocked and thought how could their mother even allow them to listen to this kind of music. I didn’t think it was suitable for them at all and so I turned it off, but little had I known that they would both start yelling and crying. So I had no choice but to let it play. I later talked to my sister about it, but she just took it lightly as if it wasn’t a big deal. No matter how much I tried to convince her that it’s not good for the children, she just kept saying that it’s just a song.
After this incident I couldn’t help but ask myself questions like, how did this happen and when, and how can we let such things carry on. The answer was right in front of me I hadn’t comprehended it as yet. A few days later I was visiting my sister and I was sitting with her while she was watching Cable TV. To my surprise both my nieces walked into the room and started watching the TV with us. My sister didn’t switch channels over either, to Ptv or cartoon network. She kept on watching one of those Indian channels. I saw both my nieces staring at the TV screen absorbing everything on it good or bad. At that moment it struck me that now I had answers to all my questions, questions that had been bothering me for a whole week.
The cable TV has desensitized our minds. What ten years ago, we would have never dared to even think of watching with our parents, we were not only now actually watching those shows, but also discussing them with them. What was once considered as taboo in our society has now become part of it. I can still remember when I was in 7th grade at school and we had got our satellite dish installed. At that time everyone in school was either talking about Bay Watch or Beverly Hills 90210 series. I remember I used to sneak into my dad’s room to watch these shows, just so I could go to school the next day and not feel left out. My father had put the receiver in his room because he had not wanted us children, to see those shows.
There are two points I am trying to put forward here. Firstly, we would never have imagined that a time would come where we would even think about watching satellite TV with our parents let alone watching Beverly Hills 90210, and secondly, my father had felt that such programs were not good for us to see.
Now let’s talk about the present situation. My nieces come over every weekend to spend time with us. We have cable installed in EVERY room. My father watches cable TV in the same room that my nieces are playing in. The same person who never allowed us watch anything on TV 10 years ago now doesn’t feel the same for his grandchildren. Its not that he doesn’t care or love them but it’s just that these things are not taboo or considered bad in our societies any more. And anyone who tries to go against such things is labeled as a fundamentalist or old fashioned.
When I talk to people about it, they always tell me that this is part of globalization and they can’t stop it, and if they did happen to try then they would not be able to progress as a nation in this world. I want to make myself clear here, I am not saying we should totally isolate ourselves, but we have to be very careful of what we show to our youth, our future. Why do we need to have MTv on cable, how does that help us advance as a nation? How does Indian television help us as a nation? We have our own religion, our culture and our way of life so why can’t we advance into 21st century with that. Why do we have to absorb the western or even Indian (Hindu) culture and teach that to our children. The reason we are not a progressive state has nothing to do with not being westernized enough but a lot to do with us forgetting our roots, our identity as Muslims. We shouldn’t just sit and think over this but take action against this if we seriously want our next generation to prosper as a Muslim nation, and to prosper as a nation we don’t need to educate ourselves about the TV, but about sciences, technology, medicine and most importantly Islam!
I ask Allah (SWT) to give us the ability to understand and act upon what is good for us in this life and hereafter. Ameen!

Earlier I wrote about how monitors are being dumped in Pakistan. Not many took it seriously so I started to look around and I came across an article on BBC. I will paste the link here. I would encourage everyone to please take few minutes and check it out.
The link is as following:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1839997.stm

I agree with you Ghurabaa, about people being generally nice in Pakistan, but unfortunately they have lost their self respect and courage. They have stopped believing that they can make a difference if they do decide to struggle for a cause, and especially if it is an Islamic cause. They have been let down so many times by their leaders, no matter who it was, or is. They don’t believe they can make a change in this society and instead have become selfish to protect their own interests, no matter what the price is. This is the reason we have become a corrupt nation. We need to believe in ourselves and be positive in our attitude, if we want to change ourselves. We have to believe that even a single person can make a difference if s/he is willing enough to.

Once I heard a scholar talk about an event in Islamic history which I will never forget. He was talking about the invasion of Iraq by the Mongols. As it’s known that Mongols never took prisoners of wars as they would kill every single one. So after capturing Iraq they killed all the Muslim men and raped Muslim women and made them their slaves. Later these very Muslim women gave birth to the Mongols and raised them into Muslim men who restored Islamic empire back in Iraq. Who could have imagined that the very blood of those Mongols who came to destroy Islam later would become its saviors?
The point of mentioning this very fact of history is that we don’t need heroes to revive the Muslim Ummah at this terrible time. We need Muslim mothers who could raise Muslim men like those who restored Islam back in the land of Iraq. Today every Muslim should ask himself/herself that what it is we are doing wrong that we are suffering so badly. I believe the answer to that lies in our homes. Our mothers have forgotten their role in creating a successful Islamic Ummah. I will try my best to depict here what the mothers of Muslim Ummah are doing and what they ought to do. What are the reasons that we are getting the worst leaders with no Islamic characters like Saddam, Musharraf, Ghadaffi and the others?
Our mothers are too busy gossiping, watching TV shows, not knowing what their children are doing and worst of all too busy to spend quality time with their children because they are working 8 hours a day. They send their kids to big nice western schools and think that it is enough to make them good human beings. If that were true, then all the people who go through colleges would be good humans, but history proves it otherwise. They are too confused with their own personalities, not realizing what is good and bad for them and their families. Just look at what is going on in Muslim countries like Pakistan. The way women are dressed and intermingling with men. It’s just sad to see where our Ummah is heading. The main reason for this is that these women don’t take time to learn about their Deen, Islam. They hardly know anything about Islam and what it stands for. They think that by offering salaat (prayers) and paying zakaat their responsibilities as a Muslimah are fulfilled. What they don’t realize that this is where their responsibilities begin as Muslimah. No wonder our great Prophet (PBUH) said that marriage is the path to completing half of your Deen. I am sure that the Prophet (PBUH) did not mean that by saying “I do”, he or she has completed half of their Deen in that one instance, but that the fulfillment of the responsibilities that befall on the person after the marriage takes place, is the path to completing ones Deen.
So what are the responsibilities of a woman as a wife and a mother? The answer to this is clearly mentioned in the Qur’an and the Hadith - Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH), if we only care to read these books with open hearts to obtain their true understanding. No where in The Qur'an or Sunnah does it say, as far as I am aware of that a husband should stay home and the wife should go out and earn the living. Then why do women today not understand this simple duty. Allah made women in such a way that they should stay home and take care of their homes, whereas men should go out and make a living and provide for their wives and children with food, shelter and protection, all of which they need. I have yet to see a man being able to raise children in a better way than women and then why do we insist on doing it. Women have been given the main duty of raising the children, as Allah has made them suitable for such a role, in nature and personality. Allah (SWT) has stated the roles of both men and women in The Holy Qur’an and how could HE be wrong.
I can go on discussing what I think, according to Islam men and women should do, but I know there is only one way to convince everyone and that is they have to educate themselves about the teaching of Islam as in The Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Islamic education is very important for our survival as a Nation. We need to realize our roles as a man and a woman in an Islamic society.
I ask Allah to forgive me for any mistakes I have made. Any good that comes from what has been said is from Allah (SWT) and any errors are from my own short comings.