You Can Walk Away, But It’s Better to Stay.
- Qylah Umm Jannah
- Apr 27, 2017
- 3 min read
As salaamu ‘alaykum السلام عليكم
I want to briefly touch on a topic. That topic is maintaining consistency in Islaamic learning. Ha! You probably thought this was about marriage but it’s not. Although marriage is always an important topic, it’s not the objective of this post.
As Muslims we have been advised to learn as much of the religion while on earth as possible. Along with applying what we’ve learned once understood. As a teacher I’m often faced with students “coming and going.” This is a common pattern amongst many of the Muslim women. We begin a class or a course, then something difficult happens in our personal lives, then BOOM, we drop the class! As if the knowledge and assignments of the course were increasing the hardship .
In reality, this is not the case. We must change our mindsets to realize that Islaamic knowledge is a therapeutic remedy to help get us through those hardships we face. We will be confronted with difficulties until we die, does that mean until we die we keep leaving off learning? This is not to say that the reasons given for dropping classes aren’t valid. They are normally valid situations such as sickness, loss of wealth, family drama, mental distractions and more. For each valid reason a person can drop a class, there’s an even better reason not to.
We take secular studies so serious that we lose sleep over exams and grades. Worrying about being able to pass each class in order to get that degree we need . Yet why do we ensure we push so hard no matter what to get that degree?….. THE MONEY .. that’s why. Earning a degree gives a person a false sense of security that as long as they get that piece of paper, they’ll never go broke. Whereas with Islaamic education, it’s a religious matter that does not entail earning money rather, it entails gaining reward from Allaahالله, becoming a better Muslim, entering into Jannah and so on. These are not tangible to the human like money and material things. So the human is easily able to quit because most of the benefit we hope to attain from seeking religious knowledge is in the hereafter. And we are a hasty creation that wants what we want now!
So what’s the point? The point is that the diligence for religious knowledge should be even more than the secular. Just because there isn’t any immediate material reward like there is sometimes with secular, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the struggle. Think about our good deeds as putting money in our “hereafter bank account.” Each time we struggle to get as many good deeds as possible, it goes in the bank . It keeps stacking and we will be happy we strove in this life to save for the hereafter.
In knowing that trials and hardship will come to us even while we are seeking religious knowledge , know that it pays off later during a time when no worldly material will matter. Each time we leave off Islaamic education , think about how far we could’ve been had we only stayed and stuck it through. And this is the cycle over and over with some people. They start a class , then drop. Then they start all over again and this cycle continues. We must ask Allaahالله for help and keep pushing, just like we would do for anything else this is no different.
So remember, just when you feel like quitting, think of all the good you’re leaving behind and know that there’s better reasoning to stay than there is to leave.
Baarak Allaahu Feekum بارك الله فيكم
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