quickly arranging themselves into a list of all the 'to-do' things and
'to-read' books that I can now give attention to. But before that, the
elder with whom I was riding home had a very peculiar question for me.
It all began with him simply enquiring about how I did my paper, when
do I have my next semester and then, how long is the course. "Four
years?" was his startled response on being told the course duration.
Then camethe bomb. "Why are you studying this? Will it get you a job?"
I have found myself in this spot a few times before, having to explain
to peoplewhat good a four-year Bachelors degree in IslamicStudies
would do for me. I fail to understand why the answer to this—which
appears as rather obvious to me —is not so easily comprehensible for
others. Clearing my throat, I gave him two answers, one to convince
him and another to convince myself. "Of course, you could get a
job.Any school would be ardent to get me on board as an Islamic
Studies teacher," I said quietly, remembering when a few months back I
ended up in a small school for an interview for an Islamic Studies
teaching job. I hadn't brought along my CV, but on learning that I was
doing a course in Islamic Studies, the school'sowner looked
sufficiently pleased at her discovery and handed me books to prepare
myself for class next day. I never returned the next day, given that I
considered teaching as "not my cup of tea."
Next, I stated the obvious to my relative, who by now appeared
slightly more convinced. "See, when you are studying such wonderful
subjects like Aqeedah, Seerah, Hadith, Tajweed , isn't it great to
derive so much knowledge about Allah SWT and His religion out ofit?"
More often than not, we measure the suitability of an academic program
in terms of profit and loss – financial at that – and/or our own
interests. Will it get me a good job? What does the industry look like
in the next 10 years? Does the subject interest me? Is it my passion?
Talking of interests, Islam is our Fitrah , which we are born with. So
by default, we should be naturally inclined to improve our practice of
the Deen by studying and perfecting it.
As for profit and loss, Ibn Al-Jawzi رحمه الله said: "It happens that
a person has good health, but does not have free time because of his
being engaged in earning his livelihood; or he is rich but has no good
health. So, if these two (good health and free time) are gathered in a
person, butlaziness overtakes him from fulfilling his duties, then he
is a loser. (Know that) this world is the harvest field of the
hereafter; and in it there is business, the profit of which will be
visible in the Hereafter. So, whoever utilizes his free time and good
health in the obedience of Allah, he is the blessed one. And he who
utilizes themin the disobedience of Allah, he is the one who is unjust
to himself, because the leisure time is affected by business and
health is affected by sickness." [Fath al-Bari 11/23]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) made seeking knowledge an obligation
upon every Muslim. (Ibn Majah and Bayhaqi) It is true that gaining
detailed Islamic knowledge is a responsibility of a few in society (
Fard Kifaayah ), and when they (scholars) pursue it, others are not
obliged to. However, it is inthe interest of each one of us to study
the practical aspects of our Deen – be it our Aqeedah (The Prophet
(peace be upon him) preached only matters of Aqeedah for thirteen
years in Makkah, this is how important Aqeedah is!), or Fiqh issues,
such as those related to our prayer (Can we pray Isha after midnight?
Or knees first or hands first in Sujood ?), or just who wouldn't want
to acquire a beautiful Tilawah (recitation) of the Qur'an, knowing
where to pause atthe right places and with the right intonation and
teach it to our children?
These issues are even moreimportant to most of us because our belief
systems,methods of prayer, Qur'anicrecitation, and so on are so
culturally influenced that they may contradict true Islamic teachings.
Therefore, this is all the more reason to strive to correct ourselves.
The contemporary seeker of Islamic knowledge is probably seeing one of
the best times in recent history, as authentic knowledge is now easily
available at the click of a button and just a website away, no matter
in where he or she resides. Every now and then I receive online
invites to 'live sessions' by well-known scholars on Aqeedah, Tajweed
and various other Islamic sciences. The best part is that most of
these are free and short-term, making it easy for busy individuals to
take advantage of them.
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