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Learning on the Job? Learn for life, the afterlife.

Written by Abu Mamoon Ahmad Abdul Rahman ibn Azizur Rahman

October
08

I recently started trying to learn more about our perfect deen of Islam. To do this I started reading books and attending speeches. Ramadan was an excellent opportunity to focus on this even though time was extremely tight. In doing so, Alhumdullilah I started to change some of my practices which could be improved based on Sunnat and Hadith. Of course with change there is always resistance… unfortunately the resistance is from others who observed some of my “new” practices.

Faced with trying to justify and explain the reasoning behind my changes I realized that our cycle of education, working and re-education is very similar to what we should be doing in deen.

Those of you, who work in the field of your study, will probably admit that the majority of your work is newly learned skills acquired on the job. The education system (in my opinion) serves 2 fundamental purposes:

prepares and teaches you how learn
teaches you the fundamentals of your field of study

When you get to the working work (the real world), the text book cases you studied are not necessarily applicable any more. If they are applicable, they are usually not in the same ideal environment you studied. As a result you start to learn and understand more in-depth concepts which the education system could not have prepared you for. The real world allows you to reference material (a.k.a Google) to get a better understanding. You start to adapt to the new environment, new principles, new people, new rules (dress code, timing, work ethics), etc.

With religion, in particular Islam, and further specific to those born Muslim, we go through a very similar process. At least until the education system is involved. Generally throughout our lives our parents teach us the basics, the fundamentals of Islam. The 5 pillars, names and stories of prophets, do good, refrain from evil, and how to pray. And as we grow and get in to our teens, generally most of us face issues with holding firm to these fundamentals, and experience some tension within our household as the parents try to get the kids back on track.

Alhumdullilahi Rabbil Alameen with the Grace of Allah (SWT), you get married, have kids and start to live life, all the while continuing to practice the fundamentals you learned. But is that enough? It wasn’t enough for your career. How can it be enough for your life?

With work, we continue to strive, learn more, even take additional courses and pay for them from our own pocket so that we can get a better position, higher pay, more respectable position… all gains for this dunya (world). We spent MUCH less time studying Islam and learning just the basics and often feel it is sufficient to get me to Jannah (Paradise). How can that be? The only thing you can cling on to is that Allah (SWT) is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, the Most Kind, the Most Forgiving. 100% true. But what are your chances?

At the office, you work hard, and keep telling your boss your accomplishments to make sure when it comes time for annual reviews that he has a list of all your “goodies” and hopefully will issue you a nice bonus payout. You don’t leave it to chance, “my boss is great… I know he will give me the bonus”. When is the last time you heard yourself or anyone say that? Allah (SWT) automatically logs all your “goodies”, even the ones you yourself don’t realize sometimes (maybe you smiled for a stranger, or let another vehicle cut in front of you without incident). Allah (SWT) multiplies every good dead by at least 10, sometimes 70, sometimes 700, and sometimes beyond that, knowledge of which is only with Allah (SWT). I don’t mean to compare Allah to insaan / humans. I am simply using this as an example. A very practical example that should register a change in our minds in the way we think and behave towards the commands of the Almighty Allah (SWT).

My dear brothers and sisters, it is time we start to build on the fundamentals we already know and start implementing changes to improve our ibadaat / practices.

My father told me once of a line he read once which we should all apply to our lives particularly in learning our deen. “Aquire knowledge, from the cradle to the grave”. Inshallah. Rabbi zidni ilma. Ameen.

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