STUDYING ABROAD – LOOK FIRST
as-salaamu’alaikum wa’rahmatullaahi wa’barakaatuh,
I recommend anyone who is planning on going overseas for the purpose of study, to go and have a look first.
If you are setting out to be overseas for more than 3 months, you will be most likely leaving your job, closing your business, quitting your schooling, selling your house or finishing you rental contract.
You may say, “traveling overseas in order to see how things are is expensive”, but so is packing up and leaving all that was mentioned above plus more, behind, just to realise that being a ‘Student of Knowledge’ is not your ‘cup of tea’ and quickly returning home, just to have to start all of that again.
From my limited observation, the lure and the excitement of the life of ‘Student of Knowledge’ is something that seems to grab the attention of those who have not traveled overseas recently, or even at all.
These are the ones that seem to quit the quickest and return home, feeling sorry for themselves and being out of pocket.
We always encourage for those brothers and sisters committed to the Mosque and Islamic classes, if they feel they need and can cope with more, to go into full time study, but why not spend a little bit of money to see if one is truly ready, by traveling to one’s desired country and seeing how the students and even common folk live, instead of losing a lot of money by changing lifestyles completely, just to return months later, when things became “too tough” or “not what I expected”?
May Allah give you what is best!
was-salaamu’alaikum wa’rahmatullaahi wa’barakaatuh
1 comment 22/10/2009
IDCA – The Evils of the Tongue
Abu Ahmad talks about the dangers of backbitting and how to prevent yourself from it.
Add comment 20/10/2009
Muslim Matters Vs The Jihadists
I am not sure how many people have been following the extremely popular blog, Muslim Matters (http://muslimmatters.org/), but they have had a number of very interesting articles lately in order to “Reclaim Islam from the Jihadists”.
I do believe in being a big supporter of fighting the efforts of the extremists, whether they be Muslim, Christian, Jewish etc… in their attacks on our pure faith but one thing that really turns me from Muslim Matters this week is the whole defense of the media and speaking on the issue of checking the reports from the Faasiqeen.
“Finally, in response to those who claim that we cannot take information from various general media outlets, due to the Quranic injunction “O you who believe, If a fasiq comes to you with news, then verify it…,” we note that such information is reported almost unanimously across the board, by both Muslim and non-Muslim sources, in addition to countless Muslim eyewitnesses to the atrocities.
Furthermore, the way that the term “The Media” is being used is utterly fallacious. “The Media” does not exist in the sense that is intended by such statements. It is as if every journalist and every mainstream and alternative media outlet that have reported on matters of terrorism are part of a grand conspiracy.
Rather, it is incorrect to say the media outlets are untrustworthy as a blanket statement. In fact, principled journalists are some of the best sources of real information about these issues. They write under their own names, with a sincere commitment to objectivity, with their professional reputation at stake for any missteps.”
http://muslimmatters.org/2009/10/17/…-e-g-al-qaeda/
Anyone who has been reported on by the media, even in a positive light, knows that most of them cannot simply report the facts. They are skilled in the art of speaking the truth but lie by reporting half facts or cutting and pasting from Islamic sources as they please.
Is this not the reason why we started blogging in the first place?!
…
“Comments are closed for this post, as there is no room for negotiation and discussion in clear matters. Cheerleaders of terrorism, and defenders of terrorists, can go find their own sites to engage in despicable rhetoric.”
Since we cannot ask at Muslims Matters I will request here -
*We now need to be told, since we know who are not the ones striving for the sake of Allah, who actually is?
*Also, an explanation of what is Jihad, based on classical fiqh texts, is needed by our English mashaykh from Muslim Matters to fill the void or combat the mass of information now available on the internet.
…
I have nothing personal against Muslim Matters. I was able to establish a relationship with one of the brothers from the blog last year which led to one of my own articles being published (I ask Allah to reward all involved!) but I would like to say to my brothers and sisters in Islam that not everything is black and white, so why show us the black, even making the grey black and hide from us the white?
What is this reclaiming?
And Allah knows best.
9 comments 19/10/2009
STUDYING ABROAD – REALITY OF STUDY
Bismillah -
It is not uncommon for a young man or woman to attend an Islamic Lecture by an International Speaker and be moved by the words spoken. The individual wishes to follow the path that the speaker chose and completed in order to gain the same experience and knowledge.
But do you know that such people sacrificed so much in order to become Students of Knowledge, Reciters of the Qur’an and Islamic Scholars?
If we look at the numbers that attend Islamic Conferences, where a certain subject is studied over a long weekend we cannot help but notice in some conferences that the opening night is the most popular time, closely followed by the Q & A session where people throw at the speakers all sorts of questions, often not even being inspired by the conference topic.
Before embarking out on this noble journey one could ponder over some questions that I have put together, that maybe relevant to your future studies (In shaa Allaah) -
*Are you one of those people who could sit in a class room for 5 hours a day then go back to your place of board and do another 4 – 6 hours of revision, homework and even reading over other material in order to elaborate on class notes and fully understand them?
*Are you one of those people who does not mind listening to any speaker, no matter how motivational he is (or how monotone and mentally draining he could be) in order to understand a subject that you may also find boring but because it will be on your end of semester exam you have to sit through it?
*Are you someone who could sit down, for hours on end, on your days off reading the same passage or paragraph over and over until you have memorised it and fully comprehended what it is saying, so you can keep up with classmates who maybe children of scholars and born with brilliant photographic memories, and the class seems to just fly at their speed and not keep at your ‘Novice from the West’ pace?
Have I scared you off yet? This is not my intention. I just would like you to be aware of the reality of such study (or the reality I discovered).
Being a student of knowledge is one of the most fulfilling things one could experience but this beauty and passion comes after we realise that such a path is extremely hard and needs a lot of patience and sacrifice.
The end result is what we desire, which should be above all the pleasure of Allah and followed only by the desire to know Him better; A True Motivation.
I pray to Allah to guide you to what is best!
1 comment 14/10/2009
