On Learning...

"In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate"

اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ

Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created-

(Surah 96)


How many of us know that the first ayat to be sent down to our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. is the one I've put above? In fact, I just learnt this fact in a history of islamic society class last semester. It was quite a shame, considering that I went to 6 years of madrasah and many more years of ngaji/quran reading. That only goes to show that you always learn something new everyday. =)

There were many things on my mind today, but mostly they centered around the issue of education, learning and knowledge.

First of all, today is Hubtobe's first day at school. He was having the jitters the whole day and even when I smsed him the doa before learning (abridged version), he still had butterflies in his stomach. I can't fault him really... he's not been in school for more than 5 years and he claims he's rusty. It also doesn't help that he's in the top university and I think that gives him alot of pressure. I can only pray for him daily that Allah opens up his heart and mind and let him be receptive to knowledge and learning. Insyaallah... I will keep praying for him...

Secondly, I followed my mother to 'meet the parents' session' at my youngest brother's school today. He really did badly for his last common test so it has become a cause of concern for all of us. My mother has very high expectations for her children but she can be reasonable... and she has been with my brother- she just wants him to pass; which is a 45/100 and he's struggling.

When I see the amount of stress and pressure my brother's giving my mom, it makes me afraid of having children. Will I be able to teach them and provide them the right guidance as willed by Allah? When children are born to us, they become a big responsibility that Allah has given and we must do right by Him.

But then, when we are no longer children; after we've baligh, we must be responsible for ourself and our own learning.

After nearly 10 years of not reading the quran on a daily basis, I've picked it up again in the past year and even went back to ngaji to learn tajwid all over again to perfect my reading. I listen alot to Imam Mishari's recitation and I use it as a guide to emote my reading as well. There is an ayat in the Al Quran telling us to read the Quran with 'tartil'. I'm not sure what the exact translation of that is in English, but it means similar to perfecting, with proper considerations of the holy text.

I hope someday Hubtobe would come and learn too. =) I have not heard him read much Quran but I am grateful he knows how to read. Alhamdulillah...

I hope that when we have children someday we would always emphasize on learning and knowledge as a form of ibadah. Of course knowledge for the good; in the name of Allah. I pray that we will all see that seeking knowledge is a lifelong goal because of Allah, and not some chore to get over in the education system. Insyaallah...

Wallahualam bisawub...