Being a student isn’t easy. Being a student in IB/AP isn’t easy. Being a student under any profession or circumstance isn’t easy, but it’s something we do. We pursue degrees, seek out millionaires and billionaires in hopes of gaining some sort of financial information or status, and we aim for the best paying jobs. Once we get there what do we do? We study. Teacher’s have to be certified, professors and lawyers have assessments they need to take, some of the richest people read books in their spare time or trade information with people who know a lot more than them. They have all accepted that they are students and are constantly moving in their pursuit of knowledge and desire to learn. This desire for success propels them to move and to not just stand still as many of us have done. Many people think that Islam is a Religion that isn’t compatible with modern times and the advancement of culture, but that isn’t what Islam is. Islam teaches us to advance, without the scholars from the past we wouldn’t have hospitals, breakthroughs in medicine and science, and even Algebra. It was through Islam that people were able to truly prosper, not just culture and environment. But there is a significant difference in why success is attained, what form of success people want, and what happens after they get it.
Most successful people aim for success because they want a few things, sometimes it could be simple wants and other times it could be elaborate sets of freedom. But, how long does that truly last? 60 years? 80 years? 100 years? No matter how many years you give that desire reaches a limit and so does the success that was attained through that desire. For example, there have been many companies that were termed “successful” in previous times but where are they now? No one has even heard of companies that were giants only a short time ago. This is reality, and even though some people’s influences, reach, and financial/social status could last hundreds of years there is a time that their names will be forgotten and know one will know what their accomplishments were. That is not what we aim for as Muslims, in reality the underlying motive for our desires and accomplishments are for only one thing: the pleasure and hope for connection with Allah SWT. It was through this extremely pure love that our scholars were able to make such drastic changes within themselves and those around them. It was because of their pure connection with Allah SWT that they were able to do something that would impact billions of people for centuries to come. Muslims created hospitals, do you see a future without them? A Muslim ‘created’ Algebra, do you see a future in which schools do not teach it? Muslims were the ones who were at the forefront of medical and scientific breakthroughs, do you see a future in which these breakthroughs are not used as a base to advance modern research? Although the people that aided in this developments deserve credit for their accomplishments they didn’t want the credit, rather they wanted a purified connection with Allah SWT and they knew that buy teaching others, helping others, being a crutch for others would allow them to attain that. It was not for money or for fame but out of actual love that their accomplishments are seen being used in the world today. It was because they humbled themselves and realized that they were students, they realized that they always needed a drive that could allow them to make actual changes in the world. They continued to work hard and study from their teachers even seeking out new ones to fuel a desire that would never cease to burn. It was because of the success and promise of Jannah they were able to propel themselves through tough times and be people that make change for the betterment of the Ummah.
