I sat with my children looking at the Islamic Studies curriculum for their ages. My children browsed through the textbooks and commented, “We already studied all this year. We want to learn something new.” I agreed with them. I had the same experience when I was their age. I found the Islamic Studies curriculum going around in circles, teaching the exact same topics: Imaan, Salah, Zakah, Sawm, Wudu, Seerah, Tajweed, every single year for almost a decade.
After a while, it grew tedious and boring for me as a student. I found myself looking for new sources of knowledge of Islam and eventually found it outside the curriculum. So for my own children, I decided to do the same. I put aside the national curriculum and decided to formulate my own based on their interests.
Over the next two years in Islamic Studies, we studied; a brief history of the Muslim world, the Muslim Golden Ages, comparative religion, refutations of Atheism, purification of the soul, the wisdom behind the various acts of worship, Islamic manners and character, Tafseer of various Surahs, and explanation of several hadiths.
It is safe to say that my children, despite being only 10 and 11 years old, each of them have a much deeper understanding of Islam than the average child their age. But this got me wondering? Why isn’t all of the above taught adequately in most Islamic schools and madrassas? Why instead do we go around in circles teaching the same subjects every year?
A Proposed New Curriculum
This is my proposal for a revamped Islamic Studies Curriculum for children and what it should include. I have categorized it according to age group, rather than grades.
Ages 5-7: 1) Basic Aqeedah 2) Memorization of Surahs & Duas 3) How to pray and do wudu 4) 5 Pillars of Islam 5) Basic Tajweed 6) Islamic character and manners
Ages 8-10: 1) Basic Fiqh 2) Core Islamic beliefs 3) Introduction to other world religions 4) Tafseer of short Surahs 5) Explanation of important Hadiths 6) Seerah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and other prophets
Ages 11-13: 1) Puberty, sex, being responsible for one’s actions and related topics 2) Detailed History of Islam 3) Muslim Golden Ages: Scientific Accomplishments 4) Purification of the soul 5) The wisdom behind various acts of worship 6) Deeper Tafseer and explanation of Hadith
Ages 14-16: 1) Fiqh of Marriage, Sexual Relations, and Parenting 2) Fiqh of Business, and Islamic work ethic 3) Introduction to Usool of Fiqh, Tafseer, and Hadith 4) Contemporary Issues related to Islam and the modern world (Atheism, Feminism, Liberalism) 5) How to deal with temptation and the traps of Shaytaan 6) Studies of the biographies of contemporary Muslim heroes
Scholars need to work on this
The above are just suggestions. I’m sure the scholars of our time can look at this list, get some ideas, and refine the list into actual subjects, textbooks, etc. The point I am trying to make is that we cannot rely on an Islamic Studies curriculum developed ages ago in the modern.
We need to be constantly updated the curriculum according to challenges of the time we are living in. I believe that if scholars work together, we can come up with much more comprehensive Islamic Studies curriculums that will have a far deeper impact on the hearts and minds of our students.
Learn more about the Islamic Golden Age by clicking here.
Procrastination is the single most common word I hear whenever I
bring up the topic of Time Management. “I’m a procrastinator” is the common
reply people give me for why they are unable to meet deadlines or organize
themselves well. Procrastination is treated like a fact of life, something
inherit that can’t be changed or overcome, but this is nothing more than
deceiving ourselves.
Procrastination is a habit, and a terrible habit too. However, like
all other bad habits it can be overcome with strong will power, commitment and
a reason to succeed.
The ability to change a bad habit and replace it with a good one is
something every human has the ability to do, all we really need is motivation,
and that is what I hope this chapter serves as, motivation to finally let it
go.
In order to overcome procrastination, it is important that we
understand its roots and causes. There are four main reasons why people
procrastinate:
1. Lack of goals or vision
This has already been covered in details in a previous chapter.
Goals are our motivation to go the distance and make something of our lives.
Goals serve to motivate us, inspire us and give us a reason to face each day
with renewed energy.
If someone lacks goals, they see no reason to commit to something,
to do a good job or even to get it done on time. Life for such people is just a
series of obstacles to survive with minimum effort, and so they leave every
task for last minute and don’t really focus on quality either.
The first step to overcoming procrastination is to have goals to
work towards. This will motivate you to organize your life in such a way that
these goals are accomplished over time.
2. Deception
Shaytaan uses the trick of deception to get people to procrastinate,
especially when it comes to righteousness and repentance. The common phrase
“I’ll repent when I get older,” is a classic example of deceptive
procrastination. We fool ourselves into thinking we have plenty of time to do
something in the future.
In the case of repentance, procrastination is deadly and can cause
great harm to one’s life in this world and especially in the Afterlife. Yet we
apply this same mentality to other aspects of our lives. We think we have
plenty of time to write that assignment, submit that report, prepare that class
or prepare the meeting notes, until we realize that we don’t.
Then the rush is on, with great anxiety, fear and worry we rush to
complete something at the last minute and the result is poor shoddy quality
work, and a lot of unneeded stress.
The key here is to understand the deception of “later”. As Muslims
we are taught to never leave anything for the future without saying “inshaa
Allah” (If Allah Wills).
“And do not say about anything that I will do it tomorrow without saying if Allah wills,” (Surah Al-Kahf 18:23-24)
This statement “inshaa Allah” is meant to be a reminder to
us that the future is in Allah’s control so we shouldn’t delay anything that
can be done today.
We don’t know what tomorrow has in store for us, so let us lift the
veil from our eyes and realize that every moment lost through procrastination
is wasted time that you can never get back for the rest of your life. The time
for action is now, not tomorrow.
3. Perfectionism
Another cause of procrastination is perfectionism. This is the one
thing that caused me to procrastinate in launching my writing career. I always
wanted to be an author and to spend my days writing books.
I had many ideas and wrote many outlines, summaries and first
chapters. However, I found myself unable to move forward beyond that due to my
desire for my writing to be perfect.
I would look at my first draft, full of mistakes and in major need
of editing, and think to myself that nobody is going to read this. I would end
up putting it away frustrated and moving on to attempt my next project.
Perfectionism stood in the way of writing or completing any important project.
One day I finally realized that my chain of thought was ridiculous.
I am a human being, and the writings of human beings are never perfect. First
drafts, in general, are always a mess. This is why we edit, and hire editors,
and even have to publish revised editions.
I realized that if I want to have a career in writing, I need to
let go of my desire to be perfect and just write. Write whatever comes to mind,
I can always edit, rephrase, delete or expand upon it later. Once I realized
this, the procrastination ended and the writings began to flow.
You too may have a goal that you have been putting off because it
isn’t perfect. The only way forward is to realize that it never will be
perfect. It is a human project and being human means embracing imperfection. It
doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be your best effort. So let go of
your desire for perfection and just focus on doing your best.
John Perry, the author of The Art of Procrastination, offers some
valuable insight into how to overcome this problem:
You have to get into the
habit of forcing yourself to analyse, at the time you accept a task, the costs
and benefits of doing a less-than-perfect job. You must ask yourself some
questions: How useful would a perfect job be here? How much more useful would
it be than a merely adequate job…and you got to ask yourself: What is the
probability that I will really do anything like a remotely perfect job on this?
And: What difference will it make to me, and to others, whether I do or not?
Often the answer will be that
a less-than-perfect job will be just fine, and moreover it’s all I am ever
going to do anyway. So I give myself permission to do a less-than-perfect job
now, rather than waiting until the task is overdue. Which means I may as well
do it now. (Or at least start tomorrow)[1]
4. Instant Gratification
The fourth major cause of procrastination is the fact that many of
us are programmed mentally to focus on instant gratification. The modern
advertising industry thrives on instant gratification. From the time a child is
able to understand, he is taught to prefer immediate delights over long-term
deals. We grow up with this mentality and it has a detrimental effect on every
aspect of our lives.
As Muslims, many fall into major sins like fornication because of
focusing on instant gratification, instead of the long-term deal of marriage
and the responsibilities that come with it. Likewise, people are looking for
the instant fix, instant high, get rich quick schemes and even shortcuts to
Paradise and Caliphate.
Islamic teachings emphasize the concept of Sabr which translates
into many concepts like patience, persistence, self-restraint and consistency.
All of these indicate long-term effort and long-term success. The idea of quick
methods to success in this world or the Afterlife is a deception, unrealistic
and unislamic.
This Ramadan I will be doing a LIVE Tafseer every morning after Fajr at 6 am (GMT +2). You can access the full series on my YouTube Channel. Above is the first episode in the series, focusing on verse 2 of Surah Al-Baqarah.
Reading often is one of the best habits you can develop. By reading a book a month, you can increase your knowledge at a much faster pace than most people. Reading gives you an edge over those who don’t read.
But not everybody who reads books gets a lot of knowledge out of their books.
For some people, by the time they have finished reading one book, they have forgotten the content of the book they read before that. If you want to avoid falling into this trap, pay attention to the following advice.
1. Have a goal for each book
Before reading any book ask yourself ‘what do I want to get out of this book’ and work towards that goal while reading the book. For example, when you decide to read ‘Getting The Barakah‘ do so with the intention of mastering time management. This will be much more beneficial than just reading it for fun or to just get it over with.
Once you have a goal, you can now focus on trying to achieve that goal. You can put systems in place to measure how close you are to achieving that goal, and to follow up on whether you were able to achieve the goal after finishing the book.
More examples of goal setting when reading a book: 1. I am reading this Tafsir book to get a better understanding of the Quran. 2. I am reading this money management book so that I can become more financially mature. 3. I am reading this fiction book to stimulate my imagination and help me think of new ideas.
2. Engage with the book
This may sound like a weird idea, but it works really well. Every time you come across an important passage in the book that you find hard to understand, take the time to engage with the book. Repeat what you read out loud. Ask questions about what you read out loud. Write down the point in your own words. Engage with the book as if it is a dialogue and you will find yourself benefiting a lot more from reading that book.
For example: If you read a passage explaining a new system of time management, repeat the system out loud by saying, “So what the author is saying is…” If you can complete that sentence in your own words, it means that you have understood the passage well.
If the book is teaching a practical skill like writing or marketing, then take breaks from reading to practice. So you can read for 30 minutes, then practice for 30 minutes in order to make sure you are actually learning the skill.
3. Summarize the book
After completing the book, take some time to write a paragraph or page summarize the core message of the book in your own words. This will help you remember the message of the book long after you have completed reading it. And if you ever forget, you can just read the summary you wrote.
Writing a summary will also help you check whether you truly understood the book or not. If you can recap anything in your own words, it usually means you understood it well. If the book is really dense, then consider writing a summary of every chapter as well.
4. Recommend the book to a friend
If you found a book beneficial, then tell your friends and family about it. After all, if a book is beneficial, it deserves to be read by as many people as possible. But how would this help you remember the book better. Because when recommending the book to someone, you will need to recap the core lessons you learned from that book in order to sell them on it. This serves as a form of revision to further cement the topic in your head.
