In the previous post, we discussed some limitations of our educational institutions. In the next few posts, we will discuss some possible solutions inshaAllah.
For many young people (and even some adults) Islam is mainly a rule-based religion. Everything is about ḥalāl and ḥarām — and mainly ḥarām!
But before young people will willingly stay away from ḥarām, īmān needs to be instilled in their hearts. They need to know who Allah is in order to want to obey Him.
Īmān is the core of our dīn. Without it, everything collapses. It is the first thing we must learn about and it is the first thing we have to nurture in our children and youth.
Jundub b. ʿAbdillāh (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) said, “We were with the Prophet ﷺ and we were young men, nearing puberty. We learnt īmān before we learnt Qur’ān. Then we learnt Qur’ān, and increased our īmān through it” (Ibn Mājah).
We have to strengthen īmān in our hearts. We have to make our hearts attached to Allah, so that we always turn to Him, be in awe of Him, have hope in Him, put our trust in Him, and love Him like no other.
The Sahabah & Alcohol
ʿĀ’ishah (raḍiya Allahu ʿanhuā) said, “Indeed the first verses to be revealed were from the shorter chapters at the end of the Qur’ān which contain the mention of Paradise and Hellfire. When the people were firmly established upon Islam, the verses of ḥalāl and ḥarām were revealed.
If the first verse to be revealed was ‘do not drink wine,’ they would have said, ‘we will never stop drinking wine.’ And if the first verse to be revealed was ‘do not commit adultery,’ they would have said, ‘we will never stop committing adultery’” (Bukhārī).
Here, ʿĀ’ishah (raḍiya Allahu ʿanhuā) is talking about the Ṣaḥābah: the best generation. Today, we are even more in need of this. It is vital that before we teach the dos and don’ts of Islam, we instil in our children the knowledge, love, and reverence of Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā).
Once they know the Command Giver, the commands will become easy to follow. We learn this from the sīrah and the Qur‘ān itself. During the 13 years in Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ instilled īmān in the hearts of the Companions (raḍiya Allahu ʿanhuum) focusing on: (1) the Oneness of Allah (2) Prophethood (3) Hereafter. Very few legal rulings were revealed, and it wasn’t until the Madinan period, more than 13 years after the first revelation, that fasting was obligated, intoxicants were prohibited, and other rulings regarding dress, financial dealings and social conduct were revealed.
Nurture Iman Through the Qur’an
As educators, we have to have a clear collective strategy within our institutions on how we are going to nurture the īmān of learners. Developing īmān is the most important form of tarbiyah (holistic training and development of the individual), and takes precedence over other forms of development. Nurturing īmān should be a primary goal of learning the Qur’ān and take priority over the quantity of verses memorised, in line with the Prophetic methodology.
Tip: Prepare a step-by-step plan of how you will nurture īmān in learners’ hearts and how you will help them to taste the sweetness of īmān. Hold staff discussions, student focus groups; and constantly review and evaluate your plan.