To the Students

To the Students

1990 6 June 7 To the Students (364) On the occasion of addressing the students of an Arabic school, I narrated a tradition which has been recorded in the Sahih of Ibn Hibban on the authority of Abu Dhar, a companion of the Prophet. According to this tradition, one of the qualities of a wise Muslim is awareness of contemporary realities.

This is a very important observation. It implies that it is not just religious learning that we must seek, but also a thorough knowledge of the times we live in. It is only then that we can truly serve the cause of religion.

Having an awareness of the general situation does not mean just having a knowledge of all the oppression of and plots against Muslims. This, as I see it, is superficiality rather than true knowledge. This is to skim over the surface without ever plunging below to discover the reality. True knowledge is acquired by making in-depth studies and not just on the basis of judging by appearances.

We may know for certain that other countries are engaged in plotting and oppression, but the essential thing to be learnt is what factors have enabled these communities to do so with such success, for they are able to plan their attacks on Islam and to carry them out, without our religious and secular leaders ever being able to foil them.

The real shortcoming of Muslims at the present time is their failure to come to grips with current affairs. They are fully conversant with the past, while remaining in ignorance of the present. What is happening is totally beyond them. Even if some of our leaders appear knowledgeable, their grasp is only of surface values, never of underlying causes.

The students of our religious school should not expend all their energies in money-making pursuits. If they want their abilities to be put to the best use, they should serve Islam and work towards the resurgence of the Islamic community. To this end, it is incumbent upon them to have a thorough-going knowledge of the modern age and to be fully aware of the modern developments which have rendered our traditional methods obsolete and ineffective from any practical point of view.