..today was the first day I have ever tutored a stranger. Because this internship is one on one tutoring between the student and the tutor, it’s not as typical as some people would believe. Even though I’m not going to disclose everything about my student, there are a few things that I’ve learned that I want to share with you. And subhanAllah, I don’t think there’s anything more miraculous than further appreciating the intellect Allah has blessed us all with.
I gave him a two hour assessment test this morning; one in English and the other in Math.
And what completely left me in awe was how hard he was trying to answer these questions. But what I began to notice after an hour or two passed by (we sat 3 in a half hours doing a 2 hour test) was that he simply thought slow. His thought process was slow and so reading took him a long time to do. Answering the short answers took him a long time to do. And working the math problems seemed quite challenging to figure out.
And having remembered all that’s been going on on tumblr lately, I was in complete shock.
SubhanAllah I thought, there are folks who would give all their time, wealth, effort, and patience to be able to write a three paragraph essay, but we as Muslims still find some sort of reasoning behind why we haven’t been able to read a chapter of the Quran or listen to a few educational lectures online.
SubhanAllah, I began saying to myself, I watch my brother and my cousin (whom I both help in school work) take for granted the ability to learn while children are being bullied and harassed in class for not being able to assess and think as quickly as everyone else does.
SubhanAllah for being frustrated with our parents for wanting to have us succeed intellectually. SubhanAllah for not acknowledging to the Creator that we have the ability to learn. SubhanAllah for not living up to our potential. SubhanAllah for being ignorant fools. But SubhanAllah for believing that we might know all - or as much - as the Creator knows. And SubhanAllah for believing that we don’t have the ability to know as much as the Creator wants us to know.
This isn’t directed at anyone but myself because I intend on teaching our children in the future. It pains me to watch Muslims being too busy angry and frustrated with the Ummah rather than saying: okay, we are screwed up, so how can I help to fix us. It pains me to watch myself spend time writing defensive text posts rather than providing a few that can help or come as some sort of inspiration for people. And it pains me to realize that throughout all of this, we forget Allah.
The art of thinking is a blessing from Allah; it would be injustice to behave otherwise.
April 2012
March 2012
got in a car accident at about 10pm last night. the impact hit my side of the car, the drivers were under the influence. i injured my shoulder badly & have about an inch long laceration on my left cheek that will be a permanent scar. alhamdulillah, i’m grateful that it wasn’t my time to go. it’s amazing how your life can be completely flipped upside down within a matter of seconds. please keep me in your duas.
I lost my phone yesterday, and a muslim family found it and answered it when my dad called, told us where we could get the phone back, and wouldnt even accept a tenner when they gave the phone back. They said it was because they were muslim. I guess this restored my faith in how good a religion can be, and how it isn’t dictated by the extremists.
Take a moment to make duaa for someone.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “The supplication of a Muslim for his brother in his absence will certainly be answered. Every time he makes a supplication for good for his brother, the angel appointed for this particular task says: `Ameen! May it be for you, too’.” [Muslim].
Subhan’Allaah!
Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): “Allah rescues you from this and from all (other) distresses, and yet you worship others besides Allah.”
-[Al-Anaam (6):64]
