Universities
Saturday 1 Rabi al-Thani 1438, 31 December 2016
Muslims studying at Universities/Campuses
Question: At the recent S.A.U.F conference held in Nurul Islam in Lenasia, senior Molvis encouraged us in sending our daughters to the universities. In fact, they said it is imperative for us to send them to the universities.
Also during this time of the year, when matriculates receive their results, so-called ‘Islamic’ radio stations interview and wish Muslim girls well who did exceptionally well in their matric and passed with several distinctions. The sad part is that the interviews are mostly conducted by Molvis. They encourage the girls to enroll in a university to further their studies. Please explain and clarify. Was-salaam.
Answer: Firstly, the encouragement for sending Muslim girls to universities made by the SAUF Molvis at the conference holds no Islamic Basis. They have attempted to wash away the teachings of the Shari’at by their modern and liberal propagandas. Hence, what they had said at their conference is incorrect.
Secondly, it is truly sad that in public domains (such as radio stations and TV channels which are garbed with Islamic names), Molvis encourage and congratulate girls who matriculated for their distinctions achieved and their subsequent enrollment at universities. This is totally incorrect and Haraam. Regarding a Muslim woman attending a university, it is totally against every Law of Islamic Purdah.
In a concise manner, we hereby mention and briefly comment on a few points explained by a lecturer of one of the leading universities in South Africa regarding the harms he sees and witnesses among the Muslim students attending a university Bearing in mind that he is not an Aalim of the Deen, yet his Imaani conscious raised these issues.
The lecturer states, “One of the challenges we face even before setting foot on campus is that our purpose for obtaining an education is clouded. Instead of doing it in order to increase our knowledge so that we may become better Muslims or so that we can propagate Islam, we go to university because we place our yakeen of rizq in our degrees.”
At another place, the lecturer states, “Students are subconsciously brainwashed to believe that they need the degree to obtain a job, they need a job to earn, they need to earn to eat and they need to eat to live.”
Brief comment: The lecturer, though not an Aalim, has adequately highlighted a very important Islamic point, the Aqeedah (belief) of Allah Being the Raaziq (Provider). By hankering after a degree, it will slowly obliterate this Aqeedah. Hence, Muslims will eventually regard their degree to be their Raaziq.
It is the job of the west to brainwash Muslims into believing that their degree will get them a job, make them earn, make them eat and make them live. This is the Kuffaar way of thinking and living. A Muslim way of living is what the Qur’aan Majeed explains; “Many are the creatures which don’t carry their Rizq (with them). Allah feeds them and you (also).”
The lecturer states, “Within the university environment our students are faced with a myriad of challenges. Some of them include the open marketing of zina and a lifestyle of complete immorality and immodesty. There are absolutely no restrictions on interactions between members of the opposite sex. In fact, they are encouraged to be as friendly and intimate as they wish to be. Unlike the work place, there are no written boundaries of respect between men and women.”
At another place, the lecturer states, “Men and women intermingle freely at universities…. In fact, there is an underlying encouragement for them to freely interact with each other often with the open hope of pursuing some kind of relationship.”
Brief comment: The lecturer has burst the bubble in speaking openly what many people opt to hide. He has termed Zina to be an open market at a university. Immorality and immodesty are also the norm. All these things bulldoze the Akhlaaq (character) of the Muslim students which was taught to them by the hard efforts of their parents and Ustaads. What type of an Ummah will we see in the future? An Ummah with no Akhlaaq? Whereas our Nabi (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “I have been sent to perfect good character.”
No much explanation is required about Zina. The Qur’aan Majeed is clear about it, “Don’t go near zina.” In other words, by finding yourself far away from the avenues of zina, the door of zina is sealed thoroughly. Whilst on the other hand, intermingling is a norm at a university, in fact, “There are absolutely no restrictions on interactions between members of the opposite sex” (words of the lecturer). Hence, in no way can anyone attending a university say that they are safe from Zina.
The lecturer states, “On the other hand, one of the most devastating issues plaguing our universities today is the growth of so many organizations that promote haram under the banner of Islam. Whether it is student organizations that are unmindful of basic Islamic issues like hijab or salaah or the threat of deviant sects like the Shias or Ahmediya’s………”
Brief comment: Exactly what the problem is. Muslims are been invited to Dhalaalah (deviation), corrupt beliefs and deviant organizations which are garbed in Islamic attire, banners and names and are a cause of huge problems in the Aqeedah of Muslims. Basic and important Islamic laws such as Hijaab is looked down at, frowned upon and not given importance! This is what is promoted to the young Muslim students. Hence they will grow up with this. Similarly with Salaah! Elsewhere the lecturer mentions that the majority of the young people today only perform Jumu’ah Salaah, and that too, they hardly make it on time for the important Khutbah.
Whilst the Ahaadith are filled with the aspect of Salaah, virtues of Salaah and the importance of Salaah, Muslim students are taught otherwise. And by them frequenting the company of deviant sects, it is nothing but to be expected from them falling prey to their beliefs (the corrupt beliefs of the deviant sects.)
The lecturer states, “One of the things that often happens to our sisters on campus is that their outlook on life begins to change. Instead of focusing on ultimately bringing up pious children and fulfilling the role of the mother and wife in a household, they sometimes tend to become attracted to a corporate lifestyle. Given their intelligence and abilities, they will naturally flourish in their careers, sometimes more than men. However, they are then unable to adequately deal with the home affairs and the children and the family will ultimately become neglected. It is impossible for anyone to say that a woman who leaves the home at 7am and returns at 6pm can provide the necessary love and care for her family.”
Brief comment: Whilst the Shari’at and the Qur’aan Majeed emphasizes women to remain glued to their homes, on the other hand, when they are allowed to study at a university or campus, their degrees, qualifications and intelligence will demand them to pursue the Dunya. In such a case, the husband will be earning a salary as well as the wife. The husband will be leaving the house at 7am, as well as the wife, in fact at times she will leave earlier than the husband, depending on her lift, job place etc. and the husband will return at 5pm after a long and tiring day, and the wife will return around the same time or later. So when will food be cooked, house tidied and the needs of the children seen to? So what happens to their innocent children-the coolness of their eyes-the future Ummah? Who is going to teach their children Akhlaaq, respect etc.? Who is going to tend to the needs of the children? The crèche? The maid? The grandparents who are old and themselves need someone to see to them? Who is going to relate to the children who the Sahaabah were? Who is going to relate to the sons-the future fathers of the Ummah, how brave the Sahaabah were? Who is going to relate to the daughters-the future mothers of the Ummah, what the Purdah of Hazrat Fatimah (Radhiyallahu anha) was? Remember, the first madrasah of a child is the lap of the mother. When the mother is not at home, the child is deprived of this valuable madrasah, which is free of charge!
The lecturer states, “One of the main avenues through which immorality is manifested is the student’s dress code. People are encouraged to dress in a certain manner in order to follow the trends of fashion. Most of these trends are western, unIslamic trends that completely violate the laws of shariah. Those who choose not to abide by these “fashion code” are frowned upon and seen as extremists………It is sad that one is unable to distinguish the Muslim from the non Muslim while walking on campus as both have the same kind of appearance. Many times I have been unsure as to whether to make salaam to a person or greet them with a “good morning” as I could not identify whether they were Muslim.”
Brief comment: By dressing in garbs which follows fashion, one hankers after the sickness of name and fame. On the other hand, those Muslim students who wish to keep their dressing conforming to the Sunnah are frowned upon. The end result of all wearing the same dressing code is the personal experience the lecturer narrates of not knowing as to when to make the Sunnah Salaam to a student or to greet with a Kaafir style “Good morning/afternoon/day”greeting.
The lecturer states, “I was personally witness to an incident where a girl from an extremely conservative and pious home was sent to a distant university to pursue an education. While there she fell in love with someone and began pursuing a relationship with him. This girl who all her life was modestly dressed , prayed her salaah five times a day and sometimes even woke up for tahajjud ended up in a situation where she used to sleep over in the same bed as her boyfriend every night. She was simply unable to manage the freedoms afforded to her at the university.”
Brief comment: Where there is so much freedom allowed, such evils are bound to happen. Since it is a place where Allah Ta’ala is disobeyed, Shaitaan grabs the opportunity to mislead and place his syrup there. Hence the evil outcome. One should remember that women are among the baits of Shaitaan. They are termed as ‘Habaailush-Shaitaan’ (the snares/traps of Shaitaan). In a Hadith it is mentioned, “The woman is ‘Awrah (concealment). When she emerges (from her house) Shaitaan looks at her.”
“Looks at her” means that Shaitaan searches for an opportunity to involve her in Haraam. When women frequent openly the grounds of universities, Shaitaan makes the most of them by using them for evil. Therefore, women are not allowed in Islam to leave their home to attend a university/campus for the sake of achieving a degree etc. in fact, the teaching of the Qur’aan Majeed is very clear in this regard. Addressing the wives of Nabi (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam), the Qur’aan Majeed says, “And stay glued within your homes.” If this is the instruction to the beloved wives of our Nabi (Sallalaahu alaihi wasallam), those to whom there existed no ill thoughts, then what will be the command for the women in our day and age?
The lecturer states, “The campus environment has also become the hotbed for the propagation of deviant sects that claim to be within the fold of Islam. I am sure you will be surprised to note that most campuses have a large population of shia’s, ahmadiya’s, ismailis and other such deviant bodies. Their main aim is to use the campus environment to alter the faith of members of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah and they are proving to be extremely successful. In most cases they propagate their views under clouded banners so that we are not aware of who they really are.”
Brief comment: These deviant sects propagate their corrupt beliefs on such grounds. Their main focus is Muslims who are left to roam around freely in the domain of freedom, Zina, sin and the displeasure of Allah Ta’ala, who in actual fact fall easy prey to their calls and Da’wats.
Conclusion and final comment by The Jamiatul Ulama Gauteng:
The crux of what the lecturer stated boils down to one thing and that is that a Muslim at a university/campus is surrounded by Fitnah. Whether it be in the form of women, intermingling, corrupting one’s beliefs etc.
Hence, Muslims should be extremely careful if they want to step into a university/campus. The best is to avoid such places in which one’s Imaan, Islaam and Akhlaaq are at a risk of been ruined. Rather, opt to alternative options for gaining proficiency in a Deen-safe environment, in which one’s Islaam, Imaan and Akhlaaq remain safe. Since the harms of a university/campus have been explicated by the lecturer of a leading university in SA, this is still just the tip of the ice-burg. There are many other evils which takes place at a university, however, the main points of concern have been enumerated by the lecturer.
Whilst on one side we have Ulama who are aligned to the Fordsburg Jamiat encouraging the Ummah to send their daughters to universities, on the other hand we had reproduced the facts recorded by a lecturer of a leading university of South Africa. Any Muslim with healthy Imaan will understand the evils of a university on the basis of the statements of the lecturer. If Muslim boys are not safe on the grounds of a university, what can be said regarding Muslim girls? It is upon every Muslim to understand what harms there lies in Muslims attending a university. Therefore, Muslims should not be misled and made to think that it is encouraged to send girls to a university. Those who say and propagate that women must attend universities to further their studies, are modern thinking Muslims and Molvis whose mission is to alter the pristine teachings of the Shari’at.
We ask Allah Ta’ala to protect every Muslim Ummati from the evils and traps of Shaitaan, Aameen.
Was-Salaam
