Are You Really Educated or Merely a Graduate?

Are You Really Educated or Merely a Graduate?

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala

 

 An elderly man sought an urgent appointment from me. He spoke at length about his grown up children, elaborating how much he spent on their education thinking that it was an investment and it would return a huge comfort when he retired. His children graduated and post graduated. But he did not find his retired life easy. His wife died and his children kept themselves running after their own careers and their children's education leaving aside the lonely old man to borrow money from his friends or take zakat. 

  Few years back, I was in Pune, sitting before an audience whose background was not known to me. They were Non Muslims, that was the only thing  I knew about them. While I awaited for my turn to speak  some one whispered in my ears that the majority of them were old people from "Homes for Old ages" I would explain this term as " Orphanage for Old people"! I quickly  changed my lecture draft and focused on how unfortunate those children where who did not find spending their time and money on their parents. The impact was " Subhanallah"  I could see tears rolling down on some old cheeks. 

  The most unfortunate thing about schooling is that after giving eight thousand precious hours of our childhood to school, yet most of us do not know what we are going to get out of it! Most of the students do not even understand the purpose  of education. If you ask a child in Grade I "why do you go to school"? He will reply " because my mummy sends me". By the time the student reaches his last year of schooling, he has set a tiny goal for himself." I want to earn" or "I want a god job"

     What we see and notice around us, is that most of us are programmed with a  monetary attitude regarding our education. The willing to earn lot is what is stuck on our minds.  This attitude stretches till we finish our studies. Through out our academic life we are reminded that If you don't get good grades you will not get a reputed job. Those with this mentalty, earn money only to make other people rich, by spending huge money on their own comfort rather then sharing with other people's neccesity. 

 If your education is not supported by correct morals and ethics and you don’t know dealing with people, you don’t know how to sort out problems in life, if your parents are not happy with you, then you are an uneducated person in spite of being a graduate. It is here that you require revealed knowledge to get the best out of your acquired knowledge.  Your acquired knowledge is what you learn from your school and college text books,  from your friends, tutors, seniors, from newspapers, from your experience.... where as revealed knowledge is what your find in the Qur'an and Hadith.  Without taking guidance from revealed knowledge, acquired knowledge cannot guarantee you any success. If people focused on revealed knowledge, then we would not be hearing stories of corrupt doctors stealing kidneys and selling them, Companies making unhealthy medicines, Civil engineers permitting mixing more sand  in the cement than the standard rules permit to build a structure…….

 It is high time to include Islamic  morals,  ethics and laws in our syllabus  to leave behind a better world before we die.


Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks on the behalf of Islamic values. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com