Suhaibwebb.com-A Letter to the Aspiring Western Student of Islam

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A Letter to the Aspiring Western Student of Islam

Shazia Ahmad | September 29, 2011 11:02 am

As salaamu `alaykum (Peace be upon

you all),To my dear brother or sister from the West,

You dream of escaping from the rat race and empty materialism of ourmodern, fast-food culture and traveling to a traditional land of Islam aland that is exotic and different, steeped in history, where mosquesstand firm in every neighborhood and faith is the lingua franca amongthe people, and where prophets, scholars, and saints have walked. Ona spiritual quest for a pure heart and an enlightened mind, you would sitat the feet of scholars, pouring out your old self and drinking up

knowledge that would make you new, until its radiant light filled yourheart and soul, emanated through your every cell, and shone brilliantlyon your face.

Its a beautiful, noble, and alluring picture, and if this is something youseek then I ask Allah Most High to allow this desire to be fulfilled, and to give you the opportunity totravel abroad and study. However, I would also like to share with you some things that you probablydidnt know about taking this path, speaking not as someone who has necessarily tread it, but assomeone who has learned a little bit about it and has seen it up close. I ask Allah to allow us and thosearound us to benefit from the experiences He has given us.

1. This path is a hard one, and you need to give it its due.

Seeking sacred knowledge is fulfilling, meaningful, and beautiful, but it also takes hard work,commitment, discipline, seriousness, and a sharp mind and intelligence too. It is said that, `Ilm[beneficial knowledge] is jealous: when you give some of yourself to it, it does not give you much inreturn, but when you give all of yourself to it, it reveals the best of itself to you. Giving all of yourselfmeans excelling to your utmost ability in your studies, by having the best of focus and discipline, and bygiving life to the information you learn by feeling it deeply with the heart and then implementing it withyour limbs. It is only then that that one can fully internalize the knowledge one has attained, and build onit and grow.

2. This path takes time to traverse.
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Think about someone you would consider a scholar or expert in the fields of history, engineering ormedicine, and then consider how many years it took them to achieve that state. In the same way, ittakes many years of study and dedication to reach a level of expertise and scholarship in Islam.

Some people go abroad to study for a number of months or a year or two and then return home with themistaken impression that they are now fully qualified to join the arena of Islamic scholarly discourse inthe West. I would argue that a person like this is actually more harmful to us as a developingcommunity than someone who hasnt studied at all. Being deluded into thinking that one isknowledgeable is much more dangerous than someone who admits that they dont know, and stepsback from forming opinions and calling people to them.

Keep this in mind when you consider studying abroad, and have realistic expectations of the time youwill need to reach an appropriate level of proficiency for what you wish to do. While a relatively shortamount of time may be appropriate for someone who wishes to learn Arabic, memorize Quran, get anintroduction or overview to some of the Islamic sciences, study a particular specialized topic or issue,or just to rejuvenate ones self spiritually in a Muslim land, such a length of time may be insufficient forthe one who desires to be a shaykh orshaykha, a scholar and learned person who can teach othersand discuss a myriad of Islamic issues at an advanced level, write scholarly books, etc.

3. Personal change takes struggle.

Dont depend on some magical change that will overtake you once you leave the West and come to aMuslim country. Spiritual struggles are difficult no matter where you are, and getting rid of long-held,deeply ingrained habits will always be tough. Dont use your intention to travel as an excuse toprocrastinate in taking care of your soul. You dont want to be in the arena of knowledge at some futuredate and still be wasting time, or doing things you know you shouldnt be doing.

These habits or traits may be unattractive parts of your character now, but they will be even uglier insomeone who takes on the mantle of a student of sacred knowledge. Start now, this day, this momentin purifying your heart and soul. This is also a way of showing Allah your sincerity and seriousness in

wanting to take up this path.

4. You may get lost along the way.

Its very easy to get caught up in a particular methodology or understanding of Islam when you studyabroad, and its often difficult to get a more holistic, broad-based understanding of Islam in the Muslimworld. For example, if you study in Syria or Yemen, you will find a lot of emphasis put on taqleed, theAsh`ari school ofaqeedah, the mawlid, and defense and promotion of these ideas, while if you studiedin Saudi Arabia, you would find quite the opposite.

Often, students who study abroad return to the West with this baggage of impassioned, unyieldingopinions on these issues, transferring these vitriolic debates to the West and centering their classesand programs on them. This is actually quite nonsensical when the average Muslim in the West may bestruggling with much more practical elements of their religion such as raising their children with anattachment and love for Islam, worrying about the acceptability of their business dealings or rulingsrelated to their marriage or divorce, dealing with the challenge of wearing Islamic attire or avoidingalcohol in the workplace, and so on, and for whom Ibn Taymiyyah or Ibn al-Arabi have little relevance totheir everyday practice of faith.

Nowadays, we have many young Muslims from the West studying overseas: Saudi Arabia, SouthAfrica, Pakistan, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere. In a short number of years, thesestudents, who have studied in such different cultures and with scholars of such different approachesand understandin , will return to the West to teach. Allah alone knows what will ha en at that oint: it


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can either be a time of a beautiful flourishing of scholarship a convergence of scholars who havetaken the best from these different lands of Islam and brought that to the West for us to benefit or it wilbe a time of fractioning, division, and argumentation much worse than we have seen. I ask Allah to helpus and make things easy for us.

Whats critical for a student studying abroad is to always seek to relate what one is learning back to thecontext in which one will implement and practice it, i.e., the West. If there was ever a time and a placein which we needed people to move beyond these continuously recycled contentious issues, to solvingsome of our more basic problems and fulfilling some of the urgent needs we have as a community, it isus and it is this time. We are in dire need of doctors, and not judges.

We need individuals who can move outside of this constant, consuming debate, and work towardsconstructive change.

Imam Zaid Shakir says on this issue, in the introduction to his book The Heirs of the Prophets:

Unfortunately, in recent years this paradigm [of Sunni scholarship] has been attacked from withinLeveling vicious, largely uncritical polemics against the four juridical schools, Tasawwuf, and the validityof rational proofs and philosophical formulations in creedal matters, these reformers are wittingly orunwittingly threatening the historical unity ofAhl as-Sunnah wal-Jamaaa.

In many instances, these reformers situate their attacks within the historical context of the Hanbalischool, relying on Ibn Taymiyya as their principal referent. This tendency has led in recent years to whacould well be referred to as a neo-traditionalist backlash. Some defenders of the dominant Sunniparadigm respond to the vicious attacks of the reformers with equal or surpassing venom. In their zeal,some go as far as to attempt to exclude the Hanbali school from the ranks ofAhl as-Sunnah wal-Jamaaa. Others, while condemning the reformers who declare the likes of Shaykh Muhyiddin ibn al-Arabi a nonbeliever, themselves declare Ibn Taymiyya to be outside the pale of Islam. If thispolarization continues, our heartland physically and figuratively will be torn and divided to such anextent that we will never again be able to attain to the critical mass necessary to establish Islam as adominant socio-political reality. Individuals blessed with cooler heads must prevail.

5. We are in need of creative thinkers.

In many places in the Muslim world you can find scholars with incredible knowledge of classical texts,who have mastered many of the sciences of Islam, who can give you a deep connection to the Quranor help you in you personal development and spiritual growth. But what may be more difficult to find issomeone who can help you learn how to translate the knowledge you attain into something you canapply when you return to the West. We are in need of people who are literate in the culture and needsof the West, and who are also literate in our scholarly tradition, and who can connect between the two.

Specializing is also greatly needed. How much more beneficial would it be if ten people who wentoverseas to study Islam came back and one had mastered Arabic syntax and grammar and couldteach about the linguistic workings of the Quran in detail, and another had become an expert on thefiqh (jurisprudence) of minorities and the modern day issues dealing with that, another in counselingand psychology from a spiritual and Islamic perspective, another in business law, and another in Islamichistory, etc, instead of ten people coming back, all donning the title shaykh orshaykha but only havingcovered the introductory texts in each of these areas, and replicating the same activities andinstitutions we already have in place?

Before you leave home to begin your studies abroad, be a creative thinker and plan ahead. Thinkabout what you want to do with the knowledge that you will attain, and how you can use it in ameaningful and effectual way when you return to the West. Perhaps you need to prepare yourself bydoing some studying or research at the university or at home before leaving.


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The Prophet (peace be upon him) was a creative and visionary thinker. When Salman al-Faarisisuggested that the Muslim build a trench in defense of the city of Madina, something that the Arabs hadnever seen or heard of before, the Prophet saw merit in the idea and forged ahead with it. Whilethey were digging, a miracle of the Prophet was that he foresaw that the lands of Shaam, Persia,and Yemen would be opened to the Muslims. This shows us the beauty of thinking of unique andcreative ways to serve our community and to fulfill their needs, and the beauty of looking ahead andcontemplating what the results and benefits of ones efforts will be.

6. You will miss home.

You will never realize how truly American, Canadian or British you are until you live somewhere else,and you will start to appreciate many things about your home country that never even occurred to youbefore.

You will become sick of litter and pollution, disorganization, the rudeness of the common people, thestaring problem many men in the Muslim world seem to have, food that is different than what you areaccustomed to, cultural narrowness, political suppression, over-strictness and traditionalism in theschooling process, getting ripped off because you are a foreigner, un-enforced traffic laws, theobsession of the upper class with everything Western even if its something ridiculous, the nosiness of

some people, and how straight forward they are in expressing their opinions about you, your dress, oryour manner!

You will miss people who understand you, being able to communicate with more sophistication than aneight year old, and not having to think ten times about the grammar of your sentence before openingyour mouth. You will miss not knowing common etiquettes and customary manners. And you will ofcourse miss your family and your friends, and many other things about your home.

Many of us who grew up in the West look to Muslim world with an enchanted eye, dreaming of lands ofscholarship and beauty, free of the negatives which Western cultures possess. We fail to realize thatMuslim lands are not what they once were, due to a number of reasons, both political and spiritual.

My point in mentioning all this is two-fold: One, Muslim lands are certainly not perfect, and they havetheir problems and cultural idiosyncrasies and things that will frustrate and sadden you and drive youcrazy.

Two, you cannot erase who you are, and where you grew up. Many of us have hidden away inside of usthis strange sort of guilt, that living in the West is not right, or that its not really where we belong. Youwill, in your travels, see that Allah has caused you to grow up where and how you did for a reason, andthrough your travels, He may gift you with experiences that help you appreciate the good and thepositives of your homeland that you may have often overlooked.

7. You will find imperfect institutions, teachers, and students.

Frankly speaking, many Islamic institutions in the Muslim world are disorganized, and may be behindthe times in terms of methods of instruction and learning. What you will often find is that these instituteshave not maintained the traditional method of Islamic learning, nor have they attained a state ofcoherence and organization like the Western institutes they seek to imitate. Similarly, you may findinstructors or students not living up to the ideals you had assumed were the standard for those in thisfield, which may lead you to disappointment, anger or frustration. In short, you cannot depend on aparticular institute or person to make you a scholar, but you have to be active and determined inseeking out knowledge, and finding opportunities to study and learn and make the most of your timeand experience.


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I hope these words have not taken away from your aspirations to study abroad, but have given you aninsightful view into the reality of the experience. Nothing of true value comes easily, and its often in thedeepest depths of the sea that the most beautiful pearls are found. Remembering your purpose,renewing your sincere intentions, and having high himmah a strong resolve, determination andpassion for what you are doing will get you a long way, by Allahs grace.

One of my teachers once said, If yourhimmah [aspirations] remain on the coastline, you will never seebeyond the sea.

May Allah Most High grant us heavenly aspirations that take us to new shores, beautiful sincerity in ourstudies, and deep understanding of His religion, an understanding that benefits us and those aroundus. May He grant our studies His blessings and facilitation, and make any knowledge we attain ameans of reaching His nearness.

Allah knows best.

Wasalaamu `alaykum (Peace be upon upon you)

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