Our Youth’s Education

Verily all praise belongs to Allaah. We praise Him, seek His help, and ask for His guidance. We seek His refuge from the evil of our own egos and from the evil of our own actions. Whomsoever Allaah guides, there is none that can lead him astray, and whomsoever Allaah allows to go astray, there is none that can guide him.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides Allaah, alone, free from having any partners. The One, who begets not, nor was He begotten; and I bear witness that Muhammad, the son of Abdullaah, is His servant and His Messenger; the seal of prophets and the master of the Messengers, (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) his noble family, his companions, and all those who follow them in the performance of righteous deeds.

أما فيما يلي ،

It’s my pleasure welcoming you to Darul Arqam, a safe haven for our youth’s Islaamic education. Darul Arqam is a traditional Islaamic school with a modern twist. It is a school dedicated to the memorization of the Qur’an, complemented with other Islamic studies that aid in its understanding i.e. Hadeeth, Arabic, History, etc. The school was founded to meet the demands of non-native Arabic speaking Muslims from the West, either living here in Mauritania or abroad. This demand is for authentic Islaamic education for us in general and our children specifically, the future of this ummah.

 We tend to have special needs for our children. We want our children to understand classical Arabic and to be in an environment that raises them upon the sunnah of Allaah’s Messenger. We’re also concerned with our children’s knowledge of math, science, and, of course, knowing and understanding their mother tongues.

Here at Darul Arqam, we’ve kept these needs in mind while developing our curriculum. As stated, our main focus is the memorization and understanding of the Qur’an, the Speech of Allaah. Knowledge of the Qur’an is the noblest of knowledges. The people of Qur’an are Allaah’s chosen ones. It is reported that Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Indeed Allah has His own special people from amongst humans.’ It was said: ‘Who are they O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘The Companions of Qur’an are the special people of Allah and His chosen ones.” (Saheeh: an-Nasaa’ee and Ibn Maajah).

The callers to Islaam need to be equipped with the Qur’an, the Furqaan, the criterion that decides between truth and falsehood, guidance and misguidance, right and wrong, lawful and unlawful. Allaah said:

“Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it, (it is) sent down by the All-Wise, Worthy of all praise.” (Qur’aan  41:42)

Today we’re living in a time immersed in falsehood. The trials of Doubts (ash-Shubuhaat) and Desires (ash-Shahawaat) have become widespread. The people of knowledge are decreasing and the ignorant are taking one another as their leaders, as prophesized by the last and final Messenger (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him).

‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-’As (may Allaah have mercy upon him) reported Allah’s Messenger (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) as saying:

“Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, so that when He leaves no learned person, people turn to the ignorant as their leaders; then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge, they go astray, and lead others astray.” (Bukhaaree and Muslim)

So what do we do? In The Sealed Nectar, the author, Safi-ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri (may Allaah have mercy on him) mentioned a trait of the Companions that really left an imprint on me. He mentioned that the Companions (may Allaah have mercy on them) felt a sense of responsibility. They feared the horrible impact that humanity would suffer if they shirked their obligations. (p129) They were grateful to Allaah for guiding them and understood that their responsibility was to support the message. Allaah said:

“O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allaah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm.” (47:7)

However, if we neglect our duty,

“And if you turn away (from your duty), He will exchange you for some other people, and they will not be your likes” (47:38)

We seek Allaah’s refuge from being replaced and ask Him to make us of those who do support His religion and in turn are supported by Him, ameen.

Where do we start? We start with that which is most important, and then move to the next in importance and we start with those who are closest, and then move to the next in closeness.

First: Knowledge

Al Bukhaaree (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said “Chapter: Knowledge precedes speech and action, According to the Statement of Allaah, The Most High: “Know that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, and ask forgiveness of your Lord for your sins” (47:19)”

Sheikh Uthaymeen ( may Allaah have mercy upon him) commented that “Al Bukharee (may Allaah have mercy upon him) uses this Ayah as proof for the obligation of beginning with knowledge before sayings and actions, and this is a textual proof that a person must first have knowledge and then act. There is an intellectual proof to show that knowledge most precede sayings and actions, and it is that sayings and actions will not be correct and acceptable unless they are in conformity with Islaamic Law and a person can only be sure that his actions accord with the Sharee’ah through knowledge.”

Second Those Closest: Our families and those under our care

Allaah said:

“O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones”(66:6)

Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Each one of you is a shepherd and each one of you is responsible (for his flock). So the ruler is a shepherd over the people and he is responsible, the man is the shepherd of his family and he is responsible, the woman is the shepherd of her home and she is responsible, and the slave is the shepherd of his owner’s wealth and he is responsible. Each one of you is a shepherd, and each one of you is responsible (for his flock).”(Saheeh Bukhaaree and Muslim)

Therefore, we start with educating our families. The Prophet said that seeking knowledge is compulsory upon every Muslim. However, more importance is to be given to our children’s education. Ibn Abi Zaid al-Qayrawaanee (also known as Little Maalik) said in the introduction of his book of fiqh “The Treatise” (Ar-Risaala): “And know that the best of hearts are those that are most receptive to good. And the most anticipated hearts for good are those which haven’t been tainted with evil. And the first thing that good advisors are concerned with and those seeking reward chase towards, is delivering good to the hearts of the believers’ children so that it may absorb it.”

Commenting on a long hadeeth found in Riyad as-Saaliheen #30, Sheikh ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

“ He (the king) chose a boy because the boy is more receptive to knowledge, and because what the young boy learns is preserved, it doesn’t get forgotten; and for this reason learning at a younger age is better than at an older age and there is good in both. However, learning at a young age has two outstanding benefits; no, even more than that:

The first benefit is that young children often memorize faster than adults, because their minds aren’t occupied with problems.

Second, what they memorize sticks and what adults memorize gets forgotten, and for this reason the saying ((Verily seeking knowledge in youth is like engraving in stone)) became common amongst people.

The third benefit is that if a youngster seizes knowledge early, it will become a part of his character, one of his attributes. It will become a part of his nature; he grew up on this path and he’ll grow old on this path.”(End of quote) Insha’Allaah

Take your children away from the televisions, off the internets and stop wasting their precious childhoods! You want the best for them; you want them to be the best. The Prophet (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“The best of you is he who learns the Qur’an and teaches it.” (Saheeh Bukhaaree)

You’re worried about their welfare?

“The Companions of Qur’an are the special people of Allah and His chosen ones.” (Saheeh: an-Nasaa’ee and Ibn Maajah)

“Recite the Qur’an for it will come on the Day of Resurrection as an interceder for its companions” (Saheeh Muslim)

All of these blessings are not only for those who sit and study, but also for the ones who guided them to benefit and made it possible for them to grow?

“One who guides to (an act of) goodness is like the one who (actually) performed it” (Saheeh al-Adabu al-Mufrad)

Don’t hold off a good deed for tomorrow that you could put forth for yourself today. We invite you subscribe and to take a look around the site, learn about our school, and Mauritania in general. We hope that you join this effort to protect our future.

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh