Our beloved Prophet (SAW) said that this Ummah is like a body. If any part of the body is in pain the whole body gets restless. Students are an important part of the body of Ummah. This Ummah is like a mother to us. It gives us our most valuable asset which is our identity, our way of life. A person detached from it is like petal detached from a flower. The blowing wind throws it from place to place, unlike an attached petal which makes the flower complete.

One may ask the question, what our aim is as students. Is it just to get a degree and a job? Is it just to stuff our stomach and to adorn ourselves with the riches of the world? As Muslim students, our aims have to be loftier. We ought to strive for nobler things besides the temporal ones. We must realise that the life of this world is a temporary one which is nothing in comparison to the life of the hereafter. On an average, we dedicate one-third of our lives in the pursuit of studies so that the prospects for the rest of our lives are brighter. At the same time we should not lose sight of our larger objective which is to succeed in our hereafter; to save our necks from the torment of hellfire, the fuel of which is stones and humans. We surely cannot succeed in that unless we realise and uphold our roles and responsibilities towards Islam.

As students our first responsibility towards the Ummah is to realise that we belong to it entirely. Like we realise almost universally that we belong to our family and ought to serve it, similarly we have to realise that we owe the same towards Ummah. While we study we aim to achieve heights knowing that it will inevitably bring honour and material benefits to our family. Similarly, we should aim high in order to bring back the lost glory of our Ummah. Our aim as students should be to excel in our respective fields and to march ahead of others. It does not befit us that we follow others and not lead them in the field of Knowledge. It is a matter of sorrow that we have lost political say in the world. But it is a much bigger grief that we have long lost the leadership in the field of knowledge.

As students, it is our responsibility to try our best and to excel in the field of knowledge so as to achieve parity with other nations and to ultimately wrest back the leadership in the field of Knowledge. Secondly, it is our responsibility to safeguard our identity as members of this Ummah. As Holy Quran says, “You are indeed the best nation that has ever been brought forth for [the good of] mankind. You enjoin what is good, and forbid what is evil…” ( 3:110).

Our achievements in our respective fields will be of no use if we forget who we are in the process. Just imagine if we were to forget our families while we excel in our studies. What a catastrophe would it be? Forgetting the Ummah, losing our identity, our faith, our belief system is a bigger catastrophe than anything else. It guarantees gloom in both the worlds. In our educated class, we see many a people who because of their weak basics and faith lose the connection with their roots in terms of belief and identity. They get lost in the glamour of this temporal world. They try to imitate others in all the matters of life. It is our responsibility to guard ourselves against such possibilities. We must strive to safeguard our identity, to strengthen our faith and to remain attached to our roots. Our eyes must not get enamoured by the glitter and glamour of this world and for that to happen we must be strongly grounded in our faith and identity.

As we strive in all the fields of worldly knowledge, we must not lag behind in the Knowledge of our faith and deen. It is this knowledge which will help us to make this life more beautiful as well as it makes our hereafter successful. We must be as well versed in the matters of our ‘Deen’ as we are in mathematics and science and for that, we must make efforts.

We ought to work with people and organisations who are working for this very purpose. We ought to develop an interest in Islamic literature and make it a part of our routine besides our formal studies. This is the way we can stay attached to our roots and excel in the world and the hereafter. Not only that we ought to take utmost care that we do our best to perform our obligations as Muslims. Last but not the least; it is our responsibility to spread the word of Allah (SWT) by calling others towards the truth of Islam using beautiful manners and wisdom. We need to strive to make our fellow students aware of their responsibilities as we ourselves strive to fulfil them. To summarize, we should become good Muslims first and must strive hard to safeguard our identity, to stay connected with our roots, and to serve the Ummah in whatever way we can.

(Author is pursuing bachelor’s honours in political science at Aligarh Muslim University)

Box: We must strive to safeguard our identity, to strengthen our faith and to remain attached to our roots. Our eyes must not get enamoured by the glitter and glamour of this world and for that to happen we must be strongly grounded in our faith and identity