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A joint struggle of every seeker of knowledge is when accomplishing what it seems impossible. Often, an individual will set hindrance in his mind prior lesson with negative sentiments of grasping the knowledge. One will also have a tendency encapsulating self from digesting gems of the teachings from his teacher.

Therefore, the first step of a student is to battle against himself. That is, to overcome his perceptions of limiting self from mastering a tough subject. Beginning with a cognitive break is like the roots of a plant. The analogy of a plant develops roots and utilising it to absorb nutrients. Relatable to a person is as if one allows himself to be receptive. For which, knowledge is then accessible to enter and process in mind.

Indeed, all of this could not possibly happen without seeking help from God. As consistently, like how every religious scholar will remind his students to supplicate du’as to increase memory.

The du’as are as such:

رَبِّ زدْنيِ عِلْماً وَ رْزُقْنيِ فَهْماً

“O’ Allah! Advance me in knowledge and true understanding.”

or

سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

“Glory be to you, we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise.”

(Surah Al-Baqarah; 2:32)

Both du’as are the classic examples of acknowledging that human has no means to receive a piece of knowledge without the grant from the Almighty.

Nevertheless, it is also the responsibility of a seeker of knowledge to rectify himself as a measure from God to grant his help to his servants. As of the fact that with the understanding of every victory comes with an effort and mercy from God. 

With that, when one sets his foot with the right intention and mentality, he will then be able to endure struggles during his studies and beat the odds.

We learned so much more, not only from textbooks but from our own teachers too. The way they speak, the way they dress and the way they advise us. Through IPIP, I met many inspiring asatizah who never fail to sacrifice their precious time to share with us their knowledge. Many beneficial stories that were shared have helped me in so many ways.

One day, I felt really overwhelmed with so much work on hand, with zero energy, I pushed myself to class that Sunday morning. The first thing that ustazah shared during the class was about the blessings in the work that we do. We might have done so many things, but we don’t know which one actually has blessings in it. She also added that we might be given a lot of work because Allah s.w.t wants us to work for it in order to achieve His blessings. Allah s.w.t knows. That made me reflect. The reminder was definitely from Him. Alhamdulillah, it boosted up my energy level to its maximum.

Through them, we understand the religion better. Through them, we become a better person. Sometimes, we could easily remember them through their wise words and actions.

They still tried their best to teach us with so much passion and sincerity, despite their health conditions. Their burning desire to do it for the sake of Allah s.w.t is something that I truly admire. As a student, we don’t actually see their struggles, but we see, and we appreciate their effort.

These are the things that make me look forward to class every week because we can easily relate and feel connected. At the end of the day, the takeaways that we got from IPIP are valuable and we truly treasure the experience we have with our beloved teachers, which we cannot get from the textbooks.

When you’re at a centre, the ends are always polar opposites. On one side of my end, I see people who value Islam and strive to uphold the value, morals, sweetness, practices and teachings of the Deen. In the process of doing so, some find them unrelatable and hard to approach. The saddest part of it is that some people will make fun of you for being sincere. On the other end, I see the World detached from the Deen, not understanding us and labeling us as extremes when we do an obligatory act like taking care of our halal and haram. A lot of haram things to them are being deemed as ‘normal’ that what is fundamentally halal, is regarded as extreme. Understanding is a real issue and at times, miscommunicated, inaccessible and worst, free to interpret.

People in the secular community, Muslims and non-Muslims alike would ask, Why are there exams? Why do you have to sit for an exam if you’re learning about faith? Are you going to be an ustazah? If not, what are you going to do with it? Why do you need to pay to learn about faith? I don’t think faith should be restricted to those who have money so it doesn’t make sense for me. These are real, practical doubts and they have every right to ask. Having faith and knowing that Islam is the true religion alone is not enough reason to validate their questions. At times, we don’t know how to answer or what is the best way to approach those questions without coming across as stringent or staunch. We may even end up into an argument and push people away from the Deen instead of bringing them closer. As Rumi said, Raise your words, not voice. It is the rain that grows flowers, not thunder.

I went into IPIP solely to gain knowledge for my own understanding. I had bits and pieces of Islam and it just felt as though I wasn’t quite seeing the full picture. Most of us grew up with a holistic secular education complete with Maths, English, History and other subjects. Often than not, we pursue a higher education to master our field.. What we fail to realize is that  we lack the holistic Islamic counterpart of it. I was exposed and dunked into a whole new revelation of understanding upon joining IPIP and Mashallah. Pieces of puzzles came together. You learn about Islam within context, with guidance, the changes, the logic, the understanding, why things were shaped the way it is, why certain practices were allowed and disallowed and the subjects that existed within the Islamic field are vast. You learn to appreciate the complexity that came and how it’s simplified for us.

Ilm serves as a guidance, navigating us through the struggles as a Muslim Singaporean who has either found their ground, or as a Muslim Nomad who has yet to find their footing. It has guided me countless times in my struggle to find balance and gave a profound sense of perseverance. Being equipped with the knowledge of the Dunia and the knowledge of the Akhirah, we’ll be able to bridge two worlds better, not just for ourselves (spiritually) but for others as well (physically). 

Being an IPIP student while doing my full-time national service has certainly put me through a process of spiritual growth to be a better Muslim filled with internal struggles as well joy.

A struggle that is probably common to many students in IPIP would be the challenge of trying to find time to revise and study on our own while having work or being a full-time student. For me, there were times when it was hard for me to open the book and study especially those which require me to memorise such as hadith. Putting away the training time, the free time I have has left me between opening the book or to rest. Thus I had to allocate time for revision. This reminded me to appreciate the time and how I can manage it and that we can make time for things.

On the flip side, being a student of knowledge has definitely benefited me as well as the people around me. From the point of learning the basics of fiqh, getting introduced to the basics of khuf and jama’ solat or the combination of prayers has certainly eased the way I am able to perform my ‘ibadah while in camp or during training. This also applies to other situations outside the camp as well. Knowing that it was possible for me to make wudhu with boots and pray with it as well as fulfilling each prayer time by combining zuhr and asr due to the uncertain training times showed me that I can still practice Islam in various situations. In addition, this knowledge, although basic, is not commonly known among many Muslims and they might not be familiar with its process. Hence, aside from it benefiting myself, it also benefited the Muslim comrades around me as I spread the knowledge through practising it.