Learn while you can!

The other night my grandmother asked me to explain something to her, and the more I tried, the more difficult and confusing it seemed to become for her. I even tried explaining it in the simplest of ways, but she still struggled. This drove home a very important point for me. That we should learn while we can, as much as we can, when we have the chance, because someday (and believe me that day will come sooner than we all think), we too are going to be old, and then it will be very difficult to learn new things.

See the things that you've learnt in your youth stay with you and it sets the scene for what you will know when you are older. If you've spent your youth reading fashion magazines, or watching TV shows for instance, then that’s what you’ll know when you are older. Likewise, if you've spent your youth learning different things, reading a variety of books, understanding how to do different things, then these things will be easy for you in your old age.

So, what are we waiting for? Time is short and there’s still so much that we need to learn. Besides, one day we will be answerable to Allah (Exalted is He) for what we have done with our time. I don’t know about you, but this thought always scares me. Will I really be able to say I used my time in a good way and made the most of it? The way things stand, I don’t think so. My list of what I end up doing and what I want to do does not match up, and this is a problem, especially because things are so easy nowadays.

We don’t even need to leave our homes if we want to learn something. We have learning material at our fingertips. From books, to online courses, lectures and even webinars. There’s like a multitude of valuable information, just waiting for people to make use of it. The problem is that most of us put it off, because we believe we still have a lot of time.

I’m sure if my grandmother could go back and learn the things she always wanted to she would do that, but she can’t, and neither will we one day when we are old. So, I guess I should be asking you why are you still here reading this. You should be making a schedule of what to learn, or pulling that book off the shelf that you've been meaning to read for ages. You should be planning what course you can do and how you can go about gaining beneficial knowledge. After all, there’s a reason that they say knowledge is power!  

It has been reported that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“Acquire the knowledge of revelation.

It enableth its possessor to distinguish right from wrong;

It lighteth the way to heaven;

It is our friend in the desert,

Our society in solitude,

And our companion when friendless;

It guideth us to happiness;

It sustaineth us in misery;

It is an ornament amongst friends,

And an armour against enemies.”

Look out for my next post on the Superiority of Knowledge over Wealth according to Ali (May Allah be pleased with him), In-sha-Allah! 

Image 1 from here

Image 2 from here