The vast sea of knowledge

Do you ever feel like there’s so much to learn and so little time? If you do then this post would most definitely resonate with you.

Learning has always been an integral part of my life. Since I can remember I have always relished learning new and different things. As a child I’d raid my father’s bookshelf looking for new books to read and I’d be willing to read anything, because I was taught from a young age that knowledge is power, and that we should always seek knowledge.

I suppose this is why I find it so difficult to deal with the fact that people have turned studying into a meagre economic thing, where choices of what to study are determined by the amount of money that goes with it, and not to mention that crazy amounts that students have to pay just to get knowledge. Even when I studied at university, it was never about the career that would go with the course I was doing. I wasn’t focused on the money I could make after graduation or the so-called prestige that would come with having a degree behind your name. I was interested in the knowledge I was getting and I have to admit that I would excitedly browse through the course options every time I needed to choose because the idea of learning new things appealed to me.

Earlier this year I was sent a link to a free online course and this opened up a whole new learning experience for me. I was surprised to see so many course offerings on so many different topics, and it can all be done online. It’s wonderfully structured, and there’s deadlines which forces you to complete the course. Once again I find myself grappling with learning choices, and it’s just so hard to choose because nowadays my time is more limited and really there is so much to learn in so many different subject areas. Now you understand why blogging has taken a back seat for me. Instead of blogging or reading other blogs I have devoted my time to studying online courses and while I do feel out of touch with some of my oldest blogging friends, I know that I will not always have the time or circumstances to learn and so I have been swimming in the huge ocean of knowledge, trying to find my way around.

Some of you might be wondering why I feel the need to learn more. There’s a misconception with some people that you should only learn what you need to. I would answer you by saying that any knowledge can be beneficial if it helps you to better yourself and by teaching and sharing it, others have the chance of bettering themselves as well. Also, since Allah created everything, I think an understanding of different things in this world will help us to get closer to Allah by appreciating and reflecting on just how amazing and perfect Allah Most glorious is. For example, I was studying a course on the human body and while listening to the lectures on the heart and how it functions I couldn’t help but marvel at the complete masterpiece which is the human body, and hence I couldn’t deny that Allah is the most amazing creator. Besides all this though, learning new things helps to develop the mind and in turn we begin to see the world in many different ways.

I could go on about the benefits of learning, but I won’t. I decided to share my learning experience with you so that you too could benefit. So below you will find the link to the site I have been studying on and if you do learn anything, please feel free to share your experiences with us.

https://www.coursera.org/

Here's another link to a great site I've been learning from for some time now. May Allah reward everyone involved with this for sharing such beneficial Islamic knowledge.

http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com/diploma/

Besides this there are many other ways to learn and I think that each person should decide in which way they learn best. 

May Almighty Allah bless us all with knowledge that will be beneficial to ourselves and others and may Allah help us to practice what we learn, and may we not be like donkeys carrying books but never benefiting from it, and may Allah Most Glorious save us from believing that the little knowledge we have is something to be proud of, because the knowledge we have been granted through Allah’s mercy only is but a drop in the ocean and since it means so little it does not make sense for us to be arrogant over it.

Image 1 from here 

Image 2 and 3 from here