ARE WE REALLY EDUCATED?

ARE WE REALLY EDUCATED?

A RECENT THOUGHT ABOUT HUMANITY

“Your grades and degrees doesn't reflects your true education.”

The first memory of school that I have is of books and being taught what is right from wrong. Sitting in my grandfather’s lap I remember the stories he told me of strong warrior women and great kings and Queens, of Sufis and saints and prophets and angels. Hence, I grew up with a strong Imagination and a sense of righteousness, that goodness prevails and right always wins, and we should always be just and honest and truthful. Honour truthfulness, loyalty and love are all the basic pillars of this world and life in general.

But the real world is a very different place, new-born babies are thrown in garbage, women are killed, sold, raped and tortured in the name of honour, At one end people have a lot of money, they have their own jets and islands and even their shitting pots made of gold, have 50 dishes at weddings, throwing off most of the leftover food in the bins and at the other, people are dying of hunger, small babies of malnutrition and poverty. Women take up prostitution, people even sell body organs just because their kids can eat, and this is not a myth nor stories of days gone by long ago, but it still happens today.

So, were the books all wrong or this world is turning into a bleak zone, is it really the world we live in or a modified version of hell? The reason I understood is this unrelinquished hunger and thirst for money and power and showing off on social media and gaining social approval.  Have you noticed how people portray themselves on social media, it is sickening. A child wishing happy birthday to his parents, whence neither of them are on Facebook, in reality, he or she didn’t even said two loving words but a huge paragraph with pictures are posted. A spouse wishes and expresses love for his/her better half, posting sweet love-soaked messages while in reality they would rather kill each other, simply they have one reason social facade and pretenses. it’s like they don’t meet each other or live together, imagine if they start asking each other stuff like, ‘’ Its your turn to buy groceries ‘’ or ‘’ use the toilet like a human’’. Imagine what kind of duel personality kids they be raising …..Hence the weird youngster generation of our times, soulless zombies. It’s like we live for one reason only to just gain social approval. Its more important than our own reality, love, honour, righteousness and most importantly our own belief system. People are so alone, depressed and pressurized nowadays because its mandatory to live for the world and show off everything from your new pair of underwear to a new car to exotic dream holidays to what you ate to who you are with, it’s absolutely crazy how people are slaves of make beliefs and pleasing people than actually have a life worth living. People usually buy stuff which will get them social acclaim rather than what they actually need, they eat stuff at pricey restaurants because they want to be the ‘’ hip crowd’’. Image going on Ummrah and Haj, spiritual journeys and taking 100000 selfies and pics and making tic toks rather than actually praying.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Recently, I lost few relatives and very close friend, death is a very strange phenomenon, it shakes up a person, especially if the death was sudden and more so accidental.  But tragedy especially death has a unique way of bringing a certain equal kind of grief to all, no matter what social class you belong too. However rich or powerful a person is he goes in the earth, in the same white cloth, same kind of a grave leaving behind the entire world. So why this double standard, world pleasing way of living? Death is inevitable it will come for all, and, its not like we will be living for eternity so why this pride and selfishness and accumulation of wealth, lets face it a Gucci accessory or a pair of shoes or an Armani suit, won’t get us a great place in heaven but helping a poor child or an aching heart may.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.  -  Martin Luther King, Jr.

So if we really want humanity and education to have meaning lets please , all of us stop living for the façade and world pleasing and start living for what is right, lets pray for the love of Allah and not to gain approval from the world, do what is right and defy evil. Instead of buying our kids expensive toys , lets teach them the art of giving and sharing, instead of raising worldly  successful kids  who just understand money and associate happiness with material stuff and travelling, lets raise good human beings who believe in relations and empathy and doing the right thing rather than the accepted norm. Let’s bring back the fashion and culture of honesty and truthfulness and honour, where we teach and inculcate in ourselves as well as our kids that live and believe by the oaths of what is right and honourable, teach our children to respect humans especially women, help people in plight and That is the only way we can raise heroes and heroines of our childhood stories and imaginations who would slay the demons of poverty and injustice and help a raped girl live a life of dignity instead becoming villains with their very own flying machines and their gold shitting pots! This can be done by following the true teaching of our religions, especially that of Islam & Quran.

 Think about it!

By: OVAIS ASAD KHAN