Earlier this year, the Québec government proposed that they would raise university tuition from $2,168 to $3,793 over the next 5 years. The 75% increase incited a negative reaction from the students at which point the government proposed higher bursaries and subsidizing university payments outside of tuition. Various student organizations refused the terms and proposed cost-neutral activities, which the government turned down. On February 13th, social science students at Université Laval began to protest the raise in tuition. Soon after, others from the Université du Québec à Montreal joined the daily protests. On March 22nd, 166,068 students boycotted their classes and prevented others from attending. A rally took place that day which had approximately 300,000 people in attendance – termed by some as the “largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.”
The protests in Québec have been
dismissed by some as an isolated event – something that only happens in Québec
due to its culture of social activism. Others see the demonstrations as an
illegitimate response by privileged students who have benefited from the lowest
tuition rates in Canada for years. Despite such superficial reactions, the
increase in tuition brings to light many problems that have existed across the
country for many years – particularly student debt and its impact on new
graduates. According to the Canadian Federation of Students, the current Canada
Student Debt Load is $14.6 billion with the average student graduating with
approximately $27,000 in debt. According to a 2010 report issued by Statistics
Canada, the average time taken to repay the loans, including accrued interest, is
7 years with 18% taking more than 10 years. This problem is magnified by the
challenges in finding employment after graduation due to the narrowing job
market and the expected legislated rise of the legal retirement age from 65 to
67. For those who cannot find employment, their only option is to sink further into
debt and eventually declare bankruptcy. Another problem is related to the types
of jobs that new graduates seek. Students loaded with debt are often compelled
to look for any available job (usually in large corporations) to pay the
outstanding student loan rather than search for employment in something that
will make a productive contribution to society.
Education: A privilege solely for the rich?
According to a 2005 Statistics
Canada study, "The rate of university attendance is about two times
greater for youths from high-income families (over $100,000) compared to youths
from the lowest income families (less than $25,000) throughout 1993 and 2001".
(http://publications.gc.ca/Collection/Statcan/11F0019MIE/
11F0019MIE2005243.pdf) In
other words, only the wealthier sectors have real access to post-secondary education.
This underlines the failure of the Capitalist system to provide a sustainable
vision for society – education is seen as a commodity rather than a service for
all, irrespective of one’s financial standing. The primary focus of such a system
is to prioritize and ensure that the rich are free to pursue profitable
enterprise. Everything else, including the education of the youth, do not matter.
The Education System in Islam
Islam offers a unique alternative
which solves many of the problems students are facing in Canada and other
Capitalist nations. The education system in the Khilafah is composed of Shariah
rules which emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah. As a result, the rights of
students that Allah (swt) has provided can never be taken away nor marginalized
as it would be a violation of the Shariah – an action which the Khaleefah would
be accountable for on the Day of Judgment and could legitimize his removal from
his position as head of state.
The education system of Islam is
based on the following objectives and principles:
Establishing and Maintaining the Islamic Personality: The Islamic Aqeedah constitutes
the basis upon which the education policy is built. As a result, the Khilafah
will establish Islam as the foundation for the beliefs, values, concepts and inclinations
being taught to the Muslim students. The curriculum and teaching methods would
be designed to prevent any departure from this basis. All schools (public or
private) would have to adhere to curriculum expectations. Therefore, all subjects
taught in school would be established on this basis. Allah (swt) revealed:
“Oh you who believe! Protect
yourselves and your families from the fire, whose fuel is people and stones.” [TMQ 66:6]
The
goal of education is to produce the Islamic personality and to provide people
with the knowledge related to life’s affairs. Education
is the method to preserve the Ummah’s culture in the hearts of its children. It
moulds the individual’s intellect and his/her criteria for judgment, just as it
moulds his/her inclinations, thereby influencing his/her mentality, disposition
(nafsiyya) and behavior (sulook).
Enabling the means to livelihood: Once the Prophet (saw) passed by a man who
was begging. Zubair bin Awwam (ra) reported that RasulAllah (saw) said,
"It is far better for you to
take your rope, go to the mountain, (cut some firewood) carry it on your back,
and sell it and thereby save your face than begging from people whether they
give you or refuse." [Bukhari]
Just as the Prophet (saw) – the head of the Islamic
State –directed a man with the means to gain access to work in order to satisfy
his basic needs, the Khaleefah would have the same responsibility. One way to accomplish
this is by providing free education to all citizens so that they are equipped
with the necessary skills that will enable them to find work, irrespective of
the household’s social status, standard of living and education level. The Khilafah
should also, to the best of its ability, provide the opportunity for everyone
to continue higher education free of charge.
Since it is the responsibility of the Khilafah to
ensure that the basic needs of all citizens is met, this will allow children to
have full access to education without their parents facing the dilemma of having
to choose between their kids being educated or leaving school so that they can
help their household meet the basic needs as we see happening throughout the
world today.
Encouragement to Learn and
Contribute to Society: As it is our responsibility before Allah (swt) to implement Islam,
spread it to others and to protect the Ummah from Kufr thoughts and plots by
the enemies of Islam, it is necessary that the education system encourage citizens
to learn and contribute to the progress of society. Allah (swt) revealed:
“Allah does not allow the believers to put disbelievers in authority
over themselves.” [TMQ 4:141]
Therefore, the state should provide the means of acquiring
knowledge for all citizens by establishing public libraries and laboratories,
in addition to schools and universities. The Khilafah will ensure that its
citizens become experts in every sphere of life. The knowledge will be of two
branches- Islamic disciplines and empirical sciences. By facilitating the means
for the general public to have access to knowledge, this would assist in
creating an abundance of mujtahideen, outstanding scientists and inventors as
we saw in the past, such as Imam Abu Hanifah and Al-Khawarizmi.
Implementing the Islamic Solution
The education of the youth cannot be guaranteed to be
entirely Islamic while the systems that govern life do not emanate from the
Islamic Aqeedah. The education of the youth is not a problem that is specific
to the Muslim community in Canada, but is an issue facing the entire Ummah,
even for Muslims who live in the Muslim lands. The problem being global, the
Ummah must co-operate to find the correct solution. Only by establishing the
Khilafah state in the Muslim lands will Muslims offer the best environment for
the next generations to be born, raised and nurtured in a pure Islamic environment
so that Islamic personalities of the same caliber as the first generations of Muslims
return to humanity.
While we work diligently to resume the Islamic way of life by
re-establishing the Khilafah Rashidah in the Muslim lands, we need to ensure
that we do not put ourselves or our children in a situation that would incur
the wrath of Allah (swt). Within the current education system, we must exert
our utmost effort at instilling and preserving the Islamic personality. This
could be accomplished by home schooling our children when they are young or
putting them in Islamic schools if home schooling is not feasible. When our
children attend college or university, we should remind them about their
purpose of life (i.e. to seek the pleasure of Allah (swt)) and help them
confront the Kufr concepts they face with the correct Islamic concepts and
understandings.
Partial Solutions in the Meantime
While we realize that in the current educational system, the
required skills needed for employment are not provided by the state free of
charge, we should not put ourselves in a situation where we borrow funds from
sources (i.e. OSAP) that will eventually charge interest. Paying even 1 cent of
interest is haram and is a declaration of war against Allah (swt) and the
Prophet (saw):
“Oh you who
believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains (due to you) from Riba
(from now onward), if you are (really) believers. And if you do not do it, then
take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger …” [TMQ 2:278-279]
We should look to borrow funds from family to avoid incurring
any interest. The Muslim community should also facilitate the means of helping
our youth attain higher education through halal means. For those students who
have already taken OSAP loans and are at risk of paying interest, the Muslim
community should direct some of its Zakat funds to be used to pay off their
debt as such students would fall into one of the 8 categories mentioned in the
Quran (i.e. those in debt) who can receive Zakat funds. The Muslim community
should also collectively start a voluntary fund to provide interest-free loans,
scholarships and bursaries to students, motivating the perspective donors with
the statement of RasulAllah (saw), narrated by Abdullah bin Umar (ra):
“…Whoever
fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought
his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the
discomforts of the Day of Resurrection…” [Bukhari]
If none of these options are available we should work and
save enough money to fund our own education. This route might be more
challenging, however, we would have the tranquility knowing that our actions
are pleasing to Allah (swt) and insha-Allah He will put barakah in our
education for truly He is Ar-Razzaq.
May Allah (swt) give us the strength to work diligently to
resume the Islamic way of life through the re-establishment of the Khilafah
Rashidah in the Muslim lands according the method of RasulAllah (saw) and make
us steadfast and patient in the trials and challenges we face in the absence of
the ahkam shariah being implemented. Ameen.
“By Al-'Asr (the
time). Verily! Man is
in loss, Except
those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the
truth which Allah has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil
deeds (Al-Munkar) which Allah has forbidden), and recommend one another to
patience.” [TMQ 103] (PAM)
