Another academic session has begun and parents are frantically looking for admission to ensure their wards and children benefit from the numerous educational facilities, and that they are not left out. It is for this reason that the Muslim Ummah must lend their support to enable their children to get the needed formal education to contribute towards the socio-economic development of their communities and the country as a whole.
The lack of formal education has been the bane of the Muslim brethren, especially in the Zongo communities across the country, and worst of all in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West where over the years the lukewarm attitude or misunderstanding of Islam as a religion has led to many parents denying their children secular education, and rather placing emphasis solely on Quran education (Makaranta).
"Knowledge is identified in Islam as worship. The acquisition of knowledge is worship, reading the Qur'an and pondering upon it is worship, travelling to gain knowledge is worship. The practice of knowledge is connected with ethics and morality - with promoting virtue and combating vice, enjoining right and forbidding wrong". (" amr bil-l ma'ruuf wa nah-y 'ani-l munkar", as it is known).
To seek knowledge is indeed a sacred duty and is obligatory on every Muslim, male or female. The first word in the Qur'an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was "Iqra" or READ! Seek knowledge! Educate yourselves! Be educated.

Surah Al-Zumr, verse (ayah) 9 reveals: "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" Surah Al-Baqarah, verse (ayah) 269 reveals: "Allah grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and to whom wisdom is granted indeed he receives an overflowing benefit."
To retrieve Muslims from the Centuries old monarchy, colonialism and the oppressive rule of their own people of this degeneration, it is about time that the Muslim Ummah restructures its educational priorities along Islamic lines so as to combat the moral and spiritual degeneration of Muslims throughout the world.
By virtue of such an educational programme, the future generations will become the torch-bearers of Islamic values and play an effective role in the present world. The challenges of modern times call for rebuilding the structure of our educational system on such a foundation as to fulfil our spiritual as well as temporary obligations. Today we need an educational system which can produce what an eminent Islamic scholar, the late Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi, called the "Muslim philosopher, Muslim scientist, Muslim economist, Muslim jurist, Muslim statesman, in brief Muslim experts in all fields of knowledge are needed who would be able to reconstruct the social order in accordance with the tenets of Islam." I
bn Mas'ud (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: "The position of only two persons is enviable - the person whom Allah bestowed wealth empowering him to spend it in the way of righteousness, and the person whom Allah gave wisdom with which he adjudges and which he teaches to others".

According to Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: "A single scholar of religion is more formidable against shaytaan (the devil) than a thousand devout persons".
Islam is our greatest gift. We have to be thankful for this gift. We have to render to Allah His due. Allah has given us so much by making us a part of the Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) so we must totally commit ourselves as followers of the Prophet (SAW). We must become true Muslims.
Now, how can we become Muslims in the true sense of the word? First let's define what a Muslim is. A Muslim is not a Muslim simply because he's born one and prays five times a day. A Muslim is a Muslim because he is a follower of Islam, a submitter to the Will of Allah. We're Muslim if we consciously and deliberately accept what has been taught by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and act accordingly. Otherwise we're not true Muslims.
The first and most crucial obligation on us is to acquire knowledge and secondly to practice, teach and preach this knowledge. No man becomes a true Muslim without knowing the meaning of Islam, because he becomes a Muslim not through birth but through knowledge and deed. Unless we come to know the basic and necessary teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) how can we believe in him, have faith in him, act according to what he taught? It is impossible for us to be Muslim, and at the same time live in a state of ignorance.
It is essential to understand that the greatest gift of Allah - for which we are so overwhelmed with gratitude - depends primarily on knowledge. Without knowledge one can't truly receive Allah's gift of Islam. If our knowledge is little, then we will constantly run the risk of losing that magnificent gift. Therefore, we must remain vigilant in our fight against ignorance.
It is often said that a person without knowledge is like someone walking along a track in complete darkness. Most likely his steps will wander aside and he easily can be deceived by 'shaytaan' (the devil). This shows that our greatest danger lies in our ignorance of Islamic teachings and in our unawareness of what the Qur'an teaches and what guidance has been given us by the Prophet (SAW). But if we are blessed with the light of knowledge we will be able to see plainly the clear path of Islam at every step of our lives.
Whether we and our children remain true Muslims depends on knowledge. It is therefore not trivial to be neglected. We do not neglect doing whatever is essential to improve our trades and professions because we know that if we do neglect them, we will starve or even lose the precious gift of life. Why then should we be negligent in acquiring that knowledge on which depends whether we become and remain Muslims? Does such negligence not entail the danger of losing an even more precious gift - our Iman? Is not Iman more precious than life itself? Most of our time and labour is spent on things which sustain our physical existence in this life. Why can't we spend even a tenth part of our time and energy on things that are necessary to protect our Iman, and which alone can sustain us in the present life and in the hereafter? It is not necessary to study extensively to become a Muslim. We should at least spend about one hour out of twenty-four hours of the day and night in acquiring the knowledge of this 'Deen', the way of life, the Islam.
Every one of us, young or old, man or woman, should at least acquire sufficient knowledge to enable us to understand the essence of the teachings of the Qur'an and the purpose for which it has been sent down. We should also be able to understand clearly the mission which our beloved Prophet (SAW) came into this world to fulfill. We should also recognize the corrupt order and system which the Prophet came to destroy. We should acquaint ourselves, too, with the way of life Allah has ordained for us.
Not only should we seek knowledge, but when we acquire it, it becomes obligatory on us to practice it. Knowledge without action is useless because a learned person without action will be the worst of creatures on the Day of Resurrection. Also, action should not be based on blind imitation, for this is not the quality of thinking of a sensible human being.
"The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to bring us closer to God. It is not simply for the gratification of the mind or the senses. Knowledge accordingly must be linked with values and goals.
Sheikh Abdur-Rahim Ibrahim, Lecturer at the Department of Modern Languages, University of Ghana, Legon, briefing the Ghana News Agency about the significance of seeking knowledge, expressed worry that Muslim parents neglect the upkeep of their children, refuse to question them on their sudden acquisition of wealth but rather spend their hard worn riches on material things, and attend funerals and weddings for the glory of society.
He said it is absurd that the Muslim youth in most communities fail to take advantage of the Government's free, compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) and other State interventions to seek knowledge but rather engage in anti-social acts like 'sakawa' cyber fraud, armed robbery and get rich quick acts.
Sheikh Ibrahim said another purpose of knowledge is to spread freedom and dignity, truth and justice. It is not to gain power and dominance for its own sake.
The following hadith shows how important and how rewarding knowledge is. "He who acquires knowledge acquires a vast portion." AND "If anyone going on his way in search of knowledge, God will, thereby make easy for him the way to Paradise."
Sheikh Hussain Idris Molah, an Islamic Scholar at a dawn (Fajir) preaching at Libya Quarters (UN) Madina Zongo, in Accra enjoined Muslim parents not to be content with just enrolling their children and wards in school but to ensure that they the parents pay for the teaching and learning and support the teachers to mould the character of the children.
He regretted that most Muslim parents neglect to cater for their children's upkeep and fail to provide them with their school needs, as some of the children go out bare-footed and in tattered clothing without the requisite books for academic work. He added that the technological era we live in calls for the combination of Qur'anic and secular education.
Children are the future and the future lies in their hands but they can only achieve this promise through the acquisition of knowledge because whoever neglects learning in youth loses the past and is dead for the future. It is for this reason that this writer enjoins Muslims to note that Allah helps those who help themselves, and that we cannot continue to "leave it to God" as if in total despair and refuse to take advantage of the level playing field for all in the society since, Insha-Allah, when we put our act together we the Muslim Ummah will get due recognition both on this earth and in the hereafter.
(A GNA Feature by Alhaji Abdulai Mamudu Gariba)