By Muhammad ZulfekarÂ
Staying home while waiting for my enrolment to the main campus at Gombak has made me missed the Centre for Foundation Studies IIUM (CFSIIUM) so much. The uneven compound, cold floor in the rooms at the Mahalah, scrumptious Ainon food, the famous brick wall where most students take pictures, the lecturers and not to forget, the friends I’ve made.
The three long semesters and one short semester have taught me so well. One main thing that I’ve learnt about CFSIIUM is that the word ‘foundation’ is not just about knowledge – it’s about everything.
While learning about the basics of my course – at least a little bit – I also learnt about the basics of becoming a good Muslim. There’s a verse in Surah Al-Imran where Allah said if you are harsh to people, they will run away.
Learning from this verse, I started to have thoughts like “Hey, maybe I should keep my mouth shut!” and something like that, so I walked silently without any smile, without any greetings. At some point, I’ve realised that my actions wasn’t right. I forgot that in the Al-Quran, Allah also mentioned about the needs of knowing each other as a sign of gratitude to Him. I started to greet people while walking to the class. Well, maybe not along the way but the first move always counts.
The centre also taught me how to actually live in a community. I didn’t realise this until one day when I didn’t hear the adzhan for Maghrib prayer. Then, my friend told me that if no one’s doing it (the adzhan) then all of us are guilty. That was the time when I actually know, staying in the Mahalah is not just about understanding it as a place where we sleep; it’s a place where we live. The Mahalah residents is a Muslim community, and we as Muslims have to maintain the Islamic way of living. Our manners with our roommates and the students living next door, ways in keeping the cleanliness of our rooms, all of these and such reflect how Islamised we are. What kind of Muslim in this world who does not want to be better day by day?
Okay, relax. Breath in, breath out. Smile.
Last but not least, the centre have also taught me the foundation of love. In Surah Az-Zukhruf, Allah had once mentioned that in the end, people whom were best friends in the world will fight except for the relationships built in taqwa to Allah SWT. It’s a perfect clue! Taqwa needs us to have a great love for Allah SWT. When we have this, we will have an eternal love in any relationship, Insya Allah. Allah promised us that, and He never break His Promises. I’ve learnt this when I felt different while befriend with good people in the centre.
Some taught me things that are best to be prevented, some taught me things that are best to be done, all of it aimed to reach the pleasure of Allah SWT. Not to forget the treats that I’ve received from so many good friends!
Those are just some of the things that I have learnt while spending one and a half year in CFSIIUM. For those who haven’t graduated, enjoy your time in the centre as much as you can by doing good things. Whatever you do, remember that the results do count, but it’s the effort that you exert that Allah sees. For those who have graduated, we still have a long, tough journey ahead to go in the future.
Imam Syafi’i once mentioned that there’s a verse that all of us should be terrified of, and that is “Your Lord never forgets.”. You wouldn’t want to forget that, would you?***
Photo of Asyraaf Azahari