Joining a college or a university can be an intimidating task. It’s not easy to make the transition, especially if you’re moving far away from home. Emotional challenges like homesickness and loneliness take their toll. And then add up the social challenges, like you’re literally dropped into a large pool with a bunch of strangers and expected to sort it out on your own. Moreover, the academic challenge like constant efforts to keep up with the grades becomes a gigantic thing to do. All these factors can possibly result in various mental issues like depression and anxiety. It further results in making the newcomers vulnerable in many ways. And then adds up the constant pressure of being successful in future. Now, being the inhabitants of a rapidly advancing world has undoubtedly prompted mankind towards a singular purpose – the purpose of gaining more, aided by the maxims of hustle culture. We can clearly see most people around us, whether in academic or corporate sector, most of them are into this rat-race in one way or the other. This materialistic approach, when added up to the individualism of a person, becomes a prime reason for various corrupt issues in society at large. This single-minded approach leads to compromising upon one’s religious matters.

For a Muslim student who is trying to fit in the college, things can get more challenging with a constant thought process in his mind pushing him to stay true to his faith while managing all the abovementioned things in the college. We all know that the era we are living in is indeed an era full of trials and tribulations, something we call fitnah in Arabic. And it is our faith that The Quran has come as guidance for entire mankind till the last day. So, what can we get from the Quran regarding the context in which we are here talking today. In Surah al-Kahf, Allah has talked about four major trials.

1. The trial of knowledge

2. The trial of wealth

3. The trial of authority

4. The trial of ego

These are the exact same trials a Muslim faces when joining the academia. And finally, he must make a hard choice, i.e., be a part of the rat-race where all the people are just competing for these things thus ending up with temporary worldly means, or to take a path where he strives for such things while being cautious of the guidelines set by Allah (swt). And for sure, it is only through the second option that he gets the worldly measures while making his Hereafter successful as well. 

However, there is a lot of misunderstanding in our society regarding this interconnection of Deen and Duniya. Some people think Deen is just one’s personal matter which is to be practiced only when he is free from the worldly responsibilities. Whereas others think that the duniya must be discarded totally in order to get a successful hereafter. However, Allah (swt) has asked us to maintain the inter-connection between these two things – Deen and Duniya in Surah al-Qasas: 

وَٱبْتَغِ فِيمَآ ءَاتَىٰكَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ ۖ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ ٱلدُّنْيَا

Translation: And seek the home of the Hereafter by means of that which Allah has given you. And do not forget your part of this world.

It is, thus, important to understand the necessity of balancing Deen and Duniya in our academic activities to live a fulfilling and spiritually enriching life as we navigate the challenges of academia. However, while maintaining this interconnection between the Deen and the duniya, it becomes quite understandable if a person prioritizes one over the other. In Such a case, Allah (swt) again tells us which one to prioritize. Allah says in Surah al-Shu’ra:

مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُۥ فِى حَرْثِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ ٱلدُّنْيَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُۥ فِى حَرْثِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ ٱلدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِۦ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِن نَّصِيبٍ

Translation: Whoever desires the gain of the hereafter, We will give him more of that gain; and whoever desires the gain of this world, We give him of it, and in the hereafter he has no portion.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said in a Hadeeth: “Whoever is focused on the Hereafter, Allah will make him feel content and grant him peace of mind, and his provision and worldly gains will come to him regardless of circumstances, obstacles or people. Whoever focuses only on this world, Allah will make him fear poverty constantly, and he will not get anything of this world except that which has already been written for him for him”. [Tirmidhi]

Before addressing the subject of ‘Balancing’ it is necessary to understand what exactly Deen is. To put it simply, Deen is the Islamic way of life which gets us to our home in the Hereafter. Let’s understand this using an analogy. For example, being students of science, we are time in, and time out somehow involved in experiments in our labs. To get the results right, we require two things – first, a complete understanding of that experiment and second, to follow the set of instructions of that experiment very strictly. At no stage of the experiment, we would want to mess up with these two things. Once we get an understanding of the experiment, then only by being extremely cautious of the instructions to be followed, do we get the desired results. Now, what we need to understand is that our life is no less than such an experiment where the set of Instructions has already been given to us by Allah (swt). If I get the understanding and then I am cautious about those instructions, my experiment, i.e., my life will be a successful one and I will get the desired results, i.e. successful Hereafter, the eternal Paradise. This combination of the understanding and the instructions is DEEN. The understanding in this case is our faith (aqeedah) and the instructions are the righteous actions (aamal al-saaliha) performed in obedience to Allah (swt). Allah points out to our lives as being such experiments in Surah Mulk, verse 2:

ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ ٱلۡمَوۡتَ وَٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبۡلُوَكُمۡ أَيُّكُمۡ أَحۡسَنُ عَمَلٗاۚ

Translation: (Allah is ) Who created death and life that He might try you as to which of you is better in actions.

Now, coming to the balance part, in terms of academics too, our faith demands a complete balance between these two scenarios, i.e., to stay on Deen while focusing on our academic excellence. In fact, to begin with, there shouldn’t have been any need to explain that there is absolutely no conflict between Islam and education. The very first message that Allah (swt) gave to our beloved Prophet (pbuh) was ‘Iqra’ which literally means ‘Read’. The teachings of Islam began with this command to read. The idea that Islam is too “conservative” for education has been made possible by erasing the long history of Muslim innovations in math and science. Christopher Columbus would’ve never sailed if he hadn’t taken the compass from the Muslim world. The pages of Islamic history contain numerous examples of Muslims excelling in fields of medicine, technology and science in addition to extensive compilation of Islamic laws. There were prominent Muslims known for their achievements, whose worship and faith did not prevent them from being scholars in the worldly sciences, e.g., Al-Zahraawi in the field of medicine, Ibn al-Haytham in the field of light, al-Khawaarizmi in the field of mathematics and many others. We would have never had algebra, decimals, philosophy or astronomy without the Muslim world. 

So, what should we do to get this balance between Deen and Duniya while being in the college. A few ways to make Academics more inclusive for Deeni activities

1. Set your intentions: We must make sure that whatever we do, we do it for the sake of Allah (swt). The main goal is to get His pleasure and the first step to get it is to rectify our intentions. Whatever we do, whether its our breakfast in our hostel mess, its our walk towards the classroom, its our struggle to get the good grades; we should already make the intentions of doing such things for Allah’s sake alone. For example, one can make the intention of using the energy that he would get after having his breakfast in worshiping Allah (swt). That way, even a simple act of having breakfast would be considered as an act of worship. Similarly, intentions can be made accordingly before every action.

2. Prioritize your daily 5 salahs: In terms of actions, Salah is the most important action for a Muslim. Quran directly and indirectly mentions salah around 100 times, thus establishing its utmost importance in our Deen. To ensure that Deen remains a priority and not neglected, plan your daily engagements according to the prayer timings. Our first preference should be to offer the salah with congregation however, if it becomes extremely difficult due to some issues, e.g., there is any lecture going on during the congregation time, our second preference should be to offer that salah within its prescribed time at any place,

3. Participating in Islamic gatherings: Locate the Islamic gatherings taking place in your college, if any. Otherwise, identify the places or mosques nearby your residences or academic areas where Islamic gatherings like Duroos ul-Qur’an or ahaadeeth take place. Participate in these gatherings as often as possible. Such gatherings elevate one’s imaan.

4. Good company: The Surah al-Kahf which talks about the four major trials also talks about the solution of these issues. Ayah 28 says

 وَ اصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِیْنَ یَدْعُوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدٰوةِ وَ الْعَشِیِّ یُرِیْدُوْنَ وَجْهَهٗ وَ لَا تَعْدُ عَیْنٰكَ عَنْهُمْۚ-تُرِیْدُ زِیْنَةَ الْحَیٰوةِ الدُّنْیَاۚ-وَ لَا تُطِعْ مَنْ اَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهٗ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَ اتَّبَعَ هَوٰىهُ وَ كَانَ اَمْرُهٗ فُرُطًا

Translation: And patiently stick with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His pleasure.1 Do not let your eyes look beyond them, desiring the luxuries of this worldly life. And do not obey those whose hearts We have made heedless of Our remembrance, who follow ˹only˺ their desires and whose state is ˹total˺ loss.

Amazingly you can find both types of people on the campus. The ones who will keep reminding you of Allah (swt) and the ones who will keep pushing you away from Allah (swt). Allah clearly orders us to be with the ones who will keep reminding us about Him. There is another narration of our beloved Prophet (pbuh) which states that a man is upon the religion of his friend, so one should choose his friend wisely. 

5. Continuous Learning: Stay in touch with the local ulama and learn, at least, basic Islamic sciences from them. Keep stepping up in the learning process and seek the knowledge of tafsir, fiqh, etc. Keep the Islamic books as your best-pals. Never stop learning. Remember: seeking knowledge starts when one is in his mother’s lap and ends when he reaches his grave. 

6. Avoid unnecessary interaction with the opposite gender: Set your boundaries and don’t allow the na-mahram to enter those boundaries. The interaction with opposite gender in your college should be restricted to only when there is a dire necessity. This is the most common tool used by Shaytan to guide a Muslim on the path of destruction. Unfortunately, even practicing Muslim men and women fall into this trap not knowing how dangerous it is, and they realize only when it is too late. Shaytan works in small steps in this case. Don’t let him drive you.

Conclusion: Balancing Deen and Dunya is truly a journey of dedication, mindfulness, consistency and effort. As Muslims of the contemporary world, it becomes important for us to seek Allah's guidance and apply the teachings of the Quran and Hadith in our daily lives. To find harmony and contentment in our dual goal, our approach needs to focus on spirituality, a moderate engagement with worldly pursuits and trust in Allah’s SWT infinite wisdom. Indeed, the ultimate success lies in attaining a balance that leads us to the pleasure of Allah and the ultimate reward in the Hereafter.

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