Why is education important?

Well, the first ayah revealed to the Prophet was

Quote:

Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists),

See that bold there? READ! The very first revelation given to the Prophet emphasised the importance of education. Without education we would know nothing! We would be totally lost, unaware of the world and how to live in it.

There would be no scholars, scientists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, mathematicians, and so on and so forth. Because education is needed to understand and learn and teach and develop. Nothing comes from no where and we're not suddenly going to know everything!

I think, one of the main reasons why 3rd world countries are 3rd world countries is because of the lack of education. Yes, obviously poverty is very important, but the people need education to get themselves out of that poverty. People need education to know how best to run the country, how best to provide for the people, how best to take care of the people. People need education to live a good life.

Parents need education
Everyone knows the home is the first school of a child and so every parent must be able to give their a child a good start in life. However the parent needs to be educated beforehand to be able to do this. Yes, they can copy their parents, and people around them, but the best example is the example of the Prophet and what Islam says. A lack of education can result in parents passing on a form of Islam which is mixed with culture and passes on a lot of negative traits.

Whereas a childhood centred around Islam will teach the child the right morals, the right etiquette for everything in life; from relationships, to eating, to sleeping, to everything! This will no doubt help them become great Muslims who are going to succeed in whatever they do. Whether that be just parents themselves, or doctors and lawyers and teachers or whatever. Their continuous education will help them understand Allah and learn to deal with all sorts of tribulations.

And I've seen parents who aren't educated who simply don't realise some things are bad for their children. They just can't comprehend it because it's never been taught and they don't realise the consequences of things. That's where secular education comes in. I'm not saying everyone should be educated to degree level but at least to GCSE level and it's equivalence. This would help them grasp and understanding of science and maths etc which are pretty vital imo. They need to be taught to understand how things work and in turn how we should do things.

Why am I ranting?
Because having an education is a human right and duty, given to us by Allah (swt). Everyone needs and deserves it; man, woman, old and young. It really gets to me when I see parents who aren't giving their children the best start in life because of a lack of deen (and I feel sorry for those who weren't fortunate enough to have an education themselves). It really bugs me that women are being deprived of education when...what's that saying? 'Educate a man, educate an individual, educate a woman, educate a nation'! It really bugs me that some people are just too poor to get the most basic education.

I want everyone to have the opportunity to learn. I want to make a change. I wish I could. One day insha'Allah.