It’s a Sunday morning, and I hear the familiar buzz of excitement in the air. The girls always manage to lift the spirit of any occasion, even on dreary Sunday mornings. Actually, I don’t think they would appreciate me calling them girls, they are young women....and beautiful muslim ones at that. Sometimes I can not help but gush with pride, they are intelligent, articulate and willing to learn and change. The best thing is that I get the privilege of teaching them. They are special to me and I feel a sense of responsibility towards them.

The lessons are set for one hour strictly but I have given up enforcing that rule. Why? They just will not go home, their questions are relentless. They are discovering Islam almost like it were the first time. I suspect it is the first time. I can’t help but smile to myself whenever the penny drops and there are a lot of pennies that drop during the lessons. I have deliberately ensured that the lessons are not rigid, I want them to develop spiritually at their own pace. I want them to understand Islam in the context of their life.

The lessons are wider ranging in terms of the topics we cover. There is tafseer, quran, sunnah, history, education, university, career options, family, marriage and RELATIONSHIPS. Yes, young women come with the problems of young women. Why not? I am acutely aware of the fact that these women turn to me as a source of trust. They confide in me and even when I am telling them they are wrong they find it palatable. But then again I can sugar coat advice very well perhaps their parents can’t. Their parents find comfort knowing that their daughter are being given moral guidance (and I am no angel, but it’s worth a shot) and knowing that someone can reach them were they cannot. Its not your traditional Sunday school but we have to change our mindsets and be realistic about the problems our youth face and how to reach out to them.

One of the benefits alhamdullilah of my childhood was that my parents always taught me I could achieve and that is my mindset.

I am no scholar but I try to keep myself informed and educated. You don’t have to be a scholar all you have to do is have a will and determination.

I hope one day that each of the girls will do as I did and take the challenges of the future on in a new and dynamic way. It’s a way of tackling the problems within our society by addressing them at the grassroot level. One day these girls will be mothers and will not be paralysed by ignorance and I pray the cycle will be broken. Fanciful? I don’t think so.....but I was taught to be an optimist.

I consider this to be a little drop of water in an ocean of change. But what spurs me forward is that Allah (swt) considers no small deed to be insignificant and thats enough motivation for me. Is it enough for you?

---