Congratulations To Our Recent Graduates
By Imam Zaid Shakir · May 22, 2010

My Sustainer, Increase my knowledge. (Q. 20:114)
This time of the year brings convocations for both high school and university students and I would like to extend my deepest congratulations and prayers for success to all new graduates. At this pivotal time in your life, it is important to stay focused, monitor and measure your progress and check yourself regularly. Seek the guidance of God through prayer and reflection. Seek the advice of your community elders, parents and teachers.
Education is transformational and it will change the course of your life. It is the most powerful way to erase arbitrary and oftentimes oppressive divisions of class, race, ethnicity and in some cases gender.
Your course of education or your career path may not be the set plan you so desire, but know that pitfalls and detours are common at every stage in life. Do not be disheartened; there is good in it that you may not yet be aware of. Remain disciplined and dedicated and continue working hard each day with patience and gratitude. The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be blessings and peace, taught us: "Allah has ordained excellence in everything.” We have in the Prophet, upon him be blessings and peace, the most excellent of examples, refer to his blessed life often.
May your education and chosen career path increase you in wisdom and open a new world of experience and opportunity for you. May we continue learning and implementing our knowledge and skills in the best of ways throughout our lives. May all our tasks, efforts and achievements be ultimately, to serve God.
It has been said that the best form of religion is that which is most beneficial to others. May God grant us the blessing to use our talents and ability for the common good of all, especially for those less advantaged than ourselves.
With Peace,
Imam Zaid Shakir
Comments (6)
James Grant
May 29, 2010
"Education is transformational..." - I'm nottotally sure about that. Yeah, it's fluid, and should be. But there is something to be said about keeping structure on the macro scale. James
John Bush
June 26, 2010
There are many American Muslim leaders. The press does not show them to maintain a foreign image of Islam, but I would invite you to consider there is much that is not shown to sway your opinion. Check them out for yourself, before you answer. http://www.alimprogram.com/scholars/badawi.shtml Some of their names include: Dr. Sherman Jackson, Dr. Umar Faruq Abdullah, Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir and on and on
GINGERMcfadden26
December 19, 2010
Some time before, I really needed to buy a car for my business but I did not earn enough cash and could not purchase anything. Thank heaven my mate proposed to take the loans at creditors. Thus, I acted so and was happy with my college loan.
car accident claim
September 2, 2011
Its super how interesting it is for me to visit you very often. [url="http://easigo.co.uk/"]non fault claim[/url] [url="http://easigo.co.uk/"]accident claims[/url]
TimurDumb
April 17, 2012
I'd like to say thanks to you with regard to your weblog. You've gotten a large amount of entertaining resources so the website is extremely helpful. I'm a college student in Ohio and I have an crucial term paper scheduled immediately. I'm just jammed and currently have writers block presently as I am studying. Need anyone to help me revise the cost-free article I came across online henry foyal essay . That paper fits my personal specifications but is composed in an undesirable style and there are grammar blunders. Do you consider I should proceed? I'm simply just eager for aid, thus just about any suggestion will be terrific.
jakes
August 8, 2012
There are some really loved reading your weblog. It was very well authored and easy to understand.Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next and We at litigation support services feel that our family is a little better than the rest. may range factual research and documentation, research of relevant legal precedents.
More Articles

A Response To Wajahat Ali American Muslims and The LGBTG Political Project
Imam Zaid Shakir · July 18, 2023
The Muslim social commentator, Wajahat Ali, recently (June 23, 2023) penned an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, We Muslims Used to Be the Culture War Scapegoats. Why Are Some of Us Joining the L.G.B.T.Q. Pile-On ? The essence of his essay, as…
Article

Of Mountains and Molehills: One Night in Miami
Imam Zaid Shakir · March 2, 2021
When Spike Lee’s film, Malcolm X , was released in 1992, I was teaching political science at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. To my knowledge I was the only Muslim and the only African American male professor on…
Article

What I Believe
Imam Zaid Shakir · October 6, 2020
Faith I believe that there is no God except Allah; the living, self-sustaining, pre-eternal creator of all that exists; the one whose existence is a necessary condition for all other existence. Allah has sent Prophets and Messengers (peace upon…
Article
