By Sheikh lrfan Sidyot, Principal & Senior Lecturer of Hadith, Jamia Siraj ul Uloom/Lantem of Knowledge, London UK

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

Actions are usually shaped by purpose. When focus is lost from the purpose, failure prevails. A simple example can emphatically demonstrate this statement: an archer aims to strike his target and focuses his sight on the target. When firing his arrow, he turns away from the target for some reason. The likely outcome of this loss of focus will be him firing a stray arrow, missing the target.

The fundamental purpose of a student is to learn and gain qualifications, and that is why students enrol onto a course. So the student's focus should always remain upon the target of learning and acquiring that qualification. But when the student is plagued with a deadly cocktail infused with the apparently forceful factors of loneliness, peer-pressure, independence, and of course the oomph which comes with young age, and the likes, focus is simply lost.

The case becomes ever more complex when this deadly cocktail is presented before the Muslim student whose life and actions are meant to be shaped by the purpose of pleasing the Almighty. A viable course of action to counter a predicament of this kind would require diagnosis of key factors and solutions.

I have read various parts from this work, written by my cherished friend Maulana Abdus Subhan Dalvi, a graduate of our institute (Lantern of Knowledge/Jamia Siraj ul Uloom, London). It successfully explores the components of this deadly cocktail and provides useful, practical solutions for college/university students, enabling them firstly, to recognise what is harmful to them as students and more so as Muslims, and secondly, to courageously say 'no' to partaking from the cocktail's poisoned chalice.

I pray Allah (swt)  accepts the Maulana's effort and makes this work a means of guidance for all.

Ameen.

lrfan Sidyot

Lantern of Knowledge Educational lnstitute/Jamia Siraj ul Uloom, London