Standing in the church courtyard after my friend’s wedding, donning a Palestinian robe at his insistence and inevitably being mistaken as Greek Orthodox, someone asked “what have you learnt at your college?” After a pause, I replied with a certain relief, “I have shed many layers of myself.” It is not knowledge that we ‘gained,’ but a reorientation as to what knowledge is. I came into CMC overflowing with questions, in fact it was questions that led me all the way to that red door on St Paul’s Road. Now, not only do I speak less and less loudly, but I experience an inner silence. I realised those questions were an attenuation of my discomfort with God’s will and with myself. “Know thyself, know thy Lord” as the saying goes. While curiosity – often a selfish desire – drives much of the pursuit of knowledge today, I see love as the main motivator, or – in my case – a desire to love. As I tread along this path, knowing and being become more and more enmeshed. This appreciation helped me see the complimentary nature of not just the Islamic sciences but all fields of knowledge. My time in CMC cultivated this understanding both in the classroom and on the lunch table. I’ve learnt a lot from our teachers’ words, actions and their stillness. Each of them represents a possibility of marrying the two worlds of academia and traditional Islam. CMC truly is a meeting of the two seas.
As I move on from CMC I will pursue traditional study in England, read the many books and articles which I have delayed during my course, consolidate my Quran memorisation and write my thoughts down as I go along. I’d also like to explore the mediums of film, theatre and performance art in conveying ideas, connecting with Muslim creatives across the country, God Willing.