2025 Nov – OT-M-12 KJMS week 10 essay 11/16/2025

When I arrived at the masjid today, the weather was harsh—cold winds blowing against me, and the chill settling into my clothes. It didn’t help that I had lost both of my jackets the day before, leaving me even more uncomfortable. I was running late again, partly because I asked my mom to come with us, and it took extra time for everyone to get ready. Thankfully, LG announced to all the parents that anyone who has children attending different programs at the masjid is allowed to come anytime after nine, since coordinating everything takes time. That definitely made me feel better about walking in a little later than usual.

As soon as I entered the classroom, I felt the warmth immediately, though the atmosphere was calm and a bit monotonous. That changed once the presentations began. Kids were testing out and reciting their pledges—the ones who hadn’t passed yet or didn’t pass the week before. Last week, I had already completed my testing in both English and Arabic, so LG gave me an extra challenge: to memorize Ayatul Kursi in English. I had learned it in Arabic on my own time, so he wanted to push me further. I didn’t get the chance to practice much, but surprisingly, on the walk to the masjid I managed to get it down, and by the time I arrived, I felt ready.

It took a while before our class officially started because of so many kids testing out. Before that, we heard some fun news: it was someone’s birthday, and they had brought a cake for all of us. We ate the cake before presenting, which definitely made everyone a bit happier and more energized.

When the presentations began, most of them were decent, though they weren’t exactly easy to compare because everyone had different styles and effort levels. Some of the feedback students received included using better body language, putting in more effort, simplifying their bullet points, and staying focused on the topic.

After we finished presenting, our next task was to write letters to a friend we wanted to invite to the Greenstairs program. Since many of us write with big handwriting, our letters had to be two and a half pages. Because we weren’t prepared for that assignment, the letters weren’t very strong. Thankfully, LG gave us another chance and told us to rewrite them and submit them to him later.

Next, LG instructed us to take one of the Qur’ans from his bookshelf, and we began learning about its structure. We learned that the Qur’an has 30 sections (juz) and 114 surahs (chapters). We also learned the difference between Meccan and Medinan surahs. Meccan surahs tend to be shorter, while Medinan surahs go into more detail. The other students then practiced navigating the Qur’an to locate specific passages, such as the ten commandments found in Surah Al-An’am, ayahs 151–153. These included commands like: Do not associate others with God, honor your parents, do not kill children from fear of poverty, stay away from indecencies, do not take innocent life, respect the wealth of orphans, give fair measure, be just, and follow the path of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).

After that, we explored why women in the ancient Middle East were sometimes mistreated or seen as less valuable. LG explained that in times of war, if women were captured, they and their partners often became slaves, while men alone were turned into soldiers. Because people back then didn’t think women were warriors, they often didn’t want to take responsibility for feeding or sheltering them, which unfortunately led to unfair and harmful treatment. Understanding this helped us appreciate how much Islam elevated the rights and dignity of women compared to the surrounding societies.

We then learned that many of the longer surahs focus on themes of gratitude—whether people are thankful or unthankful for the blessings their Lord has given them. LG connected this to Stephen Hawking, who was given an extraordinary mind but spent much of his life focused on what he didn’t have, such as motor functions, and who did not believe in God. This comparison helped us understand how gratitude—or the lack of it—shapes a person’s worldview.

Since we still had some time left, LG went over several of the religious analogies we use in the Greenstairs program.

The Greenstairs Program

Greenstairs is one of the programs we participate in, and it focuses on religious, personal, and community development. It teaches leadership, writing, presentation skills, and moral growth. The idea is that by improving ourselves, we can improve the people around us and create a better community. It’s not just about memorizing information—it’s about learning how to live with purpose.

The Four Pledges

We have four important pledges:

The Pledge of Allegiance, which reminds us to be responsible citizens.

The Pledge of Faith, renewing our belief in God and rejecting any form of shirk.

The Pledge of Knowledge, where we ask our teachers to guide us toward truth.

The Pledge of Voluntariness, reminding us that we attend by choice, and real growth is voluntary.

The Tree Trunk Ideology

This metaphor teaches that all religions are branches connected to the same trunk—God. Though their paths differ, they share a common origin. This idea encourages unity, respect, and understanding between different faiths.

CCA: Common Sense, Context, Accountability

CCA helps us tackle questions not directly answered in the Qur’an or Hadith.
First we use common sense, then consider context, and finally accept accountability for our choices.

Bridge and Forgive

This concept is about the Day of Judgment. Everyone must cross a symbolic bridge. God can forgive sins committed against Him, but He will not forgive sins committed against others until they forgive us. This emphasizes humility, relationships, and reconciliation.

QHA: Qur’an Holds Authority

QHA reminds us that the Qur’an is the highest source of guidance—above hadith, opinions, or culture.

Soap and Water

This analogy compares two types of prayer.
Praying “with water” means rushing through it without focus.
Praying “with soap” means being present, sincere, and spiritually cleansing yourself.

Universal Values

These are moral teachings found in all cultures and religions, such as honesty, kindness, and fairness. They show that goodness is universal.

The Virtual Oil Jug

Every bad deed adds a drop of unstable oil to a symbolic jug. Too many drops can cause it to “explode,” representing the consequences of accumulated sins. Good deeds remove the oil, and repentance resets the jug entirely.

Other Concepts

We also reviewed:

The 8 Seconds Concept, comparing focus in prayer to staying on a bull for eight seconds

The Phone Connection, comparing our connection with God to finding strong Wi-Fi

The Mother’s Day Discussion, explaining that showing appreciation on one day doesn’t take away from daily love

PAPAPACA, a method for finding sources of knowledge by checking the Prophet’s words, God’s guidance, and then using common sense with accountability

We didn’t review all the analogies today, but these were the main ones.

At the end of class, LG told us to take home some of the Qur’ans he had—ones full of explanations—and “abuse them,” meaning to read them a lot and use them frequently. While everyone was leaving, I reminded him that he asked me to memorize Ayatul Kursi in English. He asked me to recite it, and after I did, he was pleased. Before I left, he reminded me to write Ayatul Kursi in the same format as the prayer packet and send it to him, along with two questions I could ask him based on the ayah.

Today has been a very informative class as always so hopefully I was able to cover enough topics and reach the word requirement and hopefully anybody reading this likes my essay! Assalam!