2023 Aug M 12

HH 12 8-27-23
When I got to the school I was about to enter class but then I couldn’t enter because I was late and I missed the first class. I waited about 3 minutes then went to go pray. When I walked in I saw a lot of new faces. No one that was in the class I saw last year. So I was embarrassed and disappointed in myself. We were doing the pledges and while we were doing the pledges the new people didn’t know so I was asked to say the pledge of faith. I was not confident at all because I had not done it in so long. And I said “ I bear witness to the fact that there is no god but god and that mohammad is god’s slave and messenger.” But I forgot to say “As Jesus Moses Adam and Ibrahim before him.” But later that day I did end up getting it right. Next was the pledge of knowledge but LG stepped out for a second. And to say the pledge of knowledge you had to face the person who gives you knowledge. So C (A teacher) told me to say it to him. I said it perfectly with no mistakes. Then I said all three pledges and I did good. I did stutter but it was not major, it was just minor studs. Then C ( a teacher) taught us the fourth pledge. It was about understanding that when you come to this class it is for you. So when a task is given to you, you need to fulfill it otherwise you will get expelled.

Then we practiced our surahs. I had 6 weeks to learn the page front and back but I didn’t. So I because I didn’t LG gave me 3 weeks to complete it if i don’t then im suspended till next semester. I was having a ton of trouble with the Tashoud. When I thought I had it down I tested out. When I tested out it was very clear that I did not have it down. I stuttered a lot on ayahs 3 and 5. I practiced and came back. This time I was doing a lot better with ayah 3 and 5 but when it came to ayah 4 I blanked. And I was super upset with myself because ayah 4 was the easiest for me since it is in the pledge of faith. And I knew it prior. But I still messed up. For the third time I tried and I was ready. And for the second time when LG entered and I was gonna test out he said no we are starting the lecture. I was so upset but I couldn’t say anything. When LG started he asked everyone are you full of bs. I was laughing because last year when he asked me I said no. Then he said bs stands for belief and sincerity. And I personally think that what he did with bs was genius. Because he gets people’s attention by making a joke and connects it to cca. The first concept he talked about was cca.

I wrote down 20 concepts. THe first concept that he talked about was articulate and converse. He explained that articulating was talking like you’re saying a speech. And getting the point across. When you converse you lower your voice and don’t get the point across. Then he talked about body language. I think he brought it up because O( a student) was stitching his legs out and talking in class. LG said that when you have your legs stretched out while slouching that tells me that you don’t care about what you learn in class. Then level 2 kids came in and they talked about their experience with the class and how it affected them. They all talked about how it really helped them speak up and voice their opinion while also not talking about random nonsense. They also said that it made them more spiritually connected. Now they would enjoy prayer and they would want to go to prayer and enjoy it. There are 3 parts to this class: memorization, lecture, and pledges. But each part is just as important as the last. You will benefit from this class. Think of it as a gift, not a class you have to go to. The next concept was leadership vs management. Anyone can manage and file papers and such. But only a few can lead. In order to be a leader the people around you have to respect you. When you lead you influence others. So you must know what you are talking about in order to not lead them astray. The next concept is being god conscious and knowing that god is always watching. CCA stands for context clues, common sense and accountability. The example LG always gives for common sense and accountability is always “What if I tell you to jump 30 ft into a swimming pool with no water. You would die or break your neck right. When you use common sense you would know not to do that. But if you dont you are still accountable for your death because you should know what’s happening around you. For context clues you need to know what’s going on around you in order to lead. Let’s say you are going to a funeral. And you wear your swimming shorts that wouldn’t make sense right? You need to know what’s going on around you. In order to lead you must know what’s going on around you. You must combine common sense and context clues. If you do, you will make a very good leader.” The next question he asked us was what is your purpose? We were all stumped for like 10 minutes. Then L (a student) came up with the answer. SHe said our purpose was to make the world a better place weather that was making people’s day or saving people’s lives.