By Zainab Shahid
Unfortunately there are many schoolchildren who experience some form of bullying; either themselves, or they know someone who is bullied. Verbal bullying is more common, and it includes upsetting and offensive comments.
If you ever experience any type of bullying or harassment, make sure you tell someone. Don’t ever stay quiet about it. And don’t ever think that Allah doesn’t care about you. It can be easy to think that He doesn’t care, and you may want to stop praying – but that will just cause you more problems. Allah is testing you to see how strong you are, and how you deal with your problems. Ask Allah for help, and He will help you.
Also, if you ever come across someone who is being bullied, try and do your best to help them. Some people get picked on by others for no reason, and many other people join in. Make sure you aren’t one of them.
Don’t worry what other people say; they might say to you that they won’t be friends with you anymore because you are looking out for the person being bullied – ignore these comments. Allah will be so happy with you for looking after someone who is upset. The person will appreciate everything you do, and you never know, they might become a very good friend of yours.
Another piece of advice on this topic, is to not hurt one else’s feelings. Treat others how you would want to be treated. If you ever become upset or stressed about something, it can affect your performance at school and other activities. And if you cause someone else to become upset, they might start performing worse at school.
You, as a Muslim, should never be the reason for someone to become upset or bullied, and you should definitely not be the reason for them doing badly in subjects that they are usually very good at. Instead, try and be the reason for somebody’s happiness and success – not only will it be good for them, it will be a source of happiness and reward for you too.