Manners and Traits of a Good Muslim Student

By Zainab Shahid

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, not only told us, but showed us how we should act. School is a great place to show these things so that people your age or those younger than you, will be able to understand how Muslims are taught to act. I’ll give you a few pointers of how you should act as a student at school:

• Work and study hard. You’re at school to learn, so make sure you give your teachers your full attention. Use the break-times given to you to talk with your friends.
• Respect all the teachers and staff members. Some teachers may come across as moody or strict, but you should remember that they have to prepare work for many different lessons, as well as mark work handed in. they dedicate their life to helping you learn and on many occasions, they don’t get a good night’s sleep – so the last thing they want is for a students to act disrespectful or silly!
• Be helpful. Whether you help teachers, students or even the caretakers. If you see that someone is having some trouble carrying something, or anything similar, don’t hesitate in staying and helping them.
• Be punctual. Arrive to your lessons on time, and also pray your Salah on time. If you get into this habit a young age, you will Insha’Allah remain punctual for the rest of your life. If you feel you are going to be late for a lesson because you’re helping someone, get a note written by the person so you can your teacher in lesson. Or explain to your teacher as soon as you enter the classroom.
• Treat others how you would want to be treated. Don’t make fun of other students or staff members in any way. It shouldn’t matter to you how they look or talk. If you didn’t have any friends, you would want at least one person to be nice to you. So if you ever see someone looking lonely – be that nice person.
• Say “Assalamu Alaikum” to other Muslims in your school. It is a good deed and you will be rewarded by Allah!
• Always tell the truth. If you say one lie, you will have to tell many other lies to try and get people to believe your first lie. If a group of students do something wrong, and then try and force you to lie so that they don’t get punished, you still shouldn’t lie. Don’t worry if they say they won’t be your friends anymore; you shouldn’t be friends with people who lie anyway! Allah will give you better friends.
• Speak kindly and respectfully to everyone. Swearing is a bad deed; Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) don’t like those who swear. If you ever feel angry, have a drink of water and walk away. Don’t shout, fight or swear.
• If you ever find anything lying around (such as money, a phone or even a pen), DON’T put it in your pocket or bag. Hand it into the office as lost property, or if you know who it belongs to, return it to them. It isn’t yours, and even though you didn’t take it out of someone’s bag yourself, it is still counted as stealing.
• Smile – it’s sunnah! It doesn’t matter if you know someone or not, whether you’re friends or not, give them a smile as you walk past. It is seen as an act of kindness, and Allah will reward you.
• Teach others about Islam. Don’t feel shy – Islam is a beautiful religion and it deserves to be shared!
• The previous point also brings about another important issue: make sure you tell your teachers about the activities that you cannot do. For example, Muslims are not allowed to listen to music and they are not allowed to play instruments other than hand-drums. Most schools have compulsory music lessons up to year 9, and you have to be careful not play any instrument that is forbidden (haraam). We are also not allowed to draw or paint animals, humans or cartoons – but we are allowed to draw things like landscapes, trees and other inanimate objects.

This may seem like a long list, but once you start including these things into your life, they will become a big part of your life. It is good to start acting on these points as soon as you can so that you can start making everything into a habit, and these habits will remain for the rest of your life Insha’Allah!