It’s not easy being steadfast in our beliefs

9th of Ramadhan 1441 Hijriah (2st May 2020)

Throughout my time in school, it was the norm for some of the students to cheat on exams. Cheating took place in many ways and forms. Be it asking the answers to other students, peeking at textbooks, or taking a look at one’s own cheat sheet. It was particularly rampant when I was in high school. As I have recalled, there were several students that regularly cheated during university as well.

Frankly, in high school, I couldn’t care less about the grades I got. As with many teenagers in high school, I was struggling to make sense of life, friendship, and love. Plus, every time I had the urge to cheat, I cowardly chickened out. I just didn’t have the guts and didn’t want to deal with the trouble and uncomfortable feeling afterward. So, I just didn’t care.

Granted, those who resorted to cheating didn’t always get good grades. Especially if they copied their answers from other students. But this is the reality of the global education system through schooling. That the students are pushed to get good grades. Grades are of utmost importance, disregarding the learning process in and of itself. So much so, students will do anything to get the best grades, even if it meant compromising one’s integrity and honesty. 

Competing in a system that is broken and gives handicap to honest students who have a similar intellectual capacity to others that resort to cheating makes it difficult for the former (the honest students) to be steadfast in their honesty. The consequences, besides not being as competitive, are usually ostracization and bullying.

But then again, people’s integrity and belief have always been tested in many settings throughout history. A story in the Quran about Prophet Syuaib is one example. The Prophet and his followers were tested in their belief in God by the leaders of that society. They were threatened to be banished from their homes if they didn’t revert to the polytheistic beliefs of their ancestors. But, they remained steadfast, no matter the consequences.

For many of us, we seem to not be able to bear the burden of the consequences of being steadfast, which in turn makes us compromise what we believe in. Honesty and integrity are things that we often compromise to survive in this broken world. Being steadfast in our beliefs requires a lot of training and a good support system. We need to find people who are like-minded and a setting that can help us commit to what we believe in.

-Fendrri-

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