Yes, You Can Guide the Caterpillar to the Grape: Helping Madrasah Students Develop a Love for the Qur’an

A Story That Stuck With Me

I remember in my 2nd to last year studying in Darululoom, a time when I had no white hair on my face and had no clue what responsibility was going to fall on my shoulders. We had a visiting sheikh from South Africa who shared one of the best things I had ever heard in my life.

Sheikh, while stressing on the importance of attaining the love of Allah, mentioned Maulana Jalal uddin Rumi’s saying, that the caterpillar spends its entire life on the leaf of a grapevine, yet it doesn’t know that only a few steps away is the grape. If only it was to walk only a few steps and taste the grape, it would realise what it has been missing out on. However, sadly it lives on the leaf and passes away in this manner.

This advice really moved me, and gave me a very important perspective to life, especially as an Alim.

A Reflection in Front of the Ka‘bah

Recently, in my travel to Makkah while sitting in front of the Ka’bah and contemplating over our madrasahs, this very thought came to mind, that if only the caterpillar had someone to guide it to the grape, it would never die without tasting the sweetness of what it’s missing out on.

What Are We Really Giving Our Students?

We spend years teaching in Madrasahs, teaching the best of ‘ulūm (sciences): Qur’an, Tafsīr, Hadith, Du’as, Fiqh, and much more. Alhamdulillah for such a great opportunity.

However, it is something for us to observe:

• We teach Qur’an: do our students really bond with the Qur’an? Do they taste its sweetness?

• We teach Hadith: many of our students even memorise many Ahādīth. How many of them develop a very strong bond with Rasulullah ﷺ and his teachings?

• We teach Fiqh: how many gain true confidence in the teachings of their Deen?

Is it that we are merely taking our students to the leaf and leaving them there, expecting them to somehow make it themselves to the grape? Some may reach the grape later on in life, but sadly most don’t.

A Teacher’s Responsibility

Why don’t we as madrasah leaders and teachers keep this in mind when teaching Qur’an, Hadith, and other subjects? Let us take the Qur’an for example.

Many of our students spend 10 years reciting the Qur’an, learning tajweed, some even mastering tajweed, some memorising many Surahs, and some even becoming Hāfiz ul Qur’an. Yet very few develop a strong bond, confidence, and love for the Qur’an. They spend their entire lives reciting without understanding the greatness of the Qur’an. This is a sad reality.

How We Can Guide Them to the Grape

Maybe if we were to keep this important point in mind, along with assisting our students in mastering the recitation of the Qur’an, we should also prioritise developing a strong bond with it.

Just having the intention and vision would inspire us to make certain changes to our Qur’an teaching lessons. For example:

• Adding weekly stories about the Qur’an to increase love for it.

• Reading from books on the virtues of the Qur’an.

• Playing short videos of shuyūkh speaking on the greatness of the Qur’an.

• Reflecting on a verse of the Quran and showing how it serves as a guidance for us.

As long as we understand that just as we can help our students master tajweed and become Huffāz, we also have the ability to fill their hearts with the love of the Qur’an.

We just need to know, that yes, you can guide the caterpillar to reach the grape.

I’ll stop writing now. The heavens above the Ka’bah have become bright now, can’t believe, this was the very same heaven which was opened for the Qur’an to be sent down, for the angels to descend, the place on which the Qur’an was sent down.

May Allah place the love of the Qur’an in our hearts. Remember, we won’t be able to explain the sweetness of something to our students until we haven’t tasted it ourselves.

Final Reflection for Leaders

Next time you plan or deliver a lesson, ask yourself:

Am I guiding my students just to the leaf… or am I showing them the grape?