Jannah Won’t Be Canceled — A Note to the Class of 2021

Submissions RU-MSA
3 min readFeb 19, 2021

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I never wanted to write this, but it has come to that.

Yet again, stolen from us is a celebration we worked so many years for. A day we envisioned as high school seniors now has just disappeared. Something within hand’s reach, now out of sight.

They try to convince us seniors that they had a heavy heart in announcing this sad news. There’s no heavy heart, and there was no effort to give us what we deserve.

Last year they put on a pathetic show of graduation on the claims of “there was no time.” But what about this year? When there was plenty of time to plan — and there still is! They put forth empty promises that this upfront announcement will allow them the time to make a meaningful virtual celebration.

Other alumni might just say, it’s better this way. Why waste money to walk across a stage to grab a piece of paper?

But for many of us, that paper symbolizes that our fruits were harvested after four long years of farming. That paper will be the first that some of our families have ever earned. That paper will be a gateway to jobs and higher education. That paper is there to remind us how helpless we were at the start of it all and how Allah pulled us over the finish line.

We can go on complaining about how Rutgers snatched our graduation not just once, but twice.

PAUSE.

Pause the complaints. Pause the curses. Pause the tears.

Rutgers isn’t God — AstaghfirUllah! What a thought!

They’re humans who are limited by ability and thought. Allah is not.

Yes, we’re being tested for our patience and how we control our anger.

And, yes, we need to understand that Rutgers is bound by science and state. But, we also need to understand that Allah is not.

Something good will come out of this, perhaps seen in this Dunya, but definitely seen in the Akhirah.

Jannah won’t be canceled. Alhamdulillah.

After a lifetime of submission to Allah and tirelessly working to please Him, the Day of Judgment will be upon us. I pray that on that Day, all of you who are reading and every Muslim to have ever lived, will receive their paper of positive news in their right hands. Ameen.

Allah will not disappoint. Allah will give us what we deserve (which is actually in part because of His Forgiveness and Mercy over us). The graduation devastation, to be long forgotten on that Day, will not be repeated.

Jannah won’t be canceled.

We may not get to hear “Congratulations” in person through the microphone in May.

But, I pray all Muslims do get to hear these words from Allah on the Day of Judgment:

“Wad Khulee Jannatee” [Fajr 89:30]

“And Enter My Paradise”

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Congratulations, my fellow Class of 2021. We have spent years growing as Muslims and growing as people. Graduation is where people recognize the growth of other people. But when we are granted Jannah, we are being recognized for our growth as Muslims by the Lord of the Worlds. What an honor!

Pray to Allah for the best to come our way, maybe we will get something in-person. Allah alone has the Power to allow that to happen.

But, whether or not the in-person thing does happen, let’s work toward and look forward to Jannah! The place of ultimate bliss.

By Anonymous

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Submissions RU-MSA
Submissions RU-MSA

Written by Submissions RU-MSA

Student-run blog by the Muslim community at Rutgers University-New Brunswick

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