We asked students where they love studying the most. Here are 10 study spots (in no particular order) around the UCLA campus you should check out.  (A map is included at the end.)

Book stacks at the Young Research Library (Photo: Flickr/AlaskanLibrarian).

1. Young Research Library

The newly renovated first floor study lounge has a modern look that students will appreciate. In case you start feeling too cozy while studying, there’s also a cafe on the first floor.

2. Engineering Library

“They have that calm, cozy, and silent-stormy mood and atmosphere,” says  one student. The library is less packed during study season, as not many people know about it.

3. Powell Library

The library is beautiful inside and out. Some say it’s easy to focus here. But this is one of the first places people hit up to study. So during midterms and final seasons, try to exhaust your other options before looking for space here!

4. Kerckhoff Study Lounge

The study lounge can be found on the 2nd and 3rd floors of Kerckhoff, an ideal place for MSA-ers to study if they want to stay close to the Mozlums. It’s also one of the few study spots close to the prayer area behind Kerckhoff.

5. SAC (Student Activity Center) Basement

Good place to study during finals week as they have study hall hours until 3 a.m. They also have their own Vanpool service to drop students off at their dorm or apartment (available only if you study there for at least 1 hour).

6. Lawn next to Janss steps

If you need some fresh air or Vitamin D, you can study in the lawn next to Janss steps. Plus, the view is fantastic!

7. Botanical Garden

A view you will see at the Botanical Garden at UCLA. Can you spot the sunbathing turtles? (Photo: Flickr/cindylu)

The Botanical Garden is a beautiful place every student must visit before graduating (the garden even holds some very rare species). It’s open to public during certain hours, students are free to study there. My personal favorite spot is the “tropical” section. If you are close enough to the water you might spot a few turtles!

8. Kerckhoff Patio

It’s out in the open, you get fresh air (and still remain relatively close to your second home, the MSA office). It’s also right next to the Kerckhoff Coffee shop. Go here only if you are not easily distracted.

9. Starbucks in Westwood

If you are sick of studying on campus, there are plenty of cafes in Westwood (many of them come with free wifi). One student’s favorite is the Starbucks.

10. “Cafe Med” at Center for Health and Sciences

View Study Spots on Campus in a larger map

(Photo: Flickr/imekinox)

“We made from water every living thing.” (Qur’an 21:30)

It’s a source of life, a means for purity, and a piece of heaven on earth.

Throughout the Qur’an, Allah refers to water on numerous occasions (the exact word for “water” is mentioned over 60 times). The Qur’anic verse above powerfully states an important feature of water that all humans have come to acknowledge: water is a necessity for life.

For Muslims, water holds additional and special meanings. Water plays an important role in purifying believers as it is used for making wudhu, or ablutions. And if you ask a Muslim to describe paradise (according to what they learned from the Qur’an and hadith), many would recall the descriptions of rivers flowing and springs gushing forth endlessly from the gardens of heaven.

Now back on earth (where things do have an end). Those of us living in First World countries won’t really ponder too much on where our water comes from or how much there is to go around. We believe that as long as the water bills are paid, our faucets will continue to provide us with this basic necessity at our demand.

Though this is one of the perks of having a First World lifestyle, our lack of understanding on current water-related issues blinds us to the reality of those living in other parts of the world. Almost a billion people on earth don’t have access to clean drinking water. While water is just a turn of a faucet away from us, some women in developing countries have to walk an average of 3.7 miles a day to attain water.

You may argue that water is a resource that is plentiful. After all, about 70% of our planet is made of water! But the earth has only about 3% of freshwater to sustain all living things that depend on it.

True, water is considered a “renewable” resource. But renewable resources can only naturally regenerate if their capacity to do so is not irreversibly impaired. Lo and behold, humans have played a large role in our own destruction through polluting water sources and overpumping water faster than it can be replenished.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that these water issues are not to be found in our country, or even in our neighborhood. Perhaps this will be news to many: California is experiencing a water crisis that will make it difficult for current water supplies to meet our growing demand. Just to sustain the large and growing population in Los Angeles, water is exported from places like the Owens Valley, which once used to be a thriving agricultural community.

Islam teaches us to not hoard waters from others, to not pollute and spread other forms of corruption on earth, and to also not indulge in wastefulness and extravagance. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we have unlimited resources we can waste away. That is not how a Muslim is taught to live on this earth.

Photo of a rally against the "Ground Zero Mosque". (Flickr/asterix611)

The Question: Is Islamophobia a good thing for Muslims?

The Answer: “yes-no”

Every coin has two faces, every spectrum two ends, and every argument two sides. This lingering question is no different.

Islamophobia quite literally (and linguistically) is a fear of Islam and Muslims; albeit, an intense, irrational fear of Islam and Muslims. Some Muslims hold that Islamophobia is a good thing. Why? How could fear of Islam benefit Islam?

People tend to naturally fear what they do not know, so to overcome that fear they have to face it, explore it, learn more about it––in this case, people that fear Islam have to explore Islam, but why should they?

Because as natural as it is to have fear, it’s just as natural, if not more, to want to overcome it. No one wants to be scared of anything, and that desire can inspire a person to learn about his/her fear so that he/she can address it. This could explain why at the height of Islamophobia post 9/11, people continued to convert to Islam after learning more about this faith.

Going back to fear, some Muslims also believe that Islamophobia provides a ‘psychological venue’ or, more simply, an opportunity to speak to and inform people about our faith. Why?

Because when you’re scared of spiders, you’re just that: scared of spiders. You’re not afraid of talking about spiders or taking a zoology class that covers arachnids. In fact, you may be (for some odd reason) more inclined to jump in on conversations about spiders, when they come up.

Similarly, Islamophobes are willing to talk, argue, or learn about Islam when given the opportunity. And that willingness gives Muslims an opportunity to explain, clarify and teach our faith.

Other Muslims don’t really see it as a good thing because they believe Islamophobia as we know it today is no longer “Islamophobia”. It is no longer just a fear of Islam, it has become a loathing of it. And the masses, for the most part, have been manipulated, their fear turned to hate by a small, powerful group with an evil agenda (but let’s not delve into that).

Human nature does allow for fear, but it’s human weakness that allows fear to morph into hate. Islamophobia as a fear of Islam may very well be a good thing, but Islamophobia as a hatred of Islam, not so much.

As for those people that are still true Islamphobes (only fearful but not hateful), they may still be inclined to learn about Islam. Under normal circumstances that’s not a bad thing at all, but once you throw Google into the mix, it certainly can be. Virtually everyone that may want to learn about Islam at some point consults Sheikh Google, and this “Sheikh,” for someone that doesn’t know any better, really does suck.

There are numerous anti-Muslim sites on the web and that’s a definite no-no for someone who doesn’t know much about our deen. And of the few legitimate sites on the web, only a few are completely reliable and accurate.

Islamophobia is a good thing. It has the potential to encourage people to explore Islam for themselves and it has the potential to encourage Muslims to do a better job in demonstrating the true essence of their faith.

Islamophobia is a bad thing. It has the potential to cultivate aggressive hate, and it has the potential to lead people to despicable, fallacious, crooked websites that misrepresent the religion to a degree unheard of.

As a Muslim, I like to think of the glass as half-full, not half-empty. So, Islamophobia to me is favorable but that doesn’t mean I refuse to acknowledge it’s capacity to be unfavorable.

If anything, it should be a wake-up call for us, to address the concerns people have about Islam before they become haters and before they start hitting up the wrong sources that may continue to mislead them.

(Photo: flickr/beggs)

Finally, the long-awaited month of break has arrived. If you are like me and hate feeling unproductive, this month will be a huge test on how you manage your free time. Here are 5 ways on how to stay productive during this long break:

1. Indulge in Productive Entertainment
While there’s nothing wrong with catching up on your shows, you don’t want to use up a chunk of your break stuck on your couch in front of the TV. Take a break from the shows and try to read up on some books. You don’t have to make it boring by sticking to non-fiction, explore the suspense and sci-fi section if you are looking for some extra excitement. (Check out Amazon’s list of the best books of 2011).

If you want to feel more productive, try watching some thought-provoking documentaries. For starters, check out this list of compiled documentaries that I have been making my way through during breaks. For double productivity points, ask your friends or family to join you while you watch.

2. Plan a Day Trip
If it’s difficult to plan a long trip this break, don’t lose hope! You can always make a day trip to somewhere close to your home. Try googling tourist attractions or points of interest, you’ll be surprised to find some new places to visit nearby. Just remember to check the weather forecast when planning your trip as it is the winter season!

3. Polish up your Resume
Though no none likes to have serious work to do during their break from college, you’ll thank me for this tip and the next one later. This is a good time to update your resume, especially if you are planning to apply for jobs or internships during spring or summer. And it’s best to get this work done before the busy school schedule takes over when classes resume!

4. Search and Apply for Summer Internships
If you want to secure a good summer internship for next year, this is the best time to start looking. If you find any positions you are interested in, remember to note important deadlines, especially if they fall in the next couple of months. If some applications require essays, you can start working on them during your free time this break.

5. Spend Time with Family
The one thing your family and dear friends will most likely not appreciate is if you sleep in most of the day and/or spend the rest of your waking hours in front of your TV or other electronic devices. This is the one productive thing everyone should try to commit to: spend time with your loved ones.

These three declarations –rather, these three absolutes– popped into my head one after the other during my first juvenile detention site visit through the Incarcerated Youth Tutorial Program (IYTP).

SubhanAllah

The drive up to Camp Fred Miller is a long, slow uphill trudge. You wind through the hills of Malibu, going higher and higher until the neighborhoods below you look like plots of land and grass nestled in the mouth of one giant valley. When you get to Camp Miller and step out of the car, you notice two things.

One: it’s very cold and it’s barely 5:00 pm. Two: the high barb-wire fences; the old, military-style intercom and the uniforms–the guards, the parole officers, the students.

Everyone is in uniform, 1,800 feet in the air, at a chilly 40ºF and miles away from the nearest cul-de-sac, the nearest movie theater, the nearest restaurant, the nearest street light. Miles away from anything fun, or happy, or even normal.

At this point, you try to imagine yourself in their shoes, but no matter how hard you try, you just can’t. At this point, you have merely been introduced to their plight, you’ve only barely become acquainted with their circumstance. Glory be to Allah.

Alhamdulilah

When you first see the students, many of the truths you were once told about the inherent injustices of our government’s socio-economic tendencies and educational policies finally materialize, and any of the skepticism you once held against this fact vanish.

You witness for yourself the failure of the education system, the intricate racism of the institutional society we live in. You see the Black and the Brown, but not the White. The only white you see is the Porsche in the Warden’s parking spot. Then you sit down to begin your session.

You meet your student and start working on his trig, but then you hit a wall. We all believe firmly in our hearts and minds that we should be grateful for all that we have, but what about all that we know? When was the last time we felt grateful for knowing what a ‘ratio’ was, for what a ‘radius’ is? When was the last time we thanked Allah for knowing how to add and subtract, multiply and divide, because some of these kids sure wish they could.

How blessed are we to know these things and to have had the opportunity to learn and grasp these simple concepts? We are very blessed, but many of us are completely oblivious to this blessing of ‘knowing’ because we really truly take it for granted. All praise is due to Allah.

Allahuakbar

You sit down with your student with the intention of getting through 2 or 3 sections, but by the time you must get up to leave you’ve only gone through 2 or 3 problems. You think to yourself: Is it really that hard for him to solve that question, to even understand what it’s asking?

The answer is yes. It really is that hard for these students to evaluate problems we would find very easy. As you walk out and return to the van, you notice all the inmates are gone. It’s nearly 7:00 pm and they’ve been herded back into their dorms–it’s almost their bedtime.

One more time you try to envision yourself in their shoes, and again, you fail to. You wonder why they’re in the situation they’re in. You ponder why you’re in the situation you’re in. You think about the freedom Allah has given you to control your life (to some extent) and fix your own schedule. You think about the knowledge Allah has gifted you, even if it’s as small and simple as knowing what a diameter is.

And you think about the greatest favor Allah ever gave you: guiding you to Islam, and how that guidance kept you out of incarceration camps as this. Allah is the Greatest.

(Featured image credit: C.M. Gonzales)

Featured photo of American flag taken by Flickr user danic.

Part 1: “Non-Violent Movement”

Part 2: “Revolutionary Ideas”

Part 3: “Tangible Demands”

Part 4: “Direct Action”

Part 5 & 6: “Bruins in Tents”

Part 7: “The State of Our Education”