Al-Qalam 
Husnaa Haffejee’s simple advice to matric pupils is ‘hard work doesn’t betray you’. Journalist Nabeelah Shaikh spoke to her.
Being inspired by the teachings of Islam to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave and having a great support system is what motivated Husnaa Haffejee to get to the top.
Husnaa (17) who was a pupil at Al-Falaah College in Durban brought great honour to her school, her community, and her province when she became the number one matric pupil in South Africa. She was recently awarded first place nationally in the 2022 National Senior Certificate Examinations, sharing the coveted spot with Kelly Prowse, a pupil from the Western Cape.
Husnaa obtained an overall aggregate of just over 98%. She scored 100% in mathematics, physical science, and accounting. Haffejee was born in South Africa but relocated to the United Kingdom not long after.
Her parents opted to move back to South Africa when she was nine-years-old, and this was when she joined Al-Falaah College as a grade five pupil at the time.
She says her biggest motivation and her role models growing up were her parents, Shazia and Haroon Haffejee.
“This is especially because when we were living in the UK, we didn’t have family there. So, they were everything I knew from the time I was young. They were always my biggest support system. They were always my motivation when the goings were tough. They were always there to assure me of my capabilities and also assured me that I could do anything that I put my mind to,” said Husnaa
She says one of the things they instilled in her was to always strive for excellence.
“They taught me to always strive for the best and whatever I achieve along the way was Allah Ta’ala’s plan for me. They’ve always taught me values of kindness, and about doing my best to follow the Sunnah. Their love, support and reassurance played a huge role in my success and obviously their duas did too. The duas of parents are extremely powerful and I knew I was always in their duas throughout my school life and throughout my matric year,” said Husnaa.
Success
Husnaa said her faith and the teachings of Islam also had a huge role to play in her success.
“Seeking knowledge and spreading knowledge is very important in Islam. We are taught to seek knowledge and we place a lot of emphasis on learning and teaching too. So, I think that naturally instils in us an appreciation for gathering knowledge. This really helped me to stay focused and motivated through my school life.”
She told Al-Qalam that when she got invited to the national matric awards ceremony, it was a whirlwind of activity. “Alhamdulillah, when the reality of it all started to sink in, I was very happy. It felt great to know that my hard work throughout the year had paid off,” said Haffejee.
Her advice to current and future matric pupils is to make sacrifices, work hard, and be dedicated.
“I really believe that hard work doesn’t betray. Work consistently, and don’t let yourself become scared and frightened of what’s ahead. Everyone makes matric out to be as if it’s going to be this huge obstacle in your life, but it’s not something that’s impossible to deal with. You just have to put in the effort from the beginning. If you don’t understand something, make sure to clear it up with your teacher immediately,” said Haffejee.
She also added that it was important to have a good balance in one’s life as a matric pupil, in order to cope with the pressures of the year.
“Just know that the emotions that you are feeling are not permanent. It’s not going to last forever. The stress and the pressure will go away. In the end, once you have the ability to relax and enjoy the rewards later on in your life, you won’t regret what you put into being able to get there. Remember that the hard work and effort will eventually pay off,” said Haffejee.
She will be studying medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“My focus for going into medicine is hopefully to branch out into research afterwards. My whole life, a passion of mine was to grow up and be able to cure one of those life-threatening diseases that affect so many people’s lives. And medicine will give me the platform to work towards this,” said Haffejee.
