Learning From Past Envisioning Future: The Role of Muslim Youth

By Junaid Ahmad - October 3, 2019

Ummah is in need of brave, knowledgeable, sincere, and loyal Muslim youth. Their unwavering efforts and dedications for the cause of Islam never needed as badly as it is today. 

The youth are the future of this Ummah, they are the flag bearers of Islam who carry the message of Islam to the next generation.The youth are brought out to take the divine message of Islam to various parts of the earth. Youth means the future; youth means that the Ummah stands the chance to regains its leadership role; youth means that the Ummah can be proud of its future. Muslim youth of today will be the leaders of the Ummah tomorrow. This is a role for which they ought to be prepared, by their families, educational institutions, and the society at large. Today, the sad reality is that the youth are “lost” – they lack direction and they are in dire need of real Islamic leaders motivated by Islamic cause, to follow. Defeats and tragedies inflicted upon the Ummah today. Ummah is in need of brave, knowledgeable, sincere, and loyal Muslim youth. Their unwavering efforts and dedications for the cause of Islam is never needed as badly as it is today.

In this article, I intend to assess the current state of Ummah, the tasks to be executed to help Ummah regain its glory, and the great roles Muslim youth need to play towards revival of Ummah.

Merits of Youthfulness:  

Islam has given youth a high status due to the role they play in the development of civilizations and the future of nations.

In Surah Alkahf (13) Allah says: “Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and we increased them in guidance.”

Islam has paid due attention to young people and instructed Muslims to provide them with good education and guidance.

The Prophet (pbuh) said: «Your Lord is delighted (in the way that suits Him) about a young person who does not have youthful (lustful) desire.” (An authentic hadith recorded by Imam Almad, at-Tabarani, Abu Ya’la, and Ibn Abi Asim)

“The dwellers of paradise will be told: It is for you to remain young and never grow old” (recorded by Muslim)

The Almighty will shade this youth who was raised in the obedience to Allah on the day in which there will be no other shade: “There are seven whom Allah will shade beneath the shade of His Throne onthe day in which there will be no shade but His shade..(including) a youth who was raised upon the obedience to Allah.” (Part of a longer hadith reported by al-Bukhari (1423) and Muslim (1031)

The Current State of Muslim Youth:   

When we take a careful look at young people today, we find that they are religiously deviated, reckless, self-deluded, selfish in their conduct and ill-behaved, unwilling to accept the truth from others and hasten in spreading falsehood among the people.They are less committed and non-serious to their creator and often found to neglect obligations that are due to Allah or those that are due to human beings.They feel proud of their opinions and show less respect to the opinions of elders. Their bad deeds rendered to them as good and they thus fall among the losers.

الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا – الكهف 104

[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work) ( Qur’an 18: 104)

They turn out to be a calamity to themselves and a misfortune to society. They become the cause to bring this Ummah down to the lowest of the low, hindering its way to regain its glory and honor. They have become a deadly disease, which is not curable except by the will of Allah alone,the All-Powerful.

Today’s Muslim youth are uncertain, irresolute, and at a crossroad. They need to be guided to the realm of truth and the righteous path. They are desperately in need of righteous, wise, knowledgeable and sincere preachers. Their education is done at the hands of those who mainly excel in worldly sciences that run contrary to religion, which, lead to their confusion. The only way to come out of this confusion is by focusing on Islamic education and learning it from its original sources, the Quran and the Sunnah, at the hands of sincere scholars.

Ideal Muslim Youth:

Upright Muslim youth believe in their religion with conviction and content. They are sincere to Allah, follow the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)and seek the guidance from his life.They do righteous deeds and abandon all that is forbidden and advise each other to truth and patience.Their belief is so firm that nothing can shake it. They believe in the wisdom of the Creator.They practice their religion with total sincerity to Allah, His Messenger, Muslim leaders, and Muslim common folk.

The Prophet (SAW)] said:

“Religion is sincerity, religion is sincerity (Al-Nasihah), religion is sincerity.” They said; “To whom, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the imams of the Muslims and to their common folk.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i 4199]

They deal with their fellow Muslims with the straight forwardness and clarity with which they would like to be treated. Treachery, malpractice, crookedness, or hiding facts have no place in their dealings. They call to the way of Allah with clear knowledge and in accordance with the methods explained by Allah in His Book. Allah, the Exalted, says:

ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ (النحل 125)

“Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best.)(Qur’an 16: 125)

They enjoin all that is good and forbid all that is evil for they believe that the communities and nations cannot prosper without practicing what Allah has specified in the glorious Qur’an:

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّه – آل عمران 110

“You are the best nation produced [as an example] for humankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.” (Qur’an 3: 110)

They strive to establish an Islamic ideal society where no evil is entertained. Such young people are a pride for this Ummah and the symbol of its life. They are born to play a vital role in repairing the Muslims’ damaged state and infuse the life in the followers of the right path. They will be blessed with the bliss of this world and the next. When they choose a companion, they choose righteous, good, and intelligent people so they can benefit from their goodness,righteousness, and intelligence. They study the conditions and reputations of the people carefully while befriending them. They are surrounded by those who are of noble character, upright, religious, and of good reputation. They are very cautious of bad elements of the society and keep away from them, and are not carried away by their sweetened talk and good outward appearance.

These upright young people never view destructive, un-lslamic material in books and magazines, on TV and the internet. They are fully aware of the destructive implications of being in contact with such materials.They seek out beneficial information and books that help in actualizing faith and virtuous deeds.

The Crisis of UMMAH:                                         

A look at the Ummah reveals that it is passing through an extremely difficult stage. The Muslim Ummah is facing today a constant challenge from the industrialized counties. Conflicts in Muslim regions are purposefully masterminded to generate ready markets for arms in order to get them engaged and occupied so that their progress and development slow down and remain under constant suppression. It has lost its identity and failed on many fronts and finds it hard to extract itself from its current state of one of bewilderment.

One who is studying the Ummah does not find any difficulty in determining what drive the present backwardness of its culture, its political degradation, and its human suffering, in spite of vast human and material resources, values and principles. The Ummah is being termed to be backward and aimless existence, and hence causes major concern to sincere and constructive people of the Ummah. Education systems are suffering from serious problems of backwardness, widespread ignorance and illiteracy in all Muslim countries. The quality of education at all levels is dwindling.

The Ummah is therefore in dire need of reform,renew, and revival.Given the seriousness of the threat it faces, and the degree of the crisis from which it suffers, one is able to easily understand the gravity of its situation and the urgency to put the efforts needed to rescue it from further decay and suffering. The Ummah is, however, favored by great deal of wealth of goodness, the distinction of its vital being, the strength in its depth, its profound faith, its readiness to sacrifice, and its sincerity.

What Needs To Be Done To Revive The UMMAH:

The cause of Islam itself seem to be in danger. A darkness and gloom cast over the Ummah. The Muslim thinkers need to focus their mind crucially on the Ummah’s malaise and seek the countering cure. Never in Islamic history has the cry of Islamic cause been more needed on the intellectual level as it is today.There is an urgency to invest all of the energy into finding the solution to help Ummah overcome of its decay. The leadership of the Ummah bears the responsibility to determine the proper approach for bringing about the change needed to lead it toward its true objectives. Considering the past attempts made to extract Ummah, it is obvious now that the process of change must begin in the thought of the Ummah.

The prime duty for Muslim intellectuals and leaders is to be steadfast and commit themselves to well-defined path to confront the challenges of the present. The salvation, progress, honor, or power for Ummah can only be achieved by changing the present ways, means, and methods of thinking in intellectuals and scholars.

The task ahead is to gain proper understanding of the problem and obtain an overall view of the Ummah·s progress over the centuries. Hence, the questions to be asked are: What is the proper way for coming to an understanding of the dimensions of the issues? And how can we define the outlines of the course taken in order for us to direct our attention back to the right course?In order to answer these questions, we must commit to the following:

1. There is no hope of revival of Ummah, unless we understand our past, learn the lessons from it, seek source of strength by concentrating on its positive aspects and build upon them. Much time and energy already wasted on the negative aspects of our history. The Ummah cannot afford to waste anymore time or effort on such matters.We are in dire need to regain our original vision, restart our course, and again set out on our way.

2. We must strive to regain our lost glory with every means at our disposal toward this goal. Demonstrate the firm belief in the divine, which guarantees that Muslim’s efforts will ultimately succeed, irrespective of material successes or failures. A content believer knows that ultimately the truth will prevail and; and that falsehood will fail in the conflict of good and evil.

And those who strive in Our [cause], – We will certainly guide them to Our paths (29:69).

And strive in His cause as you should. strive, [with sincerity and under discipline] (22:78).

0 believers! If you will aid [the cause of] Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly (47:7).

3. Seek useful knowledge and understanding, avoiding any means, which inherently contradict the objectives of our mission. We must reject the means that lead us into either meaningless or evil pursuits. We must insure that the knowledge we intend to seek is sound in its principles, aims, and structure. The knowledge must be measured against the standards of Islamic teachings and principles; therefore, a knowledge, which does not carry these characteristics, will be worthless. It is vital to understand that knowledge without a comprehensive methodology, in terms of both scope and application,does not help Muslims propagate the message correctly, or regain their position as God’s vicegerents.“You are the best of people evolved for humankind;enjoining right and forbidding evil, and believing inAllah” (3: 110).

4. The academic institutions must play their roles in achieving Islamization and developing the Islamic perspective of knowledge needed to prepare new generations to be qualified to carry the eternal message of Islam to all of humankind. It is therefore essential to understand that building for the future of the Ummah will have to be carried out in the intellectual and educational spheres. Academic institutions hold the key to prepare the present generation of Muslims in terms of understanding the nature of the problem, assessing the current environment, possible activities and available capabilities,and then coming out with worthwhile ideas. The educational system currently prevalent in the Islamic word is a legacy from the foreign rulers. It is unable to inspiring the Muslim youth or helping them to solve the problems of Muslim ‘Ummah. Developing strong characters and unshakable faith in the objectives and teachings of Islam significantly important. There can be no hope of reviving the Ummah without investment in the future. The youth must be prepared emotionally and intellectually in a proper way to perform their duties towards mankind. Efforts must be made to define and develop an Islamic education model based on the basic elements of Akidah al-Tawheed as men’s intellectual abilities are closely linked to the creator. It is a crucial task needed for preparing Muslim youths to embark on the mission of vicegerent, khilafah.

5. Ummah’s thinkers and scholars need to deliberate their energies on assessment of historical development of the Ummah in order to determine the causes of its failures; to review the foundations of Islamic thought, its originality,integrity, and completeness. Certainly Islamic thought is capable of making valuable contributions to all spheres of life.It is the responsibility of Ummah’s thinkers and scholars to put the Ummah back on the track of progress. The way they present their ideas will actually determine the success of others in translating those ideas into actions.

6. Educational process must have a sound methods of character building from an early stage. Rather than concentrating on degree and qualification, better we should work on developing competitive strength that determines the future. In this undertaking, the role of parents can not be undermined by the educators in bringing up children. A lot depends on the relationships between parents and children when it comes to the development of values and character of the youth. It is, therefore, vital that educators involve the parents in education and proper upbringing of young generation. In this basic way, then, the Ummah will be able too vercome the obstacles that are placed in the way of its reform and growth by any institutions or systems.

7. We need to put an end to blame game. The assumption that young adults are corrupt just stand aloof without making any effort to correct them. This eventually result in having lost hope in their reform and consequently hating them or being afraid of them. Without understanding their condition, it is wrong to conclude that all young people are corrupt, a situation that has the potential to tear the society apart.It is the duty of the elders to hold positive attitudes towards them. By doing so we can avert a danger that encircles the society.

8. There is an acute need to remove the estrangement and alienation that exist between elders and youth. It is the duty of the elders to sense the responsibility towards the young people. A great responsibility rests upon the shoulders of young people. They run the risk of being further isolated. They are direly in need of elder’s sincere guidance and supplication from Allah to show them the right path and make them a torch of guidance for the humanity.Young people, on their part, also required to hold their elders in high esteem. Their views should be respected and directives should be accepted for they have tremendous experience from life realities, which youth lack. So the wisdom of the elders must be added to the energy of the youth to achieve the desired outcome by the will of Allah.

9. One of the important task is to raise the sincere and true inheritors of Islam. We need to put our efforts to safeguard youth from the tyranny of the world; to raise them to the best of our ability to be leaders of this Ummah, to teach them how to live as a Muslim in all aspects of their lives.One of the most significant point, which requires a great deal of attention, is Islamic morals, characters and etiquette. Muslim youth need to adopt and demonstrate the Islamic etiquette in present time more than any point in history. It is our duty to help our children to learn behavioral traits, which are profound in dealing with difficult situations.

10. The greatest task of the present time is to develop the upright youth. There can be no hope of a genuine revival of the Ummah unless the youth of this Ummah step in and feel the great responsibility put on their shoulder towards Ummah. They are tomorrow’s elders and upon them the future of this Ummah is built. When these young people, who are the future of this Ummah, are good and they are adequately equipped with strong religious foundations and moral standards, they will emerge as righteous successors and the Ummah will have a bright future.

11. Another important task is to teach youth the importance of brotherhood and sisterhood among Muslims. They must feel a sense of belonging to the Muslim community and motivated to support those who are suffering and need our care and assistance. It is currently trending in the society that Muslim youth do not seem to be moved by empathy for sufferings and griefs of fellow Muslims. They must be taught to demonstrate pride in the religion of Islam and in being Muslim. It must be borne into their minds that they are fortunate to be among the followers of true religion, Islam. It must be a matter of dignity for them. This is the noble cause, which is worth striving. It is the only worthy cause for which a Muslim can give his own life to please Allah.

Responsibilities of Muslim Youth towards UMMAH:

Youth is a most productive time of a person’s life. It is a stage of great change and hope for the future; yet, if not guided properly, it may potentially turn out to be fraught with many crises. Youth is the backbone of the society. They carry the future of their nation on their shoulders. Today, the entire world is in dire need of young minds to resolve various socio-economic problems of the world.And today’s youth has what it takes to be the leader in all the fields of life.

The dilemmas faced by contemporary young people are no exception. Worries and misconceptions creep into their minds, make them feel confused and distressed, and may cause them to turn in the wrong direction; this may result in their being led astray. The responsibility of Muslim youth is not to be confused and troubled by theories of conspiracies deliberately created by enemies of Islam to misguide the Muslim youth. They must be well aware of the guidance bestowed upon humanity by Almighty. Which, if understood and followed strictly, can eliminate the doubts and cure the most troubled minds and hearts. The Young people must understand that they ought to be a source of pride, inspiration, and strength for the global Muslim community. They must offer a hope for the future and a cure for the ills rampant across the globe. They are borne to be true followers of Islam, which offers a perfect code of life, which addresses human concerns at all stages of life. Such young members of Muslim community are motivated by the cause of Islam and expect the reward in the eternal life to come.

The enemies of Islam have been playing a constant well-planned game to inflict the calamities and catastrophe upon Muslim Ummah. It is particularly distressing that today’s youth have too often fallen prey to their game plan. It is pertinent that the youth understand their importance and roles they are supposed to be playing on world stage. They must be aware about their responsibilities to Allah, the Ummah, and their countries. This must be borne into their mind that they always strive for the benefit of the Ummah in particular and humanity in general.They must strive in the way of Allah with sincerity to Him without showing off, with their words, hands, and property in as per the needs of Islam and Muslims.They must be upright representing the Islam and Muslims in its original form. They must never think of wasting opportunities or allowing sentiments to overpower their sense of reason and to disturb the peace and order.

The youth should keep the balance in their lives and work wisely. It is certainly not appropriate for them to waste any opportunities at their disposal, but rather utilize them rationally such as to benefit the Ummah. These young people need to attain all the necessary useful knowledge,preserve their religion, conduct, and manners, and negate all that is contrary to these virtues such as disbelief, atheism, profligacy, disobedience, indecent manners, and bad dealings.It is obligatory for the mto devote their time and energy to learn the Quran and the Sunnah so they can discharge their duties perfectly towards mankind.So they can propagate Islam confidently and become capable of using glorified weapons against those who spread falsehood, and offering convincing evidences to those who seek truth.

Today Muslim youth is passing through a critical time. They run the risk of being led astray. Today the cases of deliberating maligning Muslim community and insulting their faith are very common. Everything Islamic is being challenged today; the perfection of the Qur’anic text, the veracity of the Sunnah, the comprehensiveness of the Shari’ah, and the glories of Muslim achievements with an aim to create doubt into the youth’s mind. It is therefore pertinent for youth to equip themselves with spiritual stamina necessary for resistance in order not to succumb to this conspiracy. It is essential for the young people to learn about Aqeedah, well before they get introduced to the practical aspects of the religion. The youth equipped with resolute faith can potentially remove all the doubts and answer all the questions pertaining to religion. If this aspect is ignored, it is most likely that the end result will be frustrating.

It is incumbent upon the youth to represent the Islam by action. They need to be more practical when it comes to faith, conviction, sincerity, and following the Sunnah. They must not occupy themselves with speech alone, but demonstrate it with action. Allah, the Exalted, says:

يايها الذين آمنوا لم تقولون ما لا تفعلون. كبر مقنا عند الله ان تقولوا مالا تفعلون (الصف 2-3)

“0 you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.”

Understanding the Objective of Life is the prime responsibility of youth. Understanding of life and its true objective define one’s actions. An upright Muslim youth knows his position on the earth as a trustee thus guided by divine light and becomes more responsible.The Quran says in Sura al-Isra:

“But, as for those who desire the life to come, and strive for it as it ought to be striven for, and are true Believers- they are the ones whose strivings find acceptance and reward. [al-Isra 17: 19.]

It is particularly distressing that today’s youth do not know the objective of their lives, and thus are seen roaming on the street doing nothing. They seem to be convinced that their life’s mission is to live a life free of any responsibility. They must be the “Youth with a mission”. They have great task to contribute for Islam by giving their time, talent and money. Youth have an important role to play to strive to bring about a change in society, to making Islam prevalent over all the religion. The youth is the stage of life when one should attain adequate knowledge about Islam and utilize of the time and talent effectively.

Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an: “He it is who sent His Messenger with guidance and the true religion so that He may cause it to prevail over all religions and Allah suffices as a witness” (Al-Fath, 48:28)

From this verse we come to know as to what was the objective of the Prophet, which should also be the objective of every Muslim youth. But the today’s youth are living without any objective. They are living with a primary objective to satisfy their material desires.

What is deeply concerning today is that youth of today are clueless as what responsibilities and priorities should they have in their lives. It must be borne into the mind of Muslim youth that they are responsible in front of Allah for relaying His Religion. As Almighty call us Muslims the best nation brought forth for mankind, because:

تأمرون بالمعروف وتنهون عن المنكر وتومنون بالله – آل عمران 110

{“…you enjoin the good, forbid the evil, and believe in Allah…”} Al ‘Imran; 110

Having no objectives in the life results in the wastage of time and energy. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) health and free time for doing good.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6412)

This hadith is demonstrate profoundly that free time and health are the precious bounties given by Allah (swt). In Surah Al-Asr, Allah (swt) also emphasizes on the importance of time. Butwhat we see today is that majority of the youth do not use them for the right purpose, rather they waste their time in doing things.

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:

“Take advantage of five things before five other things: from your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you become occupied, and from your life before your death.”( Narrated by ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas in the ‘Mustadrak’ of al-Hakim (7927), and he declared it to be sahih according to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him, as did al-Albani (see his checking of ‘Iqtida’ al-‘Ilm al-‘Amal’; # 170)

Today’s youth must be brave enough not to confront only with the alien ideologies but also to fight with enemies. Islamic and Arab history has recorded a number of remarkable acts of bravery. It is high time that Muslim youth should read the Islamic history to enrich themselves with inspirational stories of bravery. Turn the pages of Islamic history, you will come across the fact that a young man Osama bin Zaid leading an army in which all the senior companions of Prophet too participate.  When the Prophet (SAW) came to Madinah with his Companions, there was not a single man with white hair in his head except for Abu Bakr, who had dyed his beard with henna and saffron. Those who participated in the first battle fought between Islam and Kufr, they were all youths. Mu’adh bin ‘Amr bin al-Jamu’ narrated: “I made Abu Jahl my target on the day of Badr. So, when he wasfinally in my sights, I went for him and struck him, cutting through the middle of his thigh. Suddenly, his son’Ikrimah sliced through my shoulder with his sword, leaving my arm hanging from my body by a piece of skin. This left me hindered from fighting for the rest of the day, as I had to drag my arm behind me! Finally, when Icould take it no more, I put my foot down on my arm and jerked my body back until my arm came off.” [‘SiyarA’lam an-Nubala’] (1/250-251).

Today’s youth lack a sense of accountability. The sense of accountability must be high and be driven by the Prophetic saying:

“Allah – the Mighty and Majestic – will ask a specific question to the youth on the Day of Resurrection: “The two feet of a servant will not move from their places until he is asked about four things: about his life and what he did with it, about his youth andhow he spent it, about how well he acted upon his knowledge, and about his earnings – where he obtained it, and what he spent it on.”(Tirmidhi (2417), and al-Albani declared it sahihin Sahih at-Targhib wat-Tarhib’ (1/126) and ‘as-Silsilah as-Sahihah’ (946)”)

The issue of accountability is not light. Youth must prepare for it, and make themselves ready for the accounting with their Lord, and know that tomorrow, they will be standing between the Hands of Allah, and will be questioned about every acts:

وسيعلم الذين ظلموا أي منقلب ينقلبون– الشعراء 227

“And those who do wrong will come to know by what overturning they will be overturned.”[ash-Shu’ara 227]

Youth is the period of struggle, sacrifice, worship, propagation of religion, and this is the period of movement and activity. So it is primarily important for the youth to turn towards Islam, learn it, implement it, and call to it. They need to be mindful and sincere to Allah, which will qualify them to carry out this noble task.

“Be mindful of Allah, and He will take care of you…”(Part of a longer hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas, and reported by at-Tirmidhi (2516), and al-Albani declared itsahih in ‘Dhilal al-Jannah’ (316-318), as well as his checking of ‘Mishkat al-Masabih’ (5302)

The youth of today are at the crossroad. Today’s youth may choose to be with broad outline of society, millions of dull people who are talked about in the Quran as, “[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.” [Al Kahf – 104].

Alternatively, they may choose to be among those ideals who seek to revive the glory of Ummah. The Muslim youth are ought to be inspired by true companions of the Prophet who are praised by Almighty Allah for their heroic efforts in the way of Islam. It is high time for Muslim youth to dedicate their knowledge, morals, and achievements towards serving the cause of Islam.

The intelligent Muslim youthought not to put worldly affairs high on their priority list, they should not attach themselves to worldly possessions to the extent they forget their final destination. The duty of upright Muslimyouth is not to forget the reason of their living, the objective of their lives and that is to earn the pleasure of Allah and the rewards of Janna.They are inspired by those whoconstantly strive to please Allah and not deceived by the amusement of this world. The great cause of Islam drive their lives, and thus become among those whoare entitled to be the receiver of good tiding as mentioned in the Quranic verse. [Al Ahzab – 23]

“Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration”

A Muslim youth must be intelligent enough to utilize all the bounties Allah has bestowed on him; body, mind, faculties and property, towards his real objective and that is to earn the pleasure of Allah and the rewards of Janna. However, it is heartening to see that the majority of present-day Muslim youth have chosen and determined objectives contrary to the sole objective for which they had been created. Pleasing Allah has become secondary for most of them and set off in pursuit of their own worldly desires.

It is of upmost importance that Muslim youth must understand that the goal of Islamic cause can never be achieved without enduring trials and tribulations. It is incumbent upon every Muslim youth to exercise it to compel his self into obedience to Allah. If this principal is not understood rightly, it will lead to frustration and disappointment. Almighty says, “Do people think that they will be left alone because they say, ‘We believe’, and that they will not be tested? And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make fit] known [the truth of]those who are true, and will certainly make [it] known [the falsehood of]those who are liars [although Allah knows all that before putting them to test].” [Surah Al-‘Ankabut (29), Ayah 2-3.]

The Almighty said:

(إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ) فصلت 30

“Indeed, those who have said, “Our Lord is Allah ” and then remained on a right course – the angels will descend upon them, [saying], “Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.” [Fussilat-30]

Conclusion:       

Youth is the golden period of our life. The youth is determined to be the most important stage of our life. This is the stage when youth is faced with challenges of deviations and distractions. Given the significance of the youth, the role they play in bringing about the change in the society and the nations, the enemies of Islam have always made them their prime target.

It is worthy to know that the Muslim youth has larger role to play to restore the glory of the Ummah. The task that lies ahead of Muslim youth is a dreadful, one that entails them to strive hard. The youth of today must rise to the challenges and accept their responsibilities with truthfulness and sincerity,and use all the means available to them in confronting the challenges before Ummah. So, if we ever expect to put the Ummah back on the right course and regain the glory it lost, we must realize that the key to all this is help our youth in providing right education and accountability-based upbringing for them. Attention must be paid to guide the young people to help choose the right path to be successful in this world and the hereafter.

The tribulation afflicted on Ummah requires a sincere return to the source of our pride and the constitution of our lives, a return to the book of our Lord and the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.