Do
you sometimes feel left out? Do you sometimes feel that you do
not belong? How did you get to be "the other"? Is it
just a one-off thing or is it more complicated than that? Do
people sometimes treat you like "the other" because of
your belief in Islam?
There
is nothing new about one group becoming dominant and the other
groups being left to struggle and to be considered second best.
There is a constant fluctuation of good and evil in this world
and it has been so since the beginning of time. When evil
dominates, good is pushed down; and when goodness dominates,
evil is pushed down. We are therefore in a continuous state of
struggle to raise the level of goodness wherever we are and let
it dominate so that people get their rights and are secure,
happy, and safe.
There
is a good example of a group of people who were considered to be
"the other" just because they adhered to piety and
belief in Allah. This story is in the Qur'an, where Allah the
Almighty mentioned the People
of the Ditch in Surat Al-Buruj. They refused to give up
their belief in Allah even if it meant death. They peacefully
resisted and were firm. They were too outnumbered to even think
of resisting. The leader of that area at the time sat with his
evil followers and laughed and mocked while the believers (the
"others") were cast into a pit of fire. But Allah in
His mercy compared these strong and faithful believers to the
stars in the sky likening their goodness and sincerity to the
brightness, beauty, and wonder of the constellations.
These
true believers have the company of others who, throughout the
ages, have undergone all kinds of hardship for the sake of
preserving their Islamic identity. These are people who do
things like:
-
Continuing
to pray even though it's difficult to find a place to do so
-
Continuing
to wear hijab even though people stare at them, laugh, or
ridicule them
-
Refusing
to go to places where there are forbidden things like free
mixing of the sexes, dancing, alcohol, drugs and such things
— even though their peers pressure them to go
-
Being
good to their families even though their families might be
harsh and unfair
-
Refusing
to steal or commit violent acts even though the people
around them try to justify such actions
-
Continuing
to be involved in their community doing volunteer work and
serving mankind as the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered
us to do
-
Striving
to excel in studies and self development in order to give
back to the world, even though the people around them say
it's a waste of time
-
Refusing
to stop loving and fearing Allah even though people around
them turn away from religion and seek more and more material
gain
These
are just a few examples. Nowadays in some areas of the world,
Muslims are still called upon to choose between belief and
ridicule, intimidation, or even death.
In
other places of the world there is pressure to conform, to be
like everyone else, and that usually means giving up some parts
of Islam. This is certainly a huge test. We also face the
challenge of learning how to make the balance between backing
off from society and isolating ourselves or giving up and
becoming part of a non-Muslim society and giving up your Islam
while doing so, or retaining our Islamic identity and steering a
course of involvement, development, and positive change. This is
no easy task.
The
Confused Muslim Youth
On
one hand, if you give up practicing Islam and give into the
pressure of non-Muslim society it means not wearing hijab or
dressing modestly, mixing freely with the opposite sex, not
praying, and losing the spiritual quality of your life that
brings you close to Allah and gives you peace. Many such young
Muslims are likely to be pulled (by peer pressure) into the
cycle of boyfriends or girlfriends as a way of life, drugs,
joining a gang, being far from parents and family, and joining
the realm of those Muslim youth who deep down know they're
Muslim but feel guilty because they know they're doing something
wrong. These bad feelings can be temporarily drowned out by
smoking, drinking, using drugs, and so on but they'll keep
coming back.
There
are also Muslim youth who try to keep one foot in the Islamic
arena and the other foot in worldly life. They might fast in
Ramadan or join in Friday prayer but in every other aspect of
life they are far from Islam, for example they
-
Speak
to their parents disrespectfully
-
Become
violent and destructive — perhaps joining gangs
-
Disrespect
women and womanhood
-
Become
careless about their education and ignore their future
-
Live
off government money or take money from their parents
without trying to be independent and to "give"
(Some do this and still sit around on the streets grumbling
about life.)
Then
there are the Muslim youth who insist and persist on trying to
live Islam but they think that in order to do so they have to
isolate themselves.
But
there is another alternative. It requires adopting the principle
of "accept and respect" while mixing with others but
maintaining your own identity. If you do so, you will have the
chance to spread the beautiful message of Islam through kind
words and a good example. You will have the chance to give
advice whereas if you isolate yourself from others you will
become like a dried up leaf; with no life, interest, or ambition
and you will be depriving yourself and those around you of the
many opportunities there are in life to live.
Especially
in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom,
Australia, Canada, South Africa, and many more there are many
opportunities to mix with the society in a positive way. Muslim
youth can organize outings, conferences, sports activities,
volunteer work, visits — anything! They have many forms of
media to communicate what they are doing like the Internet,
e-mails, e-groups, posters, radio broadcasts, TV, brochures, and
so much more.
The
point is that there are always groups within one society that
differ with each other and may even oppose each other but there
are still many other chances to give, to learn, to mix, to
correct the negative image of Islam and live Islam in the form
of spreading knowledge and doing good deeds. If all we think
about is that "we are the other" and try to blend in
and lose our Islamic identity, we will be losing everything.
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