Since the dawn of time, mankind has been saddled with multiple responsibilities. Responsibilities to ourselves, to our faith, to our families, and to our communities.

Those responsibilities must be fulfilled; otherwise we shall have to be answerable to Allah in the Hereafter, as there will be a reckoning of our deeds in this world.

What do you think our ratings will be, as we are now often lulled by this modern world?

The most challenging years are the years of our youth. That time can be mankind’s finest hours, which can be used to maximize the bounty of life.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself said, “Grab these five before the other: your youth before your old age, your health before your times of sickness, your wealth before your times of poverty, your free time before your busy times, and your life before your death” (Al-Bukhari).

The days of youth are the best days for us to take our first steps towards shaping our lives and our community. This is the time of energy and freedom. Wouldn’t it be great if our youth realized this?

Our religion calls for us to step forward and give service. Let us refer back to the time of our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), where the youth were actively serving Islam.

Fine examples can be seen in `Ali ibn Abi Talib, Bilal ibn Rabah, `Ammar ibn Yasir, and many more. They were youth who carried the message of Islam at that time. They struggled for the victory of Islam and the development of the community. Other valiant fighters for the faith included `A’ishah, Asma’, Fatimah, and Umm Salamah. These were the champions of women in Islam.

There was the generation of Islamic youth whose values and morals were deeply praised, who clearly loved Islam and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Let us not think that man need only serve himself, as long as he does `ibadah (worship) day and night.

It is thus our responsibility to develop the generation of the future.

As I have mentioned earlier, youth are the foundation and the hope of our faith and community. Their downfall spells the downfall of our community. It is our responsibility to bring them to a life of health and faith so that they may be righteous Muslim individuals.

Praise be to Allah, we now have many fine examples whom we can take as role models. We have a number of Muslim youth who are the pride and joy of our community. We see increasing numbers of our youth who are highly educated and also well-versed in Islam. They have a desire to live life according to the principles of Islam. This is something to be proud of and to be emulated so that many of our youth can make Islam the central compass of their lives.

However, there are still many amongst our youth who are influenced by elements of foreign culture that run counter to Islam. They fell in the swamp of indecencies and succumbed to Satan’s temptations.

Is this what we want for our Muslim community?

Is this what is referred to as the finest community?

There are many factors that influence this. The most obvious, however, is exposure to foreign culture.

Where our grandparents had radio, our parents had television. Today we have Internet technology and cable television to provide us with information and knowledge at the touch of a button.

We cannot be blaming cable television or the Internet for the collapse of the morals of today’s youth. Instead, we need to look within ourselves.

Have we played an adequate role as fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters in nurturing our children’s religious foundation so that they will not be led astray?

Have our children been given adequate religious instruction to prepare them for this challenging world?

We each have a role to play in this issue.

At home, parents play a role in making our kids realize their responsibilities through regular reminders, leading by example as well as providing them Islamic education.

In our daily interaction, we can remind each other on the dangers of exceeding the bounds of our religion.

As a community, we should also try to ensure that individuals are not unduly influenced by negative influences from undesirable publications, television programs, and even in festivals and functions; else there are lasting effects on the psyche of the community, particularly its youth.

We can never separate knowledge from our lives. Knowledge is the most important asset in shaping our lives. It is not enough to perform worship without the requisite knowledge, for worship without knowledge may lead us astray.

Only through positive examples may our youth positively impact our community and our nation’s development. That indeed is the role that should be played by our youth in these times, to build a progressive community, healthy in body and soul, for the betterment of our beloved nation.