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Name
zaki
- Malaysia
Profession
biochemical engineering graduate
Question
The core of violence is embedded in the west particularly United States. Their foreign policy towards Middle East and Muslim countries elsewhere is biased and unjust. But, what should we do?
Answer
The core of violence is not embedded in the west, in my opinion. People react to situations and ultimately Allah has granted us control in what we do and how we respond. A good quote to remind ourselves of this is "He who angers you, controls you" and this is why the prophet peace be on him and the companions would always refrain from acting out of anger and to remember to respond to anything solely for Allah.
In the case you are describing, many young people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike are becoming disenfranchised by American foreign policy. However, this is the stand of the government and may not necessarily reflect the many Americans who hold true to the democratic ideals upon which the society is supposed to be based.
In this case, the jihad/struggle has to be one that is based on those same ideals.
Violence in many cases only make problems become worst. We must seek ways to ensure that we can work with the many individuals who stand for the same universal principles upon which Islam is based and work together for the betterment of society and the world.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Selma
-
Profession
Question
What do you think is causing the youth violence today? Some people say it is because of violent games and films. I'm not sure if that is true.
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
I recently completed a study of the way Muslims react to issues specifically around gaming (video games). It tended to always be reactionary, dramatic, blown out-of- proportion and used to implement sweeping rules to "purify" society.
Cases existed around the belief that some games promoted gambling while others promoted violence and loose behaviour.
Research would suggest several possibilities about this which is too complex to get into during a live dialogue. However I will say this:
1) there is no dispute about the level of violence that exists in some games. However, living in a largely capitalist world, producers supply to consumer demands. So what is it that people want and why are people so attracted to violence.
2) question: does watching a violent game or movie make someone become violent? Didnt people play games out in the school yard such as "cops and robbers" and other games that were somewhat or in many cases directly violent. If that is the case, then we should be living in a much more violent world.
3) prolonged exposure to violence can lead to de-sensitization around issues of violence BUT I would say that is a parenting issue NOT a video game/movie issue.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Nermine
-
Profession
Question
Maybe the level of violence is the same yesterday and today, but today's seems to be more because there is now more statistics showing high rates etc., what do you think?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
I do not believe that this is necessarily the case. My initial question would be whose statistics and what was the method of comparison. The media seems to focus many times on sensationalizing "youth violence" and no other social group receives such attention. Many times youth are portrayed as party freaks, alcohol drinking, drug sniffing, carefree, irresponsible individuals. Partially, society says to young people - "you are young, this is your time to enjoy yourself and be free" while at the same time constructing them as deviants.
The construction of young people in this way must also be credited to the recent (within the last 100 years) creation of the "teenager". No longer young adults with responsibility, young people are encouraged to "be free and run wild".
Still, the problems of youth violence were constructed in the same way in the media over 50 years ago. It would appear that the idea of the deviant youth has a long and entrenched history. Few cases of tragic proportions are blasted into living rooms at lightening speed and with such frequency that it allows us to believe that "twenty years ago young people listened to their elders".
Furthermore, it lends itself to the thinking that if youth of the past were "better and more model" then we need to move back to the ways of the past, which is not necessarily true!
And Allah knows best.
Name
Khalid
-
Profession
Question
Who tend to be more violent nowadays, boys or girls? Why and why not?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
Violence tends to be linked more to males than females. However, I cannot tell you what the statistics say. What I do encourage you to explore is where violence stems from....
There are issues around race and class and how it is constructed especially with young males. For example, young black males are more readily linked to crime than young white males.
The construction of gender also permits males to be more violent as it is an expected male quality and less "lady like". This does not mean that girls are not violent.
Some research shows that the violence may exhibit itself in different ways. In young males may use physical force while young females may use bullying as a form of aggression. This is not limited to one gender.
Violence against women is another issue altogether. Society generally shuts a blind eye to issues of domestic violence. Sometimes, some Muslims (as in many other cultures) wrongfully use culture to claim the right of violence against women.
Unless these issues are not remedied, we will not see a change in violence in society in general.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Sayyed
-
Profession
Question
Has it now become normal that youth are associated with violence? If so, is that fair? And have the youth themselves become to see violence as something normal?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
It is NOT fair that youth and violence is constructed as interwoven elements of society. We need to examine why youth may be constructed in this way.
Youth, as displayed in the time of Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is a time of great energy, enthusiasm and the belief that they have what it takes to change the world around them.
However, if youth are 1) distracted by consumerism into focusing on material items and 2) constructed as negative elements that harm society what does it lead to?
It allows for power to be taken away from young people because they "don't know what they are doing". It also justifies swift, draconian measures in keeping them "in place" without looking at deeper connections to why youth may in some instances be resorting to violence.
Some youth may be seeing violence as normal depending on where they live in the world. In some cases, defending their lives and property is a must while in other situations enthusiasm and energy must be tempered with the wisdom of experience.
Sadly, this is not the case in many of the mosques that continue to marginalize and isolate youth, especially our young Muslim sisters!
And Allah knows best.
Name
ali
-
Profession
Question
Is it necessary for youth to be violent in today's world in order to be acceptable? Is it now considered to be 'cool' to be violent?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
In some instances, it has become cool. Unfortunately, because of consumer culture, some young people have idealized violence as an end in itself. However, this must be deconstructed carefully, in order not to make sweeping generalizations about youth violence.
For example, youth living in some inner-urban areas may use violence as an escape mechanism in order to try and change their situation. Such cases should not be construed as young, people with nothing better to do and if they just "work hard, they will succeed". Their reactions are rooted in conditions that are socially unjust, poverty is rampant and often times their voices go unheard. These are the voices that Allah will question us about on the Day of Judgement.
Sometimes, we listen to the lyrics of some types of music, for example, they openly glorify violence and link that to violence. Recently, I read an article that tried to make the link to youth losing themselves with Hip Hop music. However, this is similar to the video games issue I discussed earlier.
Hip hop was rooted in socially unjust situations and gave a voice to the unheard, oppressed voices. Today, it has been, in some cases, hijacked by capitalism and sensationalization. BUT it does not mean all hip hop is bad. I know one brother who accepted Islam who learnt much about Islam through Hip hop.
Islamically, we should not be listening to anything that is encouraging us to engage in any haram activities and perhaps instead of painting everything with "the same brush" we need to stop and understand whether or not we have been observant of the parameters set by Allah for us and whether or not we are just being too "black and white" on issues where there are many shades of grey.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Farooq
-
Profession
student
Question
Do you think family breakdown is a significant factor in youth violence? And if so, why?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
If family breakdown is a result of violence or because of families breaking down children lose a good support system, there is no telling how they will react. Is it a factor in youth violence? In some cases, I would say yes.
The family is supposed to be the cornerstone of society. To provide a place for young people to be able to grow and express themselves. If they lose this right, then they may seek other methods to assert themselves. Of course, this assumes that the family is a functional one, based on shura (consultation) and is based on solid tarbiya (education).
Name
Aisha
-
Profession
Question
Do you think today's youth have a clear perception of 'consequences'?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
The idea of consequences, I believe, is rooted in the tarbiya (education) that should take place in the home. Consequences should be taught in all things because all actions have reactions.
Sometimes, parents do not want to do this because they think the child is too cute, never wrong, too small or because they want the child to have all the things they did not, etc. This means that they ignore behaviour that could be corrected. As such some young children grow up to believe that acting in a particular way is their right without any social conscience.
This question needs to be unpacked carefully. For example, I would say a young, Muslim girl would have a very clear idea of consequences even if she came home late as opposed to a young, Muslim boy. OR a young black, male driving a "nice car" as opposed to a young Caucasian male. A young child growing up in war as opposed to a child growing up in relative ease and comfort. All of these need to be thought of when considering this question.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Amani
-
Profession
Question
Why do so many young people turn to gangs, even though they know that this will lead to violent behavior and perhaps crime?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
It is important to realise why people join gangs to begin with. No one joins a gang to be violent or just to engage in crime. They do so because they feel a sense of belonging and family, something which they may not necessarily feel or experience in the places that they should.
Human nature is such that it pushes us to seek a support system because we cannot survive on our own. We are social creatures. Families need to carefully examine if they have been providing the type of support needed by their children in order to determine why they may be joining a gang.
Again, we cannot simply assume all gangs are negative because of media portrayals. There are good gangs. In fact, any group of people together can constitute a gang!
And Allah knows best.
Name
sheriff
- Canada
Profession
Question
What advice would you like to give to a violent person who wants to change his/her behavior for the better?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
May Allah bless you for this question.
It is important to remember that generally, violence is about power. One person trying to assert their power over another.
The advice of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) should be considered:
1) if angry when standing, sit down
2) if sitting, then lie down
3) make wudu'
It should also be remembered that controlling our anger is a way to enter paradise.
It is important to understand why we feel so powerless that we need to be violent. Sometimes if we can answer this question, then we may be able to understand why we resort to violence.
Sometimes, figuring out "cooling down" strategies are important such as:
1) walking away
2) having a friend to talk too
3) having a safe place to go too to just calm down
In other instances, counselling is important in order to help the person overcome fits of rage or violence.
I apologize because given the nature of live dialogue, I cannot do justice to such an important question.
And Allah knows best.
Name
mugeb
- Malaysia
Profession
financial consultant
Question
Most of the violence we see today, in my opinion, is a replica of what they see in the media especially from the TV. What should Muslim countries do to keep the positive, throw away the negative and still label itself as being modern & globalized country?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
The sensationalization of violence should not be promoted in any society because modern and globalized should also imply civilized.
There is a need to remember that we need to maintain balance between going from either extreme of full censorship to completely allowing any scene of violence to be displayed.
The Shari'ah was revealed to preserve the integrity of society and Muslim societies need to become global leaders in maintaining the fine line of balance between entertainment and maintaining the overall benefit to society.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Rayyan
-
Profession
Question
We want the youth to stop being violent, but we also want them to know how and when to defend themselves. How do we demarcate this?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
Teaching children/youth healthy forms of martial arts with the accompanying form of self discipline is an important way to do this. When we teach/model to our children to be disciplined, confident and have a sense of self respect as well as explain parameters and boundaries, they will understand that there the time and place for defending themselves. They will also understand how to do so.
And Allah knows best.
Name
lamees
-
Profession
Question
Can we ask youth to stop violence before everyone else does? I mean homes are violent, the streets are violent, there are wars, murders, domestic violence, books and stories are freely sold depicting sordid violence… do we dare moralize with the youth?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
If we were to apply this argument to all things, then we would be paralyzed and unable to change anything. The imperative to change is morally driven and divinely rooted. It is important for us to remember that we call people to all that is good and forbid what is evil. In doing so, we cannot expect a utopian fantasy to exist before we can call them.
Instead, we follow the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who was the best example to those around him. In so doing, he made a difference in the lives of those around him and they were able to change the society they lived in.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Zack
- Canada
Profession
Teacher
Question
Peace be upon you, the truth is youngsters have always been violent to some degree or another in different generations. It's a complete joke to assume kids in the past have not been violent or more as today. There are many historic evidences to the such. The reason it appears kids are more violent these days is because of information transparency. These days more and more people have a means of communicating data and thus analyzing it. The truth is we are just becoming aware as a whole on phenomena that have existed since the dawn of mankind concerning our own violence. What makes you think kids are more violent today than ever exactly?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
I quite agree with you and I do not believe that youth today are necessarily more violent than they have been in the past. Perhaps the instances of violence are changing but they are more apparent because of advances in technology. We are now able to hear and know about more things, in less time.
Violence has existed throughout time and is well documented in history, however Islamically, we have an obligation to limit violence in all and any form. Sessions such as these are good beginnings to get people talking and understanding the issues as opposed to simply resorting to crude generalizations and oversimplifications of what is a rather complex issue.
And Allah knows best.
Name
lamyaa
- Egypt
Profession
Question
Society gives the youth the message that violence is wrong, they give out harsh penalties, but at the same time allow so much violence in films, games, and in their own adult wars etc. Don't you think that these mixed messages confuse the youth and add to their frustration that makes them violent?
Answer
All Praise is due to Allah, we begin with His name and turn to Him in all of the tests He puts forward to strengthen us. May He shower peace and blessings upon Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, his family, companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement. May Allah, the most Kind, most Merciful bestow upon you His peace and tranquility and guidance.
Society is filled with double standards. We do teach children that violence is wrong, yet we invade countries under false pretenses and massacre families.
Even in schools, some types of violence are considered acceptable; for example, hockey violence is often overlooked but if the same violence occurred in the hallway of a school then students would likely be suspended.
In modern day entertainment, violence is glorified as well.
The questions we have to ask ourselves is why are we as a people (humanity) attracted to violence? Because if there was no demand, there likely would be no supply. Sometimes, it is difficult to answer questions we don't feel comfortable asking ourselves.
