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It's happening whether we are ready or not. Today, there are more Muslims in the precious age group of 15- to 25-year-olds than in any other age group. This is true in the United States, England, France, and almost all of the Western countries. This is also true of the countries in Africa and Asia. Whereas once the slogan was "Plan for the future of our children," the future is already here and we consistently find ourselves unprepared, unready, and unwilling in some instances to let our children become a part of the planning. This essay focuses on the ideal, on what should be and what can be, with regards to incorporating into our communities and our organizations, the hundreds and thousands of youth in our midst. It's time we started to focus on youth of all ages, but especially those in the 15- to 25-year-old age group.
Two typical conversations between a masjid elder and a youth go like this:
1. The Youth Do Not Feel Welcome
Masjid elder: We need your help, the masjid is your home, you should serve your community.
Youth: I don't feel welcome at the masjid. I feel out of place.
Masjid elder: Why?
Youth: It seems like all you guys do is argue, shout, and fight about issues which I don't understand.
Masjid elder: We are not shouting and fighting, we are discussing, we are trying to hold a shura, which is mutual consultation.
Youth: I don't hear much of anyone consulting anyone else but rather people shouting and putting each other down, putting each other's nationality down, each other's madhhab down, and so on. I mean you guys spend hours debating how tall the new minaret should be, and to be frank, I don't even think we need a minaret when we can barely afford to fund the plans to build the actual prayer space.
Masjid elder: You just don't understand. This is the state of your community. Those are small issues to you, but they mean a lot to us. We struggled and saved money to build our dream masjid. We have been working on this masjid plan since 1975, even before you were born! When we came to this country, we had no place to pray. Now look how much we accomplished. I am saying you should come to the masjid and help. Maybe if you and your generation come, you can change things for the better.
Youth: That's what I mean. We appreciate all of your sacrifice. We just don't understand your outlook. Why is it so important to cling to plans for the masjid that were developed when the community was much smaller in number? As for the youth, well, there is no plan to accommodate the youth.
Masjid elder: What do you mean? Who do you think we are sacrificing our blood, sweat, and tears for? We are doing all this for you.
Youth: No, Uncle. That's what I mean. You should be sacrificing for the sake of Allah, and trying to serve Allah by establishing a masjid and a center that serves all groups of our community, including the youth and the women.
Masjid elder: Well, you can talk that big talk from the outside, mister, but why don't you try to come and be a part of us.
Youth: My friends and I just don't see how we could have any impact on a situation in which even the most knowledgeable elders do not listen to each other or even give each other the chance to express themselves without shouting and fighting. But we'll try to come, in sha' Allah.
2. The Youth Can Come, But They Must Do What We Say
Masjid elder: We had a meeting last night, and we are eager to reach out to the youth. We know we need the youth, some of us are getting so old, we are barely able to bend over to pick up our children! We know we cannot do everything, so we need the help of the youth.
Youth: Ma sha' Allah, that is great. I'll be sure to tell my friends.
Masjid elder: Well, we need a lot of help at the masjid, and we believe you and your friends have a lot of energy and should learn to serve Allah and your community.
Youth: Yeah, that sounds great. I know my friends would really like to get involved in the masjid. I'll tell them to come, in sha' Allah.
Masjid elder: Get involved? What do you mean?
Youth: You know, ma sha' Allah, many of us are involved in our schools and are members of various clubs and student organizations. We have developed skills that we believe, in sha' Allah, we can use to help the masjid run smoothly. That's what I mean by getting involved!
Masjid elder: I think maybe we have a misunderstanding. What I meant was that we need a lot of help cleaning the masjid bathrooms, folding letters, stuffing envelopes, stapling the newsletter, and more. Ma sha' Allah, we have many knowledgeable brothers and sisters who love to work with the youth. In fact we call them "youth workers," and they will, in sha' Allah, plan activities and fun things for you to do. Brothers in our community like Omar, Yusuf, and Musaab, ma sha' Allah, all of them have teenage children and they know exactly what the youth need.
Youth: Yeah, you're right. We do have a mega-misunderstanding. None of us mind cleaning the masjid bathrooms and volunteering to stuff envelopes, but what I meant by getting involved was that the youth would be able to organize activities for the youth by the youth. Even if Uncle Omar, Yusuf and Musaab have the best intentions, they do not really know what we need. We know how to organize ourselves, and all we need is your blessings and your advice from time to time.
Masjid elder: My dear mistaken youth, you cannot give what you do not have. You think you know what you need, but in reality, you do not. It is the arrogance of the youth that we uncles want to bring under control. I wish you would understand.
Youth: No, uncle, I pray to Allah to help you understand.
Have you read the two conversations above? I know it's painful, but go back and read the conversations again. What happened to make us end up in this state? Is it too late? Are we at the point of no return?
Al-hamdu lillah, despite the fact that there are still some Islamic centers and masjids where conversations like the ones above are taking place, there is a lot of hope, and things are in fact changing for the better. Let us dream together about what life could be like if and when an Islamic center had a viable youth committee, staffed by youth, with an adult advisor. What functions would such a committee serve?
A Sense of Belonging and Ownership
Many youth do not feel welcome at the masjid because it seems more like a "club" for some select families, rather than an open space to be treated with great care and respect but to be used to its maximum to serve the needs of all segments of society. When a viable youth committee is staffed by youth, they develop a sense of belonging, of ownership, and a feeling that this committee is their space. They can meet, plan, develop programs, implement programs, evaluate their efforts, and strive to improve their plans. Essentially, they can feel the committee is for youth, by youth.
Relevance
No matter how much the elders try to assess what the youth need and then plan to meet those needs, the youth will perceive such efforts as being irrelevant and out of step with what's "cool" and what's fun! Consider, for example, when elders plan a lecture just for the youth. Making the lecture relevant to the youth does not just mean it has to have the word "youth" in the title, such as "Muslim Youth: Developing an Islamic Identity." While this lecture is obviously relevant to the youth, who presents the lecture and what style that person uses to present it could make even the most relevant topic seem irrelevant.
Rather than getting an elder to present this topic, the youth committee could seek out a practicing Muslim who is either in college or has graduated from college, who grew up in the same country or community, and who has a motivating speaking style. This speaker would not talk down to or yell at the youth, almost chastising them for not having an Islamic identity. The speaker chosen for the youth, by the youth, would establish immediate relevance by reaching back to his or her own experience, citing common challenges the youth face in the process of developing their Islamic identity, motivating the youth to overcome those challenges, and concluding by clearly delineating elements of what constitutes the best Islamic identity.
Outreach to Other Youth
A youth committee run for youth by youth will have the requisite lingo (note, not just the ability to speak the same language), will go to where the other youth are, and, in sha' Allah, be able to convince, one by one, other youth to join them in the masjid and youth center activities. Who better to welcome other youth to the masjid than a committee comprising youth! One of the tragedies of the current masjid and Islamic center modus operandi is that the masjid elders cannot reach out to the youth who are their own children, let alone reaching out to the youth who frequent the masjid at `Eid time or even worse, who never go to the masjid. A youth committee empowered with the resources to conduct outreach will, in sha' Allah, not only reach out effectively to other Muslim youth, but in time and with sufficient training and advice from the elders, will also be able to invite youth of other faiths to learn about Islam.
Technical Savvy
My 3-year-old son uses terms such as "shut down" for the computer and can say my e-mail address out loud because he has so often heard me give it to others. He can answer the phone, carry on a conversation, and if he calls me and I do not answer, then he actually waits for the voicemail to be activated and leaves me a message. All praise is due to Allah, but I know that my son is not different than most children who are growing up in the midst of this technological boom!
A youth committee would, in sha' Allah, utilize, within Islamic limits, technology for the best uses possible. They would design an elaborate Web site; develop, with the help of the elders, a database of online learning resources, have discussion forums moderated by more mature and knowledgeable youth, conduct surveys and polls about current issues and upcoming plans, as wel as conduct online evaluations of programs that have already been conducted. Instead of waiting until the hour of the lecture to know how many youth will attend and if enough food was bought, they would have online registration and even a deadline after which the youth who did not register could not attend!
Islamic Knowledge Programs
A youth committee could assess the needs of its members and develop, with the help of the elders, a series of programs to help increase their Islamic knowledge. These programs can be organized entirely by the youth, who would invite speakers based on the topic and their particular area of expertise. The youth can have weekly programs when school is in session and then have more intensive programs during the holidays. The goal would be to ensure that, along with social programs, sports, and other activities, Islamic knowledge programs would have priority.
Final Thoughts
Finally, so much more could be written about this ideal youth committee run by the youth for the youth. However, in addition to increasing the love of the youth for the masjid and indeed for serving Allah, there would be a tremendous parallel benefit to the entire community in the form of caring for our young sisters and including them in activities.
In sha' Allah, in teaching our youth at an early age how to interact with the other gender within Islamic guidelines, we would in effect be raising an entire generation of young men and women who treat each other with mutual respect, modesty, dignity, and most importantly, equality. In due time, these Islamically knowledgeable, upright sisters will become an integral part of the masjid and youth center governance. Over time, we could begin to see Islamic centers that are not only Muslim-friendly, but youth-friendly and definitely sister-friendly. If this dream-like essay sounds impossible to you, get with the times because the future is already here!
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