Islam And The Problems Of The Youth

 

Book Title: Islam And The Problems Of The Youth

Author: Imam Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti

Translated By: Mahdi Lock

Publisher: Nawa Books.

Summary: The problem is not the youth. The problem is the society; you, me, and everybody.

"Maybe one of these people (the youth) will look for something to deliver him from these doubts and contradictions, and thus he will seek refuge in philosophy, thinking that because of the pomp and splendour of this word, its leading figures must have certain knowledge of everything."   - page 23

Well, guess what; As I was waiting for the bus sometime last week, I saw an ITE (Institute of Technical Education) student reading, of all things, "Major Works: Selected Philosophical Writings (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)".

It's rare enough to see any student reading anything nowadays, as most of them will be staring at their handphones most of the time, but to see an ITE student reading a philosophy book suddenly reminded me of what the Imam said. 

Here are some other passages from the book that felt important to me:

"When the young person turns his attention to the community in order to learn and equip himself from its thaqafah, he falls into - because of what we mentioned - contradictions concerning the affairs of life, confusion regarding manners of pedagogy and behavior, and incompatibility in how the community is structured and organised."

"...It is human nature that the more a person is liberated from the shackles of his mind, the more committed he is to his impulsive motives".

Among other thing, the Imam went on to say that the youth must be patient. I'd like to think that this advice applies to the adults well. Patience is not easy, but the imam manage to reframe the question in such a way that it makes me think hard about being patient. It's on page 74. I never asked myself it that way. 

The cure prescribed by the Imam is simple, but not easy. This book is not just for the youth, but for everyone who was once a youth. 

All we need really, is to look at our state of affairs sincerely and then begin to look at the contradictions of society and the remedies provided by Islam.