A Call to the Youth of Islam
The youth in every nation are the fresh
blood that guarantees its life and the continuity of its existence. They are
the rightful extension of its history, the heirs who preserve its glories, the
correctors of its errors and deviated conditions, and the bearers of its
character to the generations that follow.
A Reflection from Age
We too were once young; but when old age
befell us, we turned back longingly to our youth, and realized that youth is
life itself—a blessing whose value is not known except to those who have lost
it. We saw the mistakes of youth at a time when they could no longer be
rectified. Today’s youth will become tomorrow’s elders, and they will feel what
we feel now. Yet how strange! If today’s elders were yesterday’s youth, and
today’s youth are the elders of tomorrow, then why this endless complaint
between the two? Why this mutual reproach between two beloved sides? Elders
complain of the recklessness, disobedience, and heedless impulses of the youth;
while youth complain of the elders’ slowness, hesitation, retreat, and their
suspicious outlook on life.
Law of Life
Patience, O you who are near yet far! The
difference between you is not one that can be remedied by effort, nor is your
dispute one to be decided by evidence or proof. It is rather a law of life, a
natural development. We were once where you are now, and you will one day be
where we are—without blame and without reproach. They are two stages of life,
and there is no third. We traversed them unwillingly, and you shall traverse
them unwillingly as well. Life is short—too short to be spent in blame, or wasted
in slumber. Let the youth be a perfection for their nation, not a deficiency;
an adornment, not a blemish. Let them add what is new to the noble virtues of
the past, renew the old beauties with fresh ones, and erase every fault of
their forefathers with a good deed.
The Muhammadan youth are most deserving of
precedence among the nations in seizing life and grasping the means of
strength—for their religion drives them to it, their faith offers proof for
every virtue, and their history stands as witness for every claim to honor.
A Prayer for the Youth
I seek refuge for the Muhammadan youth from
wasting their time in recounting the wrongs of their fathers, or in boasting of
their virtues. Rather, let them build upon what the doers of good have
established, and avoid the missteps of those who erred. I seek refuge for them
from slumber while time is wakeful, from jest while the world is serious, or
from contentment with lowly stations in life.
Final Counsel
O youth of Islam! My counsel to you is:
remain connected to Allah through devotion, to your Prophet through following,
to Islam through action, to the history of your ancestors through study, to the
manners of your religion through character, to the language of your faith
through usage, and to your brothers in Islam—your peers in youth—through care
and attention. If you do so, you will attain in life a great share, and from
Allah an abundant reward, and this world will shade you with its most pleasant
shade.
Read Also:
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Why Today's Youth are Hooked on Consumption?
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The Curse of the Weak Nations
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“Brain Rot”: The Digital Plague of Our Time
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Source: A speech published in “Counsels of the Masters of
Religion, Literature, and Politics to the Youth” by Sheikh Abdullah
Al-Mazrou’, Dar Al-Manarah, Jeddah, 1992.
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