Social media has swept across the world, and youth are now constantly connected to these platforms, becoming a primary target and a key component of the discourse they produce. These platforms have played a significant role in shaping identities and changing convictions. However, these media are not products of the Muslim environment, nor did Muslims create them; thus, they have become important tools controlled by others. They can now analyze people's interests and present content that aligns with their perceived personality.
At the same time, young people sometimes find in religious discourse a significant avenue for addressing spiritual voids and fulfilling their spiritual needs. It may provide answers to their existential questions, yet at the same time, they are faced with a multitude of religious sources, leaving them confused and unable to distinguish between right and wrong. Others may feel that religious discourse hinders their freedom or conflicts with their aspirations.
As a result, youth are divided regarding religious discourse: either rejecting it entirely because they see it as an obstacle to their goals, or accepting it based on their personal efforts or relying on unqualified sources. This creates a significant crisis between what they hear, see, and experience in reality.
Religious Discourse Must Be in a Language Closest to the Understanding of Youth, Focusing on High Ideals in Their Realistic Form
Concepts like victory, presented by unqualified preachers, often clash with reality. They offer an incomplete or false idea of victory, which conflicts with reality, leading to either total rejection of the discourse or acceptance of the incomplete version, which is then challenged by a layperson's question that the preacher cannot answer, such as: "Where is the victory that you portrayed?"
Issues like the status of the companions (Sahaba) are also presented by preachers in a way that raises questions in the minds of young people. They present the companions as angelic figures, leaving them puzzled with inevitable questions: If they were so angelic, why did they fight and quarrel among themselves?
Moreover, important concepts related to situations and ranks have been presented to young people in a way that stifles creativity, promotes defeatism, and instills procrastination. As Majid al-Kilani says: "The meaning of reliance on Allah has been turned into justification for randomness, chaos, lack of preparation, and wasting time and resources, whereas it used to mean perseverance and determination after completing preparations and planning.
The meaning of submission to divine will has also changed, becoming a justification for laziness and lack of achievement, whereas it used to mean determination in facing difficulties and disregard for all obstacles except Allah's will" (1).
At the same time, some preachers have narrowed the concept of righteous deeds, limiting it to religious activities, even though the Sharia emphasizes its broad scope, and there are practical examples of this, such as the story of the woman who gave water to a dog, or the one who suggested digging a trench, or changing the battlefield location at Badr, or the one who thwarted the enemies at the Battle of the Trench. Righteous deeds encompass judicial, military, social, and educational work.
Religious Discourse Must Be Contemporary and Relevant to the Reality of Youth, Offering them Psychological and Spiritual Support and Helping them Deal with Challenges They Face in Life
Majid al-Kilani says: "Righteous deeds are the practical translation and full application of the relationships defined by Islamic educational philosophy between the Islamic individual on one hand, and Allah, the universe, humanity, life, and the Hereafter on the other" (2). This broad concept should not allow preachers to justify someone leaving medical studies to study jurisprudence, claiming that jurisprudence is closer to Allah and has greater rewards.
Key Duties
Religious discourse must be in a language closer to the understanding of youth, focusing on presenting high ideals in their realistic form. When speaking of the companions, they should be presented in a way that acknowledges their humanity, without placing them in the ranks of angels or prophets.
The discourse should not promote the idea of a servant waiting for immediate reward, such as linking prayer to increased provision, without explaining the broader concept of provision or the type of prayer that necessitates it. Or by saying: "Whoever does this will get that" or "Whoever performs this act will find this outcome."
Worship is fundamentally based on complete submission to Allah and seeking the reward in the Hereafter. The effectiveness of worship lies in its reward in the Hereafter, not in its immediate reward in this world.
Religious discourse should reinforce the three fundamental existential questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? These are the questions that Western philosophies, which dominate the Western mind, have struggled with, as they attempt to alter human nature in the name of fixed freedoms and rights.
The concept of Sunnah should also be expanded to include mercy, kindness, honor, generosity, courage, modesty, gentleness, compassion, connection, and charity. The Sunnah should not be limited to a set of external actions, with debates over their importance and the ruling on praying behind someone who neglects them. This is wasted effort that consumes energy without any real benefit.
Educational Institutions Should Refine and Moderate Religiosity in the Minds of Youth Through Their Teachers if the Curricula Fail
Religious discourse must be contemporary and relevant to the reality of youth, providing them with psychological and spiritual support and helping them deal with the challenges they face in life.
Religious discourse must be built on dialogue and interaction with young people, understanding them, and welcoming the beneficial aspects of their ideas.
Thus, we can say that the falsification and simplification of young minds, leading them to waste their lives in confusion, is due to the retreat of religious discourse, its weakness, or the lack of awareness among those responsible for it, or their immersion in promises of quick religiosity that may not bear immediate results. This makes the harm of the discourse on youth greater than the harm of the means that attempt to neutralize them religiously or turn them away from religion entirely.
Necessary Roles
Youth are a vital segment of society, and the shaping of their religious consciousness cannot be left to unqualified preachers alone. Families must also play a role in guiding them to what is beneficial, without adopting an authoritarian or harsh approach that leads to rejection.
We must also highlight the role of religious institutions, which should reach out to young people and not be discouraged by those who say that the sick come to the doctor, and the doctor does not go to the sick. The role of institutions is to knock on the doors of youth and reach them from every window, as established religious institutions in the Ummah hold the closest image of truth and are most worthy of being followed.
Educational institutions must refine and moderate religiosity in the minds of youth, even through their teachers if the curricula fail to do so.
In the end, it is important that these roles are carried out with patience and wisdom in discourse, guidance, warning, encouragement, criticism, and acceptance or rejection. Young people tend to reject discourse that is not based on reason, that adopts coercion as a method, or that limits the range of acceptable views.
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1. Goals of Islamic Education, p. 169.
2. Ibid, p. 44.
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