The contemporary reality witnesses a tremendous shift in ideas and theories, accompanied by a growing state of abandoning the values and ethics that nations have upheld through sound human nature, replacing them with slogans that contribute to altering ethical and value-based constants, while Atheistic currents are emerging in every society.
The contemporary changes have become an undeniable reality, akin to the air that no one can avoid. It has either become an imposed reality in institutions or a chosen reality that people adopt themselves.
Zahra Al-Khuroosia says: The wave of atheism is significantly increasing. Whereas it used to occasionally surface timidly, today it has mobilized all social media platforms to achieve its goals. Its ease of access to people and rapid spread allow it to disseminate its destructive ideas, shaking the youth in their faith, leading them to a life of confusion, torment, and conflict, erasing the identity of religion and Arabism under dazzling names that appear merciful but conceal torment. (1)
Youth in the Face of Intellectual Bombardment
All international institutions and those raising development slogans aim to target youth, planning for their involvement in their programs because youth represent the power of change, the element of transformation, and the awaited creative energy. When we look at the value and impact of the transformation led by the youth, we find it profound.
In this era, atheistic currents advocating for the removal of religion from people's lives have proliferated. Some, like the French philosopher Auguste Comte (1857), considered religion a phase of primitive man. For some, this theory is firmly rooted, representing religion as a primitive stage and a form of backwardness.
Thus, religion was depicted as primitive, and its followers as backward. This view was reinforced by the evident disparity between religious leaders' preachings and their practices. While they urged people towards asceticism and chastity, they indulged in luxury and vice. They advocated for righteousness but fell into deviation themselves.
Here lies the first thread of atheism among the youth, which can be expressed as: the separation between theory and practice among religious leaders and preachers.
Additionally, the expansion of atheism is facilitated by the unrealistic idealism imposed by religious leaders, making religion appear difficult and unattainable, causing the behavior of the devout to sometimes diverge from natural human tendencies and other times from the needs of the body and soul.
Moreover, waves of moral decay in some societies have significantly contributed to the spread of atheism. The self cannot reconcile between piety and vice, or between desire and righteousness. It either remains upright or deviates, and the self is dominant over its owner, with free temptations being irresistible to the weak.
On another front, atheism has spread due to the widespread injustice in the world, leading the subconscious mind of the youth to perceive the world as lacking a vigilant overseer.
The spread of atheism is also reinforced by a flawed religious understanding that assumes divine power must fulfill our desires and wishes whenever we want. When these hopes are not met, the self deviates towards apostasy.
Moreover, the misconception of divine promises as immediate results is a severe flaw in worship. True worship entails submission, striving in work for stewardship, and understanding that Allah's promises have their appointed times, arriving as He wills, not as we decree.
Thus, the youth perceive the perceived delay in divine promises as a sign of a world without a wise overseer, leading the self towards deviation.
Youth in Our Societies
In our Arab and Islamic societies, the situation is no different. The state of civilizational defeat experienced by the Ummah has led the youth into paths of confusion, further exacerbated by persistent defeat and oppression, fostering restlessness among the youth. Additionally, the intellectual bombardment and Westernization currents target them specifically, aiming at them through educational missions and delegations.
Thus, the youth have become easy prey for seemingly official institutions with malicious intents.
This is reinforced by educational curricula that completely sever their connection with religion and link them solely to the tangible and what is produced in laboratories and research facilities.
Proposed Measures to Counter Atheism
Atheism undermines societal stability, destroys its civilization, and exacerbates family disintegration and the erosion of values. Protective measures are essential to counter the growth of this phenomenon. Although our Arab and Muslim societies rank low in atheism prevalence, the phenomenon is growing, its causes persist, and its spread is facilitated. The overall framework of culture, education, art, and the press, including religious discourse, does not encourage the decline of atheism; in some cases, it even promotes it.
Effective measures to counter atheism must be practical, feasible, and easy to implement, focusing on individual efforts and sincere initiatives by those concerned with combating the phenomenon, given that official institutions often neglect this issue.
Thus, the solutions cannot lie solely in calling for educational reform, as that would make the matter contingent upon its improvement.
Nor is it permissible to link the phenomenon to the renewal of religious discourse, as that would tie it to something that is subject to much attention and considerable disagreement.
Recommendations for Countering Atheism
To Neutralize atheism, we can do as follows:
- Family Care: The family, especially in Arab societies, is the primary educator. Couples should be prepared for marriage and child upbringing based on dialogue and persuasion, starting prevention before the onset of issues.
- Supplementing Education: Since formal education does not prioritize teaching the Quran memorization and contemplation, charitable institutions or individuals should undertake the task of linking youth to the Quran and Sunnah.
- Protecting Youth from Social Media: Engage in dialogue rather than prohibiting social media usage, managing discussions with youth effectively.
- Correcting Religious Misconceptions: Addressing the flaws in how the biography of the Prophet, Sunnah, and legislations are taught, instilling the Sharia as a constant practice in the youth's lives.
- Individual Responsibility: Every Muslim has a role in this effort, as societal well-being depends on the righteousness of its individuals. Collective disaster affects both the righteous and the corrupt.
- Utilizing Modern Technologies: Swiftly employing modern means to counter atheism, as ignoring them will entrench atheism among the youth, making them captives to these technologies.
- Promoting Broader Knowledge: Expanding the scope of knowledge to include both scientific and rational understanding, recognizing that knowledge extends beyond sensory perception and should not be validated solely by laboratory results. Using the observable world to understand the unseen aids in comprehending what the mind might consider impossible. From the beautiful examples, the hadith: “You will die as you sleep, and you will be resurrected as you wake up.” and the Quranic ayah: “And he presents for Us an example and forgets his [own] creation. He says, 'Who will give life to bones while they are disintegrated?' Say, 'He will give them life who produced them the first time; and He is, of all creation, Knowing.'” (Yasin: 78-79)
Thus, the indications of Sharia guide by comparing the unseen with the seen, making what the mind deems impossible attainable. The blessed individual who engages in educating youth following this approach.
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(1) Atheism among Gulf Women: Causes and Effects, p.73.
(2) Paths of Guidance and Righteousness (2/323).
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