The word youth means a young man or a young woman..Islamically the stage of youth begins with the age of puberty. This age is sensitive and looks for ideals, heroes, thoughts, attitudes, life styles ideologies which shapes their character and cultures. The strength of a society iss influenced by the contribution of the young people . In the Islamic period of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) the youth were groomed to be extra ordinary in their skills, their faith and their character. Let us see a few examples:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) recommended the people to learn Qur’an from four people. three of them were young men. Abdullah bin Masood, Muadh bin Jabal and Salim Moula Huzefa.. Allah be please with them. Salim Moula Huzefa was once reciting the Qur’an aloud in the Masjid e Nabwi and Ayesha Sidduiqah heard his Qirat and appreciated before the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet exlaimed :Alhamdolillah! for having such brilliant young Qaris in my Ummah….
Zaid bin Thabit’s tribe brought him to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they said : O Prophet (peace be upon him) this young man has memorised nine lengthy Surah.. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was glad to know it and he instructed Zain ” learn Hebrew because I have to correspond with the Jews and Christians…..Zaid obeyed him and he learnt Hebrew in jsut 12 days !!! Amazing
The young men around the Prophet were all excited and anxious to learn more and even minute details of Religion. Zaid bin Khallid r.a said I ll observe how the Prophet prays his Tahajjud.. and he observed and gave a detailed version about the Prophet’s Tahajjud..While the prophet prayed the young man patiently observed. Let me remind you the length of that Prayer.. he prayed two short rakah (units), then six extremly long ones.. and Zaid r.a. studied it.
Abdullah bin Amr bin al As used to write every thing that the Prophet said, he was another young man. Some people objected because they feared that at times the Prophet (peace be upon him) is angry and he may not be in proper mode of saying.. so Abdullah stopped. The Prophet inquired from him as to why did he stop writing. After hearing his reasons he instructed.. Continue writing , because I dont speak any thing but truth.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) announced : Muadh Bin Jabal.r.a.knows maximum in haram and halal… Zaid bin Thabit r.a. most knowledgeable about the obligatory things…
Abdullah bin Abbas was very young when the Prophet (peace be upon him) died. So he went to an Ansari sahabi and told him : let us compile all the knowledge that the Prophet has left behind. The Ansari said : who would require form us as there are other seniors present among us?..Ibn Abbas tarried on his on and travelled hectically to verify even one narration. A day came when he was rated as a top scholar in Islamic knowledge including Fqh, Tafaseer… his house was like a school. college and university with people flocking to learn more and more…Once some body exclaimed : Abdullah and Obedullah are two gems of Madina.. one distributes knowledge and other wealth and food… Obeduallah r.a. was Ibn Abbas’s brother.
Today many of our youth are confused if there is any scope in Islamic studies ! They compare it with other lucrative careers which offers a status in the society. As long as the Muslim youth took up Islamic studies passionately and prefered it above their own desires and life style, success kissed their foreheads.
Today we require so many encouraging words and notes and assurances to persuade students, brilliant in academic studies, to opt for Islamic studies as there is a huge vaccum in the field. I asked a student:Why do you want to be a doctor? He replied: I want to serve humanity. I said : Shall I show you a better career for serving humanity? Pursue Islamic studies…As a doctor you are saving a person’s life and as a an authentic scholar of Islam? You are saving his akhera and the moral fabric of society..
Infact every student who gets around 80+ dreams of becoming a doctor or an engineer. but how many actually get into it? According to the reports, only less than one percent of those who apply for medicine manage to get admission into it. What happens to the rest?
I dont say Muslims should not do Medical studies but I say if there are students who are enthusiastic in learning deen and are already into it as a teacher or a reader of Scholarly works on deen then inspite of getting 85+ they may prefer Islamic studies. They are the inheritors of the treasure that the Prophet left behind, the treasure of Knowledge.
Author :Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on socio-educatinal issues from Islamic perspective. he can be reached at nisaar_yusuf @yahoo.com