InSeptember, post-Labor Day, millions of students resume or begin  their academic year. This can be a time of great excitement, as it  is a fresh start, and a chance to do things differently. It can also  be a time of anxiety, due to the new environment and people, as  well as the increased expectations 

Either way, this is a time of renewed focus. As Muslims in Canada,  we have to ask ourselves what support and advice we can give to our young people as they settle in for this academic year. 

Not Neutral 

The first thing that is crucial to recognize is that school is not a  neutral place of learning. Many older people think of school as  an environment that is only concerned with teaching English,  math and science, with no values or ideology being taught. So,  while Muslim parents would never send their kids to a church  youth group or a Christian summer camp, they are much more  comfortable sending them to public school or university.  

Schools and universities are not as overt in doing dawah to their  beliefs as a Christian bible camp. However, we must recognize  their dangers if we want youth to be able to benefit from them  without losing their deen in the process. Schools are designed to  convey the ideology, culture and values of the ruling elite. These  values include hyper-individualism, materialism, maximizing  personal freedoms and certainly keeping the consciousness of  Allah’s (SWT) commands out of individual and societal life.  Schools normalize these destructive ideas to our children and do  it in a way where it does not even seem like they are preaching  to them. Rather, they just make it seem like these ideas are  “normal”.  

In the case of public schools, Muslim students are made to  believe that there is something wrong with them if they believe  that men and women have different gender roles or that we are  obligated to give up our desires for the sake of Allah (SWT). This  is most apparent during Pride month when the celebration of  personal freedom and hyper-individualism is most pronounced  due to the promotion of homosexuality and unrestricted gender  expression. But it would be a mistake to think that this does not  happen all year.  

And if Muslim students show any kind of defiance to these  accepted norms, they are made to pay a higher social cost than  their parents would be in their workplace. We have seen  examples of Muslim students being berated by teachers for not  attending school on the day pride was being celebrated and even  being told to go back to their home country if they do not want  to accept the Canadian way of doing things. The fact that these  teachers have authority over these students, and the students  don’t have any option but to sit and listen to them can give us  some idea of how trapped they must feel. 

What this teaches Muslim children is that if they want to be seen  as normal, they must conform to the values of the larger un Islamic society in which they live. Our challenge as a community  is to provide our youth with the intellectual and social support  they need to not be afraid to champion the ideas of Islam, even  if these ideas are unpopular. How can we do this? 

Embrace the Struggle 

The primary truth that our youth and the elders supporting them  need to realize is that intellectual struggle is an integral part of  being a Mu’min (believer). We can see this exemplified  throughout the Quran, where Allah (SWT) recounts the story of  every prophet and how they struggled with the political and  intellectual elite of their time to establish the truth of Allah  (SWT)’s message. Ibrahim (AS) debated Nimrod, Nuh (AS)  preached tirelessly in the open and in secret, Shuayb (AS) called out  the economic injustices of his time, Musa (AS) engaged in a  competition with the top magicians of his time, and RasulAllah  (SAW) challenged the Arabs of his time to imitate the style and  rhetoric of the Quran. This struggle was not without  consequences. Many prophets were exiled, some were  imprisoned, and some were even killed for challenging the elite  of their time. But this did not deter them from standing for the  truth and conveying. 

Obviously, we want to protect our youth from being reckless or  causing themselves undue harm. But we cannot protect them  from the controversy that will always be associated with trying  to preserve and convey the teaching of this deen. Rather we  should prepare them to handle difficult conversations with their  peers, and even their elders, with wisdom and courage.  

This means educating them, and even ourselves, on the  intellectual proofs of the Islamic aqueedah so that they can be  certain in the Oneness of Allah (SWT), about His Messengers, and  the Day of Judgement. Once we are secure in our aqeedah, we  can learn about the dominant ideology of our time, secular  liberal Capitalism, and find out how to contrast the light of Islam  with the falsehoods and misguidance it presents. 

Refusing to engage in these vital conversations will not protect  our children from controversy. If we are not talking to our  children about these ideas, we should know that somebody else  is. And that person is not guided by the revealed message of Allah  (SWT) and the example of His Messenger (SAW). 

Being Organized and Balanced about the Dunya 

Being organized with our time and focus is crucial for Muslims,  as we are a serious people with big goals. While the dunya holds  very little value for us, our time in the dunya is immensely  precious, as this is the only time we have been given to invest in  our afterlife with good and lasting deeds. If we are distracted or neglectful, we will squander this precious time. RasulAllah (SWT)  (SAW) advised us: 

“Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old  age, your health before your illness, your riches before your  poverty, your idle time before your busy time, and your life  before your death.” [Al-Hakim] 

Fulfilling the obligations that Allah (SWT) has placed upon us to  organize our households and provide for our families, while  increasing in our understanding and implementation of the deen  requires a delicate balance. We have to productively engage with  our dunya obligations without becoming overwhelmed by them,  and losing focus of our deen. As our Beloved Messenger (SAW)  warned us: 

“Whoever is concerned about the Hereafter, Allah (SWT) will  place richness in his heart, bring his affairs together, and the  world will inevitably come to him. Whoever is concerned  about the world, Allah (SWT) will place poverty between his  eyes, disorder his affairs, and he will get nothing of the world  but what is decreed for him.” [Tirmidhi] 

As students who are working hard to establish themselves in life,  it is crucial to remember that you will get no more or less rizq  than Allah (SWT) has decreed for you. But if you commit to  engaging with the dunya with the intention of improving your  Hereafter, there will be a richness, contentment, and satisfaction  in your life.  

A practical way of achieving this balance is investing in skills that  you are interested in and passionate about, and finding a way to  serve the deen with them, whether this be a sport, physical  fitness, writing, speaking, knowledge work, or technical skills.  Any of these skills can be used to engage with young people who  need to be encouraged in the deen, advocating for Islam and  Muslims, and creating things that help others adhere to the  deen. 

Carrying a Civilizational Mission 

Finally, it is crucial to recognize that Islam is not an individualist  deen. Instead, it is a collective mission that our Ummah has been  charged with. The guidance revealed upon us is meant to guide  every aspect of our existence, from our individual worship, to  how we form our families and businesses, to how we interact  with the community, to how we structure the social, political and  economic systems that rule our lives. It is our collective mission  to share this guidance with the world, and to strive to apply it,  even if this is hated by the powerful enemies of the truth. Even  individual religious obligations like salah, learning the  fundamentals of the deen, and staying away from the prohibited  are better achieved by a communal approach. We must rely on  each other to provide an atmosphere of imaan which inspires us  to become better servants of Allah (SWT). 

Crucially, this atmosphere of imaan will also empower us to carry  out the full mission of this deen, as conveyed to us in the Quran:  

“You are the best nation produced [as an example] for  mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and  believe in Allah” [TMQ 3:110] 

To Our Youth on Campus 

All of these reminders are crucially important for those who  are going to college or university. For the youth who are  embarking on this life stage, this may be the first time that  you have been given independence from your previous  support system and have the ability to make your decisions.  Many will tell you that this is the time for you to be free and  chase your desires; what they call “experimenting”. The allure  of freedom is enticing. In reality, it is a mirage in the desert.  Behind the slogans lies an ocean of misery that converts one  from a slave to Allah (swt) to a slave to their desires.  Consequently, we must remember that Allah (SWT) saved us  from falling prey to these desires by maintaining one’s  obedience to Him (SWT). We must take ownership of our  commitment to Allah (SWT) and recognize we are following  Him (SWT) – not a culture, a tribe, or a family member.  

Use this time to become an independent and mature Islamic  personality, one who has a deep, profound, and reasoned  conviction in Allah (SWT) and His Messenger. Submit yourself  to the mission that your Creator has prepared you for, to  convey the message of this deen with clarity, conviction, and  compassion. Be courageous in challenging the dominant  ruling system built on replacing the rule of the Creator (SWT)  by the rule of the powerful. It is the same system that is  responsible for the horrors we witness on the streets of Gaza  and Palestine, more broadly. University/college is the time to  study these issues and reflect on the tragedy that has befallen  our Ummah.  

However, it is not enough to study the solution. Instead, we  must be part of the global organized effort to restore security,  dignity and prosperity to the Muslim lands by replacing the  corrupt, treacherous and dysfunctional systems that rule over  the Ummah with the system of Islam. It is this system that will  be a beacon of hope and shelter to all believers, as well as any  sincere seekers of truth. May Allah (SWT) make us part of this  noble effort.  

“We relate to you ˹O Prophet˺ their story in truth. They were  youths who truly believed in their Lord, and We increased them  in guidance. And We strengthened their hearts when they  stood up and declared, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and  the earth. We will never call upon any god besides Him, or we  would truly be uttering an outrageous lie. [TMQ 18:13-14]