A sad indictment on the state of the Ummah’s Imān and knowledge is the wearing of garments with the Cross – even in the Masjid – under the pretext of supporting certain soccer teams. Included in Shirk is displaying or respecting symbols of Shirk such as the Cross

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MY BELOVED PROPHET- Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam.

There was a time in my youth,
When Islam was only a custom.
They said say there is no deity except God,..
And pray, youll go to Heaven.

Ah, how simple, no struggle in this,
Just a word, and simple act.
Thereafter Im absorbed in this world again,
With my assured place in Paradise intact.

But this was not to be my fate
For ALLAH chose to guide my heart.
I learnt of a man who struggled so hard
When his mission was from the start.

The story of someone who had morals,
Spoke gently, kindness he knew.
Never fearing to say whats right,
His conviction in ISLAM was true.

The touch of his hand was as soft as silk
To comfort a crying child.
To mend his clothes, or do the chores,
Never complaining, he always smiled.

His smell was always of musk,
And cleanliness he kept at his best.
Stark contrast with the heroes of today,
Who stink of beer and sweat.

He held the hands of his companions.
Unashamed to play with many children.
So modest, so humble, a perfect example,
That strangers could not recognise him.

His eyes slept little for nights were precious,
His prayers he treasured much greater.
To pray in the depths of night,
Seeking forgiveness, and nearness to his Creator.

He broke his tooth for me at Uhud,
And bled for me at Taif.
He cried for me, tears of concern,
Just so I could have this belief.

His enemies admired his teachings,
Uniting every religion, every clan.
Till ISLAM came to every corner of the world,
O, but indeed he was only a man.

To own a house, or build his wealth
Was not his main priority.
To establish ISLAM was more essential,
To bring us under a Higher Authority.

Dont you want him to plea for your case,
When before ALLAH-The Judge-you stand?
Dont you wish to be around his fountain,
A burning desire to drink from his hand?

So I love him more than all creation,
My Leader, my Humble Prophet.
Muhammad (SAWS) was a mercy to all mankind,
And to me, he is MY BELOVED

pThis piece comes from a href=http://muslimmatters.org/2009/05/25/the-lost-boys-and-girls-bringing-back-young-muslim-teens/MuslimMatters/aAnyone who’s been around Muslim teens between the ages of 10 – 17 will recognize a disconcerting and disappointing trend: youthful apathy. Selfishness, self-centredness, and almost total obliviousness to the world around them. And despite the self-absorbtion, there is still a lack of proper sense of self and strong identity./p
pIt can be understood, perhaps, in that these are formative years in which children and adolescents are struggling with a huge input of information from the world around them that they can’t quite figure out what to do with. These years are recognized as the most difficult years for parents, and for the children too; but for Muslim parents struggling to raise their children upon Islam here in the West, the problems are compounded./p
pMany concerned parents complain about how their children prefer to remain with unIslamic influences and ignore the parents’ attempts to sway them towards coming to the Masjid and being involved with other Muslims. Time and time again I hear the same advice being reiterated, but unfortunately the problems persist. After a while, I wondered if another approach was needed – something a bit deeper and more long-term than one-off youth programs or conferences. Perhaps we need to re-analyse the causes of youthful misguidance, and come up with a more detailed method of reaching out to them./ppHere I hope to present my own rudimentary theory of the reasons as to why so many of our younger teens, even those who come from relatively practicing Muslim households, become utterly disinterested in Islam and get sucked into the kaafir lifestyle. From there, insha’Allah we can work harder towards bringing back our lost boys and girls to the straight path./p
pstrongIt’s All About You/strong/p
pWe’re always wondering what we can do to draw our youth back to the Masjid, back to Islam, to engage them and involve them and above all, keep them safe. In order to do this, we need to look at the other side first – what is it about the non-Muslim lifestyle that attracts the kids so much? A lot of the time, it’s the attention that they recieve – in a culture that celebrates and promotes individualism to an unhealthy extreme, narcissistic youth are dazzled by how it’s all about them. Sure, other factors are involved, such as how the culture appeals to all those budding desires, but when you get down to it, it’s mostly about the attention./p
pThat’s where we need to start. We need to give our youth attention too, and indulge their narcissism… to a certain point. And above all, in a constructive way./p
pnbsp;/p
pstrongKnow Thyself/strong/p
pWe complain about our kids having an identity crisis. To be frank, most of these kids don’t even know who they are… forget about who they are as Muslims, they don’t even know their own personalities. Much of the time they’re just swept up in the latest trends and follow the fickle crowd without thinking about whether they actually like the items they’re wasting their money on, or the activities that they throw themselves into just because it’s what the cool kids do./p
pWe have to help our youth know themselves. Once they know themselves, once they’re confident in themselves and have an idea of their own potential, of what they want to do with that potential, then they will be more solidly grounded and have a better foundation upon which to build their futures./p
pTo be a strong Muslim, one must be a strong person; the key to being a strong person is knowing who you are at your very core, being able to identify your own characteristics and values which will remain unchanged no matter what situation you’re put in./p
pA solid Islamic upbringing from infanthood goes a long way in building this kind of strong character, and as always is the first thing that parents must be aware of. However, for those who perhaps were not as Islamically practicing during their childrens’ early childhood, and now wish to change their parenting styles and their children for the better, then there are other ways that they can encourage their children to develop and strengthen their invidual characters./p
pIt is now that we combine the teens’ desire for attention with the goal of helping them find themselves. Either at home or in a youth group/ workshop environment, our youth need to be invited away from all the clamouring, glamorous outside influences and given the space and time to focus on themselves, on who they are. Have them look deep within themselves, that space where they keep their deepest thoughts and desires, their hopes and fears, their darkest secrets. That space where they as individuals exist on a level where nothing and no one else can reach them except themselves. What do they find in that space?/p
pRemember that soul-searching and personal development isn’t something that can be over and done with in a few hours, a day, or even a couple weeks. It is in fact a life-long endeavour – but it is something which must be fostered from a young age, so that there is a solid sense of self that can be analysed and improved constantly./p
pnbsp;/p
pstrongCastles in the Air/strong/p
pIf you ask a five year old, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” you’re likely to get a long list that includes astronaut, cowboy (or cowgirl), firefighter, teacher, or even farmer. Ask the same question to a preteen or young teen, and you’re more likely to be answered with a blank expression, a careless shrug, and a muttered, “I dunno.”/p
pThis particular phenomenon in our youth is a distinct lack of vision. Stemming from the problem of not knowing themselves, our young Muslim teens tend to stumble through school and these important years of their lives in a confused daze. They rarely have a tangible idea of what they want to do with their lives; in this era of technology-centred activities, few of them recognize that they have other talents and skills which can be developed and used for the benefit of mankind./p
pWe need to help our youth open their eyes and realize that there is more to themselves, and to life, than their shallow routine of chasing after the current fad. Teens have to realize that adolescence isn’t playtime; it’s the stepping-stone towards full-blown maturity and the rest of their lives. So what are they going to do with those lives?/p
pHere is where we need to foster and encourage life visions. What life visions do these youth have? Do they think they’ll be able to achieve that ‘ultimate end’? If so, how? If not, how come? How can they achieve those dreams of theirs?/p
pLet’s encourage our youth to open their hearts, minds, and eyes, and make their imaginations go wild. Let them build castles in the air!/p
pnbsp;/p
pstrongTools of the Trade/strong/p
pLife visions are pretty big dreams and it can be easy to be discouraged about them. So, break the “big dream” into a series of smaller, practical long- and short-term goals that can be steadily achieved and implemented. Accomplishing each ’small’ goal becomes a stepping stone towards the final vision. As Muslims, our goal is Jannah; reaching that destination, however, requires a lot of work in a lot of different areas and in a lot of different ways./p
pEvery goal of life is reached by utilizing skills and talents; discovering, developing, and strengthening them for maximum benefit. Now that our youth have an idea of what they want to do with their lives, they should also be able to recognize which skills they’ll need to reach those goals. It’s time for them to do a bit more soul-searching – or rather, talent-searching. What are their talents? What are they good at? What do they love to do? At this present time, how do they utilize those skills? How can they develop and improve these abilities? In the long term, how can they use these skill sets to reach their goals?/p
pAnother important point to remember is what the old proverb says: “Idle hands/minds are the devil’s workshop.” Too much free time causes our youth to seek out activities to stave off boredom, and these activities tend to be of the dodgy not-very-halaal kind. One way of killing two birds with one stone is to enlist these youth in serious activities at the masaajid; that is, coming up with ways to give the teens a chance to practice their skills in a work-like environment that benefits both the youth, and the masaajid themselves. However, make it something serious – actually pay the youth for their work, instead of doing it on a volunteer basis, as that gives the tasks the appearance of a chore rather than attracting the teens. Not only will the youth learn the basics of business and apprenticeship, but it gives them a far better environment to work in than the usual options of fast food and retail./p
pnbsp;/p
pstrongStrong and Free/strong/p
pIn a nutshell, the above is part of what I percieve to be a rough guide/ method to dealing with the problem of lost, apathetic, confused Muslim teens who are sucked into a culture of shallowness, vanity, and selfishness. We have a group of kids who have so much potential, who could be the next great leaders of this Ummah, if only we could unplug them from their iPods, unhook them from their video games, and drag them away from the latest sales at the mall./p
pOur youth can be – and will be, insha’Allah – strong and free, secure in their identities as Muslims and their own unique personalities. In their submission to Allah, they will be empowered to becoming the next generation of movers and shakers, those who will improve the state of this Ummah in every field./p
pWe just need to guide them away from the distractions of this dunyah and engage their hearts, minds, and souls… all we have to do is give them the time and attention that they crave, and that they need so that they may become the kind of glorious personalities they have the potential to be. It will be, and is, a long, hard road for parents, the youth, and those of us who have dedicated our lives for the sake of Allah to strengthen this Ummah; but insha’Allah the payoff in both this world and the Hereafter will be worth every agonizing moment of it./p
pMay Allah guide our lost boys and girls, and guide us all, to the Straight Path; to that which is best for us all in this world and in the Hereafter; and to that which is most pleasing and beloved to Him, ameen./p

This was forwarded by one of the MyUmmah.co.za readers. Brother Aslam Seedat emailed this through requesting to have it published. It’s quite a long read but a very hardhitting and important one, especially for the youth like myself. I’ve copied this from his Wordpad file, hence my apologies for the lack of proper formating & grammar, I’ve rectified where possible. It’s a long read, and the writer has not minced his words. May Allah accept all our efforts and guide us on the path of Haqq

A Fools Paradise

In the name of Allah the most Kind the most Merciful
“Soon there will come upon people an age, wherein a person will be forced to choose between helplessness
(of being outcast) and immorality.
Whoever finds himself in such a situation, should choose rejection over vice.”

Where are the youth?
What are they doing?
Where is there faith?
Why do they choose fools (friends) over family?
How the youth turns trust into deception
What? Where? & How? A teenager lives his life?

Introduction:

A lot of questions we might have the answers but less do we know that every child from ages 14 to 25years never think that they “innocent” they all living a life chasing the world instead of the akhirah.  Little do they know the “high” lies in “imaan” no money can buy no human can give no evil will be able to taste the sweetness of imaan but a mu’min.oh youth you might be fooling your family you can never fool the all knowing the all seeing allah so if you wish to run towards evil and follow shaytaans path so foolish of you to join hands with him think again before its to late allah is merciful but we need to earn his mercy we can say it but the final decesion is left in the almighty’s hands.

We want both worlds but for a muslim there is one path allah made his road straight and simple without off ramps we take his path and follow the beloved prophet muhammad s.a.w(peace be upon him) and his sunnah and we follow the quraan and live a life a believer that is called a muslim but take the off ramps the clubs,raves,alcohol,drugs,friends,adultry and still think that’s living a life a believer a fool or not? Hadrat abdullah ibn mas’ud r.a relates that rasulullah s.a.w said: “there will be four seductive trials over this ummah,the last (and greatest) of them shall be music.”

Where it all begins?
Music has a great effect on a person. Music brings happiness, joy, relaxes the body and the time period spent listening is just about good music creating some sort of comfort when you listen.  Each time you jump in the car music is on come home music when its time to sleep music is on until music comes a part of your life and starts to control your life. You live for music each song released is a must have if you don’t you’ll go out of your way to get it. At first it was bringing happiness etc. Now a person will sacrifice his time and spend wealth on it. This is where the brainwashing starts
for a 12year old or for any age. Music draws the attention anywhere any place if you don’t listen you wont fit in. 1st stage is done the youngster heart is desiring dunya and that’s where the youth slip in shaytaans web.

Dajjal will not come with women,alcohol nor with a drug he’ll arrive with music! oh youth think music is still fine and be ready to follow dajjal “Allah save us all”ameeen.

Hadrat mu’ad ibn jabl r.a reports nabi s.a.w said: “At the end of time,there will be such people who will display their brotherhood in public, but will be sworn enemies deep down .” it was asked “how will this be, o Rasul of allah ? rasulullah s.a.w replied: “it will be due to self interests and ulterior motives of some over others,and due to fear and anxiety of some from others.”

these are my foes…….

Yes we all need friends but who knows in todays times of any good friends that’s the question of every parent and feel there child is all innocent for that friend and that parent feels the same way. This is where both parents should’ve made some sort of contact and relationship this is how friends stayed friends those days and had innocent times.  These days friends don’t want parents to get involved with each other so they don’t phone to ask where and what they doing.  That parent trust the child this is the starting point of deception where the child takes advantage of the trust.
This is where a teenager regards his friends as family and family as friends. Until he breaks up with 1 and move on to a new set of friends and the cycle carrys on cause friends lead you to wrong and 1 past friend will teach you a wrong which you’ll pass on to the next lot of friends. By now friends have become your life you’l go out of your way to please them.

Having friends today is all about having a good time you speak of Allah they say you holy anything to do with Allah they don’t wanna hear nor do any good. Its all about getting high smoking dagga, acid ,cocaine, cat music etc.  Happening they wanna move with the flow whatever they think they do they live day to day like that Allah is not a part of there heart and there life.
Allah save us all. Ameen

The more time you spend with friends like these the more you enjoy there company and start to dislike being with family. Already we see the ideology of friends starting to use each other but they wont show it, “deep down they enemies” there is never a good deed only sin is good in there eyes.the only friends and true friends to you is your family.
2nd stage completed friends want to drag you to jahannam and family are always concerned of your akhirah! whose your best friend you choose?

intoxicants:
There are 3 types of intoxicants :

*The first is the intoxicating wine of ‘dunya’. the majority being some intoxicants taken from the face of the earth gold,silver,property,bussiness,fashion,cars womenizing etc. these are all desires of dunya and shall not remain forever.it will one day perish.
*The second kind of intoxicant is the intoxication of the aakhirah(hereafter)
*The third kind of intoxicant is the intoxication of ‘haq’.the drink of devine love
this is unique as it is niether created nor will it perish. It was. It is. It will always be.

These 3 types of intoxicants i had to share we cant reguard alcohol and drugs as intoxicants only there are many intoxicants in our daily life and what we live for as well things of this dunya which has become our objective in life.sad to say yet we take allah bounty for granted and show no gratitude unto the creator for his blessing. Are we ourselves not become intoxicants of the desires of ‘dunya’?

hadrat anas r.a narrates that rasulullulah s.a.w said: “when my ummah will begin to consider 5 things as lawful,then destruction will rain on them : when they begin to abuse each other, wear silken clothes, when they indulge in music and keep dancing girls,start consuming liqour,and men become content on satisfying themselves with men and women with women.”

The Club
The 1st stage is what lead a person to the club. Had he not listen to music he would not be dancing to the song nevertheless I’ll share with you the preperation for the ultimate night of the week.

Its midweek as your body is rushing for the weekend to arrive, you prepare by getting a hair do organise your dressing and your drugs such as pills, acid, dagga, alcohol etc. Without these intoxicants you wont enjoy the night niether get through the night. During the week friends will hangout by each others houses taking a drug to keep there minds busy and this motivates them until the final hour.

Friday is here friends tell there parents we hanging out by each others house or going for a movie or to grab a chow some excuse they will make to get out for the night or till early parts of the morning. They got there excuses and they on there way to the club. They then will grab a chow it’s a long night and to take intoxicants on a empty stomach wont get a good kick from it. They finish there meals from there it’s a straight road to the club pumping the drugs in there system so before they reach they high and ready to party. The clubbers look for parking and proceed to the entrance some clubs offer free entrance from 8pm to 10pm so lot of people try to get in by then so they have extra cash for water and alcohol as this stimulates the drug and having more energy for the night. You then wait in a long line to get in you speak to people you hav’nt met infront or behind you. You then proceed to the bouncers they search you for arms and dangerous objects that’s all. Entrance fee is then paid and they stamp your hand.

In the club
You are in” music pumping in all corners smiles on everyone’s faces, all kind of races men and women dancing adrenaline is rushing in your entire body you are now free to do anything you want and with whomsoever you want. You go to the bar have a few shots your mind is now taken away and not in your senses you buy your drink to take with you on the dance floor you start your night on the funky floor and the type of music played is mellow slow tunes to put you in the groove and to get the night started. It takes a few minutes until the dj plays a track that the whole floor is dancing too………. Your body starts flowing to the beat hands and feet dancing to the rythum until a better track plays each song is 5-10min long by now you dancing for half an hour your mind body and soul is in another world and ready to make your way to the rave floor pitstop by the bar shots and a sider to take in (all these drinks are food for the drug and more energy pumps in)_……
you enter the rave floor with two options put infront of you the 1st being you wanna be in the middle of the crowd where every one is tripping and infront of the dj or the 2nd you choose the boundry of the crowd once you got your dance spot in its place your night is off to a great start…moment you touch your ground not a second will pass adrenaline flows through the body like you are in the drivers seat you are in control this is “the life” these words echo in your mind as you feel inferior like no men can stop you from your moment your hand flying through the air your feet moving swiftly on the ground the various colour lighting flikering as if every move you make looks spectecular at the climax of the track smoke is blown into the crowd…every rave number that plays a new dance will be performed by the person this goes on with drinks which will carry you through the night until the morning..the next day the person will sleep the entire day to get his body up and running he’l skip meals with the family and try to avoid them cause they will might see his appearance is different and the smell of the alcohol..don’t be fooled dear parent for you are the door and the key to jannah and have every right over your offspring and will be answerable for your own flock unto the almighty allah….

Hadrat imran ibn husein r.a reports that rasulullulah s.a.w has said : “sinking of the earth,transformation of faces and raining of stones from the sky,will all occur in this ummah.” one sahabi r.a said: ‘when will this happen,o rasulullah s.a.w ?’ rasulullah s.a.w said : “when dancing girls and music become apparent and when wine is drunk (openly and in abundance).”

where is there faith?

Alhamdullilah we’v read the above ahadith all present in the ummah and are the signs of qiyamah,the ahadith mentioned are the words of rasulullah s.a.w(peace be upon him) sent as a guidence to the ummah and alhamdullillah what a privlidge it is to be a recitor of the bueatiful kalima and such a honour it is to be a part and a ummati of his ummah,together with the beloved words of rasulullah s.a.w we’v read the signs leading to qiyamah and have answered these 3 questions:
“what? where? and how? a teenager lives his live from day to day….
we have the entire picture of a present male and female’s lifestyle infront of us.

Does it really affect our life to see muslim youth living day by day in this state?
Do we wait until our children fall victim to this?
Is any muslim concerned of the youth as they sell there faith for few coppers?
Are we more worried of ourselve and our own intrest?
What now?
Do we carry on living our lives and leave the youth to carry on in what actions they carry out day in day out?
Wait for death to overcome us when its to late?
Can our differences be put a side for once?
Can we save and guide our shabaabul-muslimeen who have slippedaway from us?
Can we hold there hand and raise islam throuhgh these shabaab?
Can we save 1 ummati of rasulullah s.a.w ?

Advice from the quraan

Indeed successful is a believer
those who are attentive in their salaat
and those who abstain from futile talks
and those who pay their zakaat
and those who safeguard their private parts except to their wifes or those slaves that they own as these are not prohibited
those that seek other than this have transgressed the limits
those that return trusts and fulfill their promises
and those who are punctual with their salaat
these are those who will receive
those that will receive firdaus where in they shall remain
surah muminoon (1st 11 ayats)

O Allah unite the ummah!
O allah let us strive in your path shown to us by rasulullah s.a.w.
O Allah your path is straight and simple bring the entire ummah to your deen and to realization that only the ummah of rasulullah s.a.w and brings faith on the kalima is a part of his ummat.
O Allah save our youth throughout the world.o allah you guide them to the sweetness of your deen.
O Allah let them for 1 second just feel the high and sweetness of your beloved name let it penetrate through there body and feel the coolness of the aakhirah!
O Allah let this writing be a contribution to the upliftment of deen and a saviour to many youth.
O Allah accept this small effort.
O Allah guide us all.help us in these crying times to save 1 ummati from being misguided.
O Allah if the youth only knew what islam is they wouldn’t be visiting such places and doing such actions
O Allah we are to blame a blink of an eye we took and they slipped from our hands.
O Allah forgive us and all the marhumeen fill there qabar with noor.
O Allah take us with imaan. be raised with imaan and be resurect us with imaan.
O Allah be pleased with us when we breath our last. Ya Raheem ya rahmaan have mercy on us.o allah unite us all. ameen

Written by A learner of Islam