by Altaf Husain

While so much could be written about the challenges we are facing as young Muslims, for the purposes of this article, we will focus on: i) dealing with peer pressure, ii) limiting the impact of music and movies, and iii) building an Islamic identity. We address this article not only to our generation, but to our parents without whose nurturing we may not have come this far.

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is strong during the high school and college years. Some argue that peer pressure is prevalent even in elementary and junior high schools. No, I’m not going to exaggerate and make it seem as if peer pressure only as to do with smoking cigarettes or going to nightclubs or some evil type of behavior. There are many examples of very subtle, non-violent, non-drug involving peer pressure. We can’t also blame our non-Muslim friends alone. There are just as many Muslim youth qualified in exerting peer pressure. And finally, we must remember that positive peer pressure is the influence of good Muslim friends who help strengthen our Iman (faith) and protect us from committing sins. For the most part, this article deals with negative peer pressure.

As early as junior high school, the pressure is on to attend the school dances. OK, dancing is fairly clear-cut. It is not permitted in Islam. But what about going to the football game and then going out to Pizza Hut afterwards with a bunch of friends. Innocent as this sort of evening sounds, I must admit that shaitan is a full-time worker.

Peer pressure is at the core of what it means to exist among a group of friends. With non-Muslim friends (and regrettably even some Muslim friends), the pressure may come in the form or a simple offer to drive to the mall with several other boys and girls in one car, or to pair up in conversation with some one of the opposite gender, or to just try a sip of beer. With Muslim friends, the pressure may come in the form of sneaking out to movies, attending parties as a group as “long as we don’t drink,” wasting time at the mall, or skipping salaatul juma’ and lying when our parents ask us if we went to the masjid. Not to mention the tremendous burden of freedom that comes with living on campus during the college years.

Peer pressure and our Iman are inversely related. The more we give into peer pressure, the weaker our Iman becomes. Think about that for a minute. A Muslim’s Iman is strong as long as he seeks the pleasure of Allah in everything he does. So we could either stay alone or keep good friends. Staying alone, we would have no one to blame but the evil whispering of our own souls. But the Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wasallam teaches us that in being alone we are like sheep, easy prey for hungry wolves. Instead, we are encouraged to develop brotherhood and sisterhood, and most of all, to be surrounded by those who submit wholeheartedly to Allah (swt). We are reminded by Allah, “O ye who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah, and be with the truthful.” (Sura At-Tawba, 9:119).

While dealing with peer pressure is not easy, it is also not impossible. First, take a moment to reflect on your friends and their personalities. Do you ever feel uncomfortable because of their habits? Their character? Their suggestions? Their outlook on life? I am not asking you to judge your friends, I am simply asking you to gauge the level of influence they have on you.

Second, with each new school year, you have the chance to develop new friendships and limit your interaction with previous friends. While this may sound selfish, the preservation of your Iman should guide your choice of friends. This may mean that you move away from certain circles of friends, though it is always better to do so with wisdom and kind words. If you are strong yourself, become a source of positive peer pressure on the circles you move away from.

Finally, you must teach yourself how to minimize the effects of peer pressure. Don’t ever feel that you are missing out or living a boring life just because you don’t give in to peer pressure. Study the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. Learn what behavior is pleasing to Allah, and what kind of lifestyle is discouraged in Islam. If you are not armed with knowledge about the halaal and haraam aspects of daily life, you can never fully resist the temptation of peer pressure. Through knowledge, you will develop a better understanding of Islam, and through pious and righteous friends, you will strengthen your Iman.

Music and Movies

It may surprise you that I have described this section as dealing with how to limit the impact of movies and music rather than to write about doing away with movies and music. At the outset, I submit that I am not qualified to discuss the permissibility of either music or movies in Islam. That, I leave to the ulema. Rather, I want to address the impact that this type of entertainment tends to have on our minds and hearts.

What is the purpose of entertainment? Some ma y say it is a source of amusement, others may say it helps people rest and relax, and yet others may say it is a source of distraction from the worrisome routine of daily life. A commonly expected outcome of being entertained is for the heart to find some rest. And yet, the way for the heart to find rest is clearly given in the Qur’an, when Allah states, Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” (Sura Ra’d, 13:28).

So what about movies and music? On the most part, the language, the images, the lyrics, the rhythms are all reflective of an outlook on life that is diametrically opposed to Islamic teachings. Again, I do not want to swim in generalities but rather to remind myself and you that there is very little of what the non-Muslims produce that could help us to remember Allah. And yet the Islamic alternatives to entertainment are slowly being developed here in North America.

Movies and music have a lasting effect on our minds. Even after the images are gone, the words are finished and the rhythms have faded away, the influence lingers on. We can no longer justify our actions by saying that we will turn away from a sexually explicit scene or fast forward the tape during a violence scene. Neither can we blame the American movies and music as un-Islamic and yet take the liberty of exposing ourselves and our families to the equally un-Islamic ethnic entertainment such as Arabic movies, Indian songs, or Pakistani dramas. Yes, they may be some good in all of them, but the inevitable questions remain.

Do any of the movies and songs help you to remember Allah? Do you increase your Islamic knowledge through these movies or the music? Do verses of the Qur’an usually flow through your head or does the rhythmic sound of the latest top-forty hit bounce around under your kufi? One of the biggest challenges facing our generations is not how we will adjust and adapt to the existing forms of entertainment, but rather what alternative entertainment we will develop according to Islamic guidelines. Until we develop them, the best recourse is towards entertainment that helps our remembrance of Allah (swt) so that our hearts may find rest.

Islamic Identity

Perhaps the most critical challenge facing our generation is the development of our Islamic identity. While there are so many beautiful young brothers and sisters who are living according to Islam in North America, this question of an Islamic identity has not received its due attention. We Muslim youth living in majority non-Muslim environments face a dual crises of adapting and surviving in the larger society while integrating and developing an Islamic identity. Complicating matters further is an utter lack of Islamic institutions that can facilitate the process of identity development. And yet, we must have an Islamic identity if we are to grow up proud to be Muslims.

And what is meant by this Islamic identity? Is it fulfilling the five pillars of Islam? It is limited to clothes? Is it the growing of the beard or the wearing of the hijab? Is it learning the Arabic language? Is it traveling overseas to study Islam? Is it a tangible, visible feature or an internal construct? Indeed, there is so much more to the Islamic identity we should be seeking to develop.

Our role model, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has left for us powerful teachings and yet we succumb to compromising and acting as if we have no criteria to guide us! Look back at your life, your family, your community and ask yourself how often we all have acted first and then referred our actions to the Qur’an and the Sunnah. We can no longer afford to use this backward approach to Islam.

Our elders never successfully grappled with the notion of an Islamic identity. Rather than developing programs, activities, and camps that could teach us HOW to be Muslims, most of the time seems to have been spent on the Dos and DON’Ts of Islam. The long advanced myth that conventions and conferences alone could develop an Islamic identity now haunts our generation as we struggle to reach the depths of Islamic understanding after being exposed to endless surface-level lectures and main sessions which taught us little. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not ungrateful for what they have done and surely their reward is with Allah.

But the challenges for us still remain: How can we develop, maintain and model our Islamic identity? How will we bring Islam to the non-Muslims unless we are confident of its teachings? Why will the non-Muslims give up their lifestyle and beliefs if we present ourselves as backward, unorganized, confused and most of all, unaware and uncomfortable of and with our own beliefs.

If our generation remains steadfast to the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), I have no doubt that North Americans will come to respect and admire us. Yes, there will be discrimination, prejudice and even racism along the way, but our perseverance and not our compromise will be rewarded by Allah. The emerging Islamic identity will not only be consistent with the teachings of Islam, but it will also send a strong signal to non-Muslims that we prosper because and not in spite of our beliefs in Islam.

All around North America, our generation is witnessing a renewal, a revival of Islam in its pure, pristine form. Void of cultural barriers, our identity is developing along paths more in line with the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This is indeed a mercy from Allah.

Thriving as a Muslim youth in North America must not be a passive ambition but rather an active goal. Peer pressure, movies, music, and many other challenges will seem overwhelming at first. Let us make du’a that Allah protects our Iman and guides us to develop a strong Islamic identity.