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Issues
of Social Ills (
Sickness
Proliferates Faster
Sickness transmits easily, not health. Germs and bacteria
multiply in congenial conditions. Like infectious diseases
social ills also spread quickly. In a society where
nafsaniat (sensuality, permissiveness, promiscuity,
etc.) is encouraged to proliferate, the pressure on
individuals is very high indeed. Young people generally
lack maturity and are vulnerable to the social ills
if they are overwhelming. Human being is neither angel,
nor devil. Allah, in His wisdom, has instilled in man
the dual nature of evil and piety (fujur and taqwa).
In a healthy society piety is encouraged and
evil suppressed. Piety needs nourishment and proper
environment, not only for growth but also for survival.
Throughout human history schools and institutions had
been established to create good human beings. No school
was ever established to train rapists, paedophiles,
gang fighters, drug users
and people of evil nature. They grow and multiply when
a society loses its
anchor, the direction.
Although human race has made celebrating technological
achievements, there are reasons to be appalled by the
present degeneration of man, destruction of family and
dehumanisation of women. In the days of globalisation,
sin, vulgarity and other evils have now become global
issues. Some of the ills directly affect our children
in the educational institutions and some
influence them from around them in the society.
A
Question to think about
: What according
to you is the greatest social ill of our times and why?
Bullying
Bullying is a major and common problem in schools. It
destroys self-image of the victim and leaves a long-term
scar on him. Both the bully and the victim lack self-esteem
and some might have undergone abuse in their life. A
bully compensates it through bullying, but the victims
most often fail to put up
with it. A bully is most often an unhappy or frightened
child who has angry, bitter or defeatist attitude to
life. Children of minority groups, especially religious
and ethnic, could easily become the targets of bullying.
A loner or socially passive child is usually an easy
target of bullying.
Bullying and teasing cause psychological damages. A
Muslim child can be the target of teasing because of
his dress, attitude and culture. Parents should prepare
their child to be assertive and instil in them the confidence
to face this challenge. Parents should make sure that
a trust is built with their
child during his early years so that he does not fail
to inform about bullying if it occurs to him. A Muslim
child should be taught that human beings are all equal
and there is no room for teasing or bullying any one
on any basis (al-Qur'an 49:11).
A
Question to think about
: How
would you approach your child to explain to him or her,
how he should deal in the case of bullying and what
steps he should take?
Delinquency
It is considered as a symptom of the rebelliousness
of puberty. However, delinquent behaviour before or
after puberty could be a sign that the child is emotionally
or morally disturbed. With rising family problems and
numerous other social ills discipline among adolescents
has become a serious issue. The young tendency to rebel
against the status quo and follow their role models
has tremendous influence in their behaviour and many
turn to anti-social activities. Many schools are
struggling to put the genie of delinquency inside the
bottle.
Muslim parents need to be conscious about what is going
on in their child's world and discuss the issue with
him so that he grows with positive attitude towards
life and shuns away from anti-social behaviour.
A
Question to think about
: How
would you go about to be aware of the trends in the
world of your child or adolescent. Do you think it is
important to show this awareness to your child or should
you only keep it for monitoring your child's behavior?
Racism
The Lawrence Report in Britain has highlighted how endemic
racism is in the western world. However, racism is an
historical disease. Nations were wiped out in the past
because of their perceived racial inferiority. The recent
ethnic cleansing in some parts of the world horrified
the world. In day to
day life, in schools and workplaces, racism creates
fear, distrust and disturbing environment. It kills
of decent human behaviour.
Muslim parents should educate their child with the Qur'anic
teaching of man's diversity for a divine purpose (al-Qur'an
49:13). It is a disease to be fought hard and Muslim
adolescents must not give in to it.
A
Question to think about
: How
would you explain to your child the divine purpose behind
man's diversity as mentioned in the quran?
Religious Discrimination
As secularism and materialism have taken a dominant
role, religions have become irrelevant or just rituals
to most people in the West. As a result, non-Christians
or even minority denominations within Christianity do
undergo visible religious discrimination. Islam, because
of its uncompromising
allegiance to divine command, suffers most in terms
of its image and treatment. Islamophobia, like anti-Semitism
in the past, has become a wide phenomenon.
Muslim children often undergo undue prejudice and mistreatment
in many places for their religious background. The situation
can become worse if cultural practices among Muslims
are projected as Islamic. A Muslim adolescent should
be equipped with a holistic understanding of Islam in
order to make an impact on the others. Ignorance is
the root cause of misunderstanding and
eventual unequal treatment of one by the other.
A
Question to think about
: What
is the most important factor that you should make your
child understand if he is religiously discriminated
at school?
Family Disintegration
From a report by 'Family Policy Studies Centre' a dire
picture was published in the Daily Guardian of London
(27 March 2000) with the title, 'Are we turning into
a nation of loners?' about family issues in Britain.
It is disturbing that 38% babies are born outside marriage
(compared to only 7.2% in 1964), the number of lone
parents has trebled from 7% in 1972 to 21% and more
British people are getting used to 'solo' living. With
increasing teen-age pregnancy in many western countries,
we are living in an era of social deconstruction with
the danger of leading us to a disastrous future.
What is the root cause of this? Materialism has given
rise to individualism, which is making it hard for people
to live under the same roof. Marriage is losing its
importance as the source of permanent relationship between
man and woman, divorce is increasing at an alarming
rate and living together is
becoming norm. The TV, computer and other gadgets are
keeping man away from other people, loneliness has become
perpetual friend of many. Muslims in the West are now
sucked into this social black hole. Its impact in schools,
in terms of discipline and poor performance, is causing
concern in many inner city schools.
A
Question to think about
: How
can you make sure that your child is not being engulfed
by the materialistic way of life?
Addiction
The drug issue is frightening in many inner cities of
the western countries, where Muslim communities are
settled. Drug, sex and violence are intertwined. Only
a decade ago Muslim community, say in Britain, could
proudly shrug off any complaint of Muslim involvement
in these vices. But things have
already changed. The Muslim adolescents are now not
behind in these.
The danger of drug has pushed aside the devastating
physical and social effect of alcoholism. The detrimental
physical effect of smoking is also ignored. Many adolescents
drink and smoke in imitation or defiance of their elders.
As a result, the health, economy and social life is
ruined. Peer
pressure in the schools works as catalysts for adolescents
to enter into the world of addiction. Parents need to
be conscious about who is their child hanging around.
Islam has explicit opinion on addictive practices.
O you who believe! wine and gambling, stone altars and
divining arrows are filth from the handiwork of evil.
Avoid them completely so that hopefully you will be
successful. Devil wants to stir up enmity and hatred
between you by means of wine and gambling and to debar
you from remembrance of Allah and
prayer. Will you not then give up? (al-Qur'an 5:90-91)
A
Question to think about
: What
steps should you take if you sadly discovered that your
child is a drug addict?
Sex and Sexuality
The three-letter word, SEX, is now a determining factor
in modern western life. The media world is awash with
this subject. It has become the world's hottest commodity
and its commercialisation has become globalised. It
is disgraceful that sex industry has become a source
of national income in
some countries. But, Allah, the Almighty, has not only
prohibited adultery, but asked not to go near it (al-Qur'an
17:32).
Sexual promiscuity is giving rise to sexually transmitted
diseases (STD) like HIV, gonorrhoea, syphilis, etc,
especially among young people. Public Health in the
developed countries is experiencing a traumatic rise
in these and the so- called 'safe sex' message is leading
to nowhere. In a conservative
country like Britain, 'up to 295,000 women are raped
or suffer other forms of sexual assault every year',
according to Home Office sources published in February
2000.
The term 'sexuality' has, in recent time, become a tool
of abhorrent practice of homosexuality. Adolescents
are vulnerable in this social climate. The aggressive
campaign of a powerful lobby group in the name of 'civil
right' and the meek response from the Church have forced
many western governments to pass various laws in favour
of homosexuality. The British Labour government's strenuous
attempt to repeal a clause (Section 28 of the Local
Government Act) that forbids teachers to promote homosexuality
has shaken the conscience of the moral majority. Homosexual
practice is unnatural and morally evil. Individual affinity
for a sinful act cannot make it acceptable. The people
engaged in this abnormal act showed arrogance during
Prophet Lut's time and were punished (al-Qur'an 7:80:84).
A
Question to think about
: What
is important when you approach your adolescent child
to talk about the danger behind sexually transmitted
diseases and the fact that free sex is widely accepted
socially but strictly forbidden by islam?
Eroticism, Pornography and Modelling
Eroticism, capitalising mainly young and attractive
woman's body, has probably become one of the worst weapons
to debase human desire for innocence. In many places,
even today, women are traded as 'sex slaves'. The gift
from Allah has become a commodity to earn money and
deviate people
from Allah. Pornography and modelling are the tools
to proliferate sin in the society. Prostitution is on
the increase. Modelling in effect leads to high society
prostitution. The eroticism in adverts, TV films and
pornographic print media are provocative to the adolescent
mind.
On the other hand, the uniqueness of masculine and feminine
features is now contested by both the sexes. Is a neutral
gender on the making? Extreme feminism sees woman's
role in the society as competitive to man, rather than
complementary. Women, of course, suffered in the past
and they still
suffer in many cultures today. But by driving away from
their designated role feminism has put a heavy pressure
on women and, in many cases, degrading them.
A
Question to think about
: How
would you deal with situations where you and your child
come across sexually offensive material on tv or other
types of media?
Paedophilia
Every country has its share in crime. Paedophilia is
the inhuman crime of the pervert man who destroys the
innocence of a child. In civilised societies the law
and order agencies rely on the civic responsibility
of the people and work in tandem with them. Young people
are vulnerable. Like plants they need nurturing, not
misuse and abuse. A civilised society cannot tolerate
paedophiles. Muslim parents need to be alert on this.
A
Question to think about
: What
is important when you are trying to protect your child
from ills like paedophilia?
Laissez Faire Morality
Over the centuries materialism has knocked aside Christianity
in the West and societies have fallen in the grip of
amoral and immoral values. Modern or post-modern West
has seen the rise of moral relativism where the concept
of absolute values is all but gone. Man is lost in the
moral maze. Two
scientific theories in the beginning of the last century,
Heisenberg's 'Uncertainty Principle' and Einstein's
'Theory of Relativity' have influenced human thinking
on moral values over the decades. As a result, morality
has often become selective and double standard has virtually
taken over
international decision making. In social context this
has given rise to permissiveness. A Muslim child growing
in this environment needs to be protected from this
confusion.
A
Question to think about
: In
the previous question, we talked about physical protection.
In the case of protection from poisons of the mind,
how would you put it into practice in your family.
Fighting the Ills
The challenge of fighting the social ills is enormous,
especially in the context of weaker Muslim position
in the West. However, these are not only Muslim issues.
They are at the heart of many other people. As such,
the Muslim attempt to eradicate these ills should include
the wider society as
well. Of course, as an important line of defence, the
Muslim parents shouldtry to create a protective shield
around their young children through various means. But
they need to widen their struggle and forge close links
with the moral majority in the societies they live in.
A small island in a sea of
social ills can easily be washed away in time. An epidemic
cannot be fought out by running away from it or through
selfish attempt of individual protection. This is neither
effective nor Islamically sound.
A
Question to think about
: Can
you think of effective ways of organizing yourselves
in your local community (amongst muslims and non-muslims)
to create a network of common protection and consensus
to fight these social ills?
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