Lesson 1: The Islamic Vision
Youth is the most important period in the life of a human being. This is because it marks that stage when an individual passes out of the first stage of life i.e. childhood and begins the journey to the last stage i.e. adulthood.
Childhood is a dependant period. Every child requires guidance from elders and moral support to make and maintain correct decisions. In the early years of life, the hand of another leads a child but as adolescence and youth begin to emerge, the child learns to pull away and walk by himself.
During this period enormous physical, mental and emotional changes occur. It is a metamorphosis of character and intellect and could be likened to an explosion, rejuvenating all parts of an individual. Dormant inclinations awake in the youth and new horizons are sighted.
To the person experiencing this change, it seems as if yesterday he was living in a child's dream and today he sees the world through the window of reality.
It is at this time, that a human being seeks purpose of his existence and forms the principles that will guide him through the rest of his life. Thus, the period of youth is one that must be nurtured and nourished well both by the young individual himself and by the adults surrounding him.
Seeking Independence
One of the most important inclinations during this stage is that of seeking independence. This tendency plays a major role in the life of a human being. It is prompted by the need to break completely away from childhood, which as we mentioned is dominated by dependency.
When a youth realizes that he is growing he feels that he must prove himself to be unique. He can only do this if he breaks free of the bonds of childhood and the reliance he has developed on parents, siblings etc. This searching for independence also signals the beginning of intellectual maturity as the youth begins to think for himself and make his own decisions.
Seeking independence is a positive step and should be encouraged so that the youth can grow into a strong and firm adult. However, the journey towards independence must be accompanied by a sense of awareness - a conscious knowledge of what is ahead and what must be done.
This awareness is essential before anything else because it guards a youth from choosing the wrong path. A young person who is eager to achieve his independence can easily be tempted to adopt a selfish attitude and drown in a sea of mistakes. The child in him still has some hold over his thinking and without making a conscious effort to control his emotions, he cannot expect to succeed against it.
This consciousness also helps to develop and strengthen intellectual powers as it encourages a young person to question his thinking and prevents him from following concepts blindly.
In the period of youth, brain efficiency enters a new stage and special talents are fully explored. It is for this reason that pathologists refer to this stage as the beginning of the brain.The brain begins to ask many new questions and satisfactory answers to these must be provided.
What Action to Take?
When we embark upon any task in our life, the result is positive or negative depending on the conscious choices we make along the way.Basically, this means that the manner in which we think about situations and the decisions we make in regards to them are what form the deciding factors of our success or failure.
We can immediately make out how well developed the consciousness of an individual by looking at the actions that result from them. The behaviour of a human being shows others the extent and maturity of his thinking.
Many scholars regard intellect as the human's basic superiority over animals. That is why man is called a 'Thinking Animal'. This title clearly implies that if man does not put his power of thinking into action, he is no better than an animal that relies on instinct for survival.
The stronger a man's thinking power is, the better he can utilize it in solving complex issues.We can develop our intellect by beginning with the implementation of the following essential factors:
1. Intensity of Thought
Before making any decisions, we must of course think about what we are doing, why we are undertaking it and the possible results of any decision we are tempted to make. The more deeply we ponder on these issues, the more we are likely to understand the issue. This prevents hasty decisions made on superficial grounds.
2. Sound Thinking
Our contemplation must be based on reason and logic. For this purpose we require a balance in our consciousness. The more precise a man's awareness is, the more his thoughts will be capable of understanding.
We can illustrate this by imagining that our decision-making ability is a factory, whose raw material is the conscious. Without raw materials, the factory will not be able to produce anything.
A thing to be careful about is that our thinking should be based on facts, not guesses or assumptions. The latter not only obstructs intellectual power in the situation at hand but also prevents future development of the mind.
3. Seeking the Truth
In any attempt to analyse or contemplate, we must train ourselves to seek out the truth. Nothing should be of more importance that this.
Accepting ideas and opinions without searching for flaws or solid foundations leads to hasty actions. Such decisions may provide immediate satisfaction of our desires but in the long wrong, they will only harm us. If we do not form the habit of seeking out the truth in every circumstance then we will lower our level of thinking and never learn how to differentiate truth from falsehood.
Islamic Point of View
In Islam, the necessity of intellect has been given great emphasis. The Holy Qur'an cautions people against following things blindly. " (O Man) Do not follow that which you have no knowledge of …" Sura Bani Isra'il, Verse 36
In this verse, we can see that Islam encourage man to think and research on information before accepting it as the truth. This emphasis is so immense, that the accepting of the tenets of faith i.e. Tawheed, Nubuwwat, Imamat and Qiyamat, blindly is not allowed. An individual must ponder upon and be convinced of the truth before his belief is accepted. From the viewpoint of Islam, a person who has attained maturity is one who is intellectually advanced.
According to Allah (S.W.T.), if a person guides his thoughts towards seeking out the truth then he will easily be able to identify it from falsehood. This is why there is no force in religion - anyone who truly seeks God will find Him. The Qur'an says:
"There is no compulsion in religion. Guidance is distinguishable from error" Sura Baqara, Verse 256
From this verse, we understand that the cause of man's deviation from the Right Path is his lack of thinking and contemplation and his tendency towards hasty decisions.
Hasty Decisions
If Muslims would be satisfied with judgments based on weak arguments then they would find themselves confusing religious teachings with superstition and innovation - a problem that faces many other faiths. Islam requires that every argument and action be founded on solid reasoning and sound judgment. The Qur'an acknowledges men of knowledge as those who respect the Laws of God.
"Only the realistic and visionary men are obedient to Allah." Sura Fatir, Verse 28
To better understand the-long term effects of making hasty decisions, we can outline two different examples:
a. Vulnerability Towards Disagreeing Views
It is a fact that various cultures exist in the world and that the Muslim Ummah is composed of members who come from these differing social systems.However, Islam demands that every culture should take second place when there is a choice between it and religion.
If an individual does not think deeply about the norms of his society, he may find himself following traditional values that have no place in Islam or worse still, contradict it.
An adult who can analyse the reasons for adopting a practice and compare them to religious laws, is able to choose and decide what to keep and what to discard. Such people allow the various cultures to co-exist and the Islamic culture to take top priority in all cases.
b. Lack of General Knowledge
As a child grows into an adult, many questions arise in his mind. regard daily activities while others about more philosophical issues.
Some
To most young people, life is the most important of all issues. What is our aim in life? What are our goals? How do we lead a happy and successful life?
These and other similar questions keep coming forward and must be answered in order to allow the youth to base his character and principles on.
Although these are the main questions, we must realize that the answers to these questions are based many a time in our more common activities and the manners that govern them. How to eat, what to wear, what kind of company to keep, all these are directly or indirectly connected to the bigger issues mentioned above. The way in which we behave guides the way in which we look at the world and the manner in which we make our decisions.
In order to mature successfully, we have to study the knowledge available to us - both Islamic and Secular. As we study the rules and laws set out by Allah (S.W.T.) and observe the lives of people who have followed or rejected these laws, we learn what we must do in order to succeed.
It is clear to understand that if we try to live our lives based on ignorance and do things hastily, as we feel inclined to, then we will surely end up failing in whatever we attempt.
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Author: A Group of Shia Scholars
