By Nadeem Mahomed
Today (12 August) marks
International Youth Day; a day commemorated by the United Nations (UN) since
2000. This year the theme adopted for the Day is ‘Youth Civic Engagement’.
UN’s Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-moon, comments “In this landmark year, as leaders prepare to adopt a bold
new vision for sustainable development, the engagement of youth is more
valuable than ever. At this critical moment in history, I call on young people to
demand and foster the dramatic progress so urgently needed in our world.”
The engagement of youth in
societal matters is essential in achieving sustainable human development, yet
platforms for them to engage with these issues in the spheres of society (economically,
politically, socially) are often not easily accessible. Being the
representative body of Muslim student in the country, the Union of Muslim
Students’ Associations (MSA Union) of South Africa has endeavoured over many
years to provide such a platform to our students.
Why do we need a socially conscious youth?
We know that Allah SWT is Al-Adl,
The Just and Most Equitable. If Allah is just and we see injustice being
committed on the Earth, then it is because we, the Creation, are perpetuating this
injustice.
There are verses upon verses in
the Holy Quran making justice unavoidable for us. Verse 135 of Surah Nisa reinforces
this: “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah,
even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich
or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the
lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your
witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what
you do.”
Allah makes it clear that if we
have tauheed, we must pursue justice no matter the circumstances.
As members of broader South
African society, we have a responsibility to contribute to it. We do not live
in a cocoon, and living in a society riddled with a range of socio-economic
issues - especially post-Apartheid - it is imperative that we engage and look
at the ways in which as Muslims we can contribute. For example, the National
Development Plan has been adopted by the ruling party and can therefore be seen
as the plan for the future of this country. Do we know what that plan says?
Have we scrutinised it and been involved in pointing out its flaws – and
working to fix those flaws? Have we sat down as a Muslim community and given
thought as to how we can improve education, healthcare and security, how we can
combat corruption and unemployment and address transformation?
As a Muslim organisation, we have
too often heard that politics has no place in our work within the Deen and this
was an unfortunate rhetoric that was put forward by many during the Apartheid
era. Over the years, the practicing of our religion has, in many regards, been
reduced to a mere set of rituals.
But [this is a blog, so I will
use my literary licence to start this sentence with “but”] I would like to ask
this: our Islamic calendar – when did it begin? It does not begin with the
birth of the final prophet Muhammad SAW, as the Christian calendar does with
the birth of Hazrat Isa AS, nor did it begin with the first revelation. The
Islamic calendar began when the Muslim community of Makkah made hijrah to
Madinah and assumed political power of the city. Islam, has since day 1, been
intertwined with politics (if looking at politics as the activities associated
with the governance of people).
It is understandable that
everyone has their interests, and politics may not be one of them, but social
issues must be. We must make an effort to know what is happening around us.
Listen to the news, not just the weather or sport updates. Occasionally flick
through a newspaper. Follow some news accounts on Twitter, along with Mufti
Menk’s. Discuss the news events of the day with your family at dinner. Formulate
views and opinions on what we see unfolding in parliamentary proceedings on a
daily basis; about the investigations into Nkandla; about whether the widows of
the miners killed in Marikana will get justice. Formulate them and express
them.
Further afield, we must remain
aware of international issues. We know all too well about the atrocities
committed against the citizens of Palestine, but Palestinians are not the only
persecuted people. Exhibit A - the Rohingyan people. They have been
discriminated against since the 1980s, but their plight has gone unnoticed for the
most part. As a society, we are comfortable in waiting for someone to tell us
whose struggle is important and whose struggle we must care about – we do not
take that initiative ourselves.
And why Muslim youth specifically?
As Muslims, we believe
wholeheartedly that Islam is the best way of life, and that the Holy Quran has
the answers to all our problems. So why then are we fine to entrust the future
of our communities and families in the hands of everyone else? We need to be at
the forefront of charting out the future of our country so we can rest assured
that our future generations will grow up in a country whose values are closely
aligned with that of Islam’s and continue to enjoy the religious freedoms we do
today.
Over decades, we have inherited
societal ills from the generations before us. Ultimately, it is the youth that
will have to deal with those issues. We need to take this platform, with both
hands and a loud voice, to engage with these issues and come up with the
solutions. The mere fact that the problems our societies face have not been
solved indicates that those solutions must lie within the minds of the
generations to come. We need an environment that cultivates this thinking to
see this to fruition. As the youth, we cannot remain ignorant. We need to
champion causes, and have an active voice and presence in our communities.
You do not need to be going to
marches or protests or even re-tweeting 'Free Palestine', or whatever the
struggle-trend of the moment may be, to prove that you are aware of injustices
that may be going on. In fact, you do not need to prove anything to any human
being. Our duty is with Allah to fulfil His commandments during our time on
Earth.
It is vital that, as an individual,
you are able to empower yourself with the knowledge of the status quo - from
both a local and a global perspective - to remain aware of injustice, to take up the fight of the oppressed and carry this Ummah forward, God-willing.
About the author
Nadeem is the current President of MSA Union and represents MSA Union within national civil society circles. Doing his Honours in Accounting Science at Wits University, he also plays an active role in student development and politics on campus.