“Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves” Al Quran: Surah 13:11
“The only constant that is not changing is change!” Sounds familiar?
Yes, this is even true in the era of globalization and what many termed as the sweeping affect of the Internet revolution (some of us are still facing difficulties in dealing with Internet 2.0, and now, we have heard of the coming of Internet 3.0!).
Globalization and the arrival of the Internet have created ripples, not only those within the industries that bring about the birth of the Internet, but people who are not even in the industries! Free flow of information, culture and way of life have altered many, including that of our Ummah!
In the highly competitive market “created” by Globalization and the “Open Sky” policy associated with the Internet, youths have been targeted – all in the name of better “bottom line” or in other words, meeting the stakeholders’ expectations! Pure greed!
Today’s youths are no longer the ones that we know, say like the ones 10 or 15 years back. What many would term as the “ipod generation”- today’s youths tend to be more individualistic, materialistic and are entertainment hungry – all shaped by the “forces” of globalization and the Internet revolution.
Fortune magazine in one of its articles on today’s youths noted:
“Generation Y: Its members are different in many respects, from their upbringing to their politics”.
A June 2007 issue of a Middle East monthly magazine, Communicate Middle East ran an article “Kids These Days”, based on a survey done on the Arab youths - a subset of our Ummah.
The survey was to look at the choice of brands among today’s Arab youths. The sample of the survey was a group of 200 youths (high school and university students - remember, 60% of the Middle East population is from these age group!)
The survey seems to be in agreement with Fortune’s article quoted above. Today’s youths are “Cool”, “Fashionable” and “Individualistic” - you can’t even seem to ask them to do this or that, without facing any questions from them. Something “traditional” is considered out dated and boring.
What is equally alarming is that the Communicate Middle East article stated in their findings about Lebanese youths who are considered as the “coolest” and the “benchmark” among the Arab youths:
“Lebanese youths don't read magazines or dailies. They're not interested in culture (reality show TV Superstar is without surprise the most watched TV program)”
The above findings and comments (from Communicate and Fortune) are not restricted phenomena. It is indeed a global phenomenon.
The question is, what are we doing about it? We know the problem, but how are we positioning our solutions to the problem?
Are we open to new ideas and ways to tackle the above phenomena that is not only affecting our youths but also making Islam stranger by the days? Are we still having the same “game plan” when tackling issues with our youths, resulting in being treated as a non-entity or worse still, irrelevant in the ever-changing world of our target group.
Creative ways to engage our youths with Islamic programs need to be explored. Let us be clear, rules of the game will never be changed, but new strategies and tactics can always be deployed.
Yes, we might not be able do it all alone. Dynamism in this case requires collective efforts.
“Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows (ranks) as if they were a solid structure” Al Quran: Surah 61:4
Youth movements need to get together with those who can and able to shape youths. It is time for us to take the challenge and chart our plan to engage our youths with what is available in front of us.
Are we “game” to spread our message to the likes of YouTube and mySpace? Don’t be left out. Let’s strategize our plan for Da’wah to the “ipod generation”!
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