Bismillah hir Rahman hir Raheem
Alhamdulillahi Rabil Alaameen
Wassalatu Wassalaamu 'ala Rasulullah
Nabeeyana wa Habeebana wa Oswatona,
Muhammad ibn Abdullah sallallahu alayhi wassalam.
Amma Ba'ad
Assalaam alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuhu,
Parents, teachers, students, administrators I welcome you on this happy occasion and congratulate all those who have and will graduate today.
As a student of this mosque for almost my whole life and a teacher now for the last 4 years it is so wonderful to see how much this community tries to do for these students.
Today, I wanted to speak to everyone about the state of these students and our young generation. This is especially addressed to parents.
The subject of my speech is about the need to bring up your child Islamically, to prioritize this and do everything in your power as a parent and community member to inculcate true Islamic understanding and faith in our young people. I would like to give some examples of what is happenning today that highlights the extreme immediacy of this need and how important it is for all of us to begin making changes. Lastly, I would like to give some practical suggestions on how to do this.
At one time I thought that every parent would have the goal of raising his or her child Islamically, but now, through experience, I really have to wonder. I don't think some parents WANT to raise their child Islamically. They believe that if their child has basic knowledge and practice, that's enough. That Islam should be in the background while other things, such as being a doctor, going to an Ivy League school, enjoying the good life with a big house, car, good job is more important for their child in the future. They kill themselves so that their kids can have everything in this life.
There is something extremely wrong with this. I'll tell you why. How narrow-minded is it if a parent prepares their child for this life and does nothing for their child's Hereafter. If a parent really, really loves their child and wants the best for them, their goal first and foremost will be to raise the best Muslim they can. This is the best you can ever do for your child, in this life AND in the Hereafter, which is eternal. If your child is a good Muslim, they will want to do well in everything they do. They will want to attain knowledge, security, help those around them and become good people. They will avoid so many harms and difficulties in this society.
Islam will NEVER, NEVER hinder your child from anything good. It will only enhance whatever they do.
Let me give some examples of what happens when Islam is NOT the first priority in families. In college, where I attend graduate school right now, you find the most amazing things. I have met Muslims raised their whole lives in Muslim families who don't pray, who date, who attend MSA meetings but go out to parties and clubs and drink, who take drugs.
I had a brother come to me and say how he thought he was homosexual. I visited a sister just a few weeks ago, who had tried to commit suicide.
EVERY single thing you can think of that is the opposite, antithisis of Islam, our young people are doing them. It is to the point where you can't tell the difference between them and a non-Muslim.
Why is this happenning? These are not extreme cases. These are ordinary Muslims who were raised without Islam as their priority. They were taught, consciously or unconsciously, that Islam was cultural and secondary. They were taught Islam blindly and do not understand it and are lost.
We should be concerned, if not alarmed. Do not shrug this off and say, "It won't happen to me, It won't happen to my kids." Do not live in a fool's paradise and say "Oh ma'shallah my son or daughter is an honors student, they would never do anything bad." It can and it will and is happening now.
We are too late to save Muslim college students. I say this even being an MSA worker for the last 5 years. I even would say it is too late for high school students. How many of them will ever come back to Islam? Very few. It's too late for them.
But it's not too late for your kids, the young generation we have today.
We need to raise them with Islam and with being good Muslims as the priority, the #1 goal as a parent and community.
So, how can we do this? I would like to give just 10 simple, positive, proactive things we should all be doing.
