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Are Muslim youth cultured?
Are Muslim youth
cultured?
Do Muslim teens know their Bach from their
Rachmananov or their Shakespeare from their Blake? Can they hum Beethoven’s
symphonies, name Shakespeare’s tragedies or simply count in
Greek?!
I am not
emotionally prepared to face the humiliation I might get for answering the first
five questions- as for the last, that’s more debatable and that’s what I think
needs to be established. What does being cultured mean!?
The
dictionary might say it’s to abide by or appreciate the rules, traditions and
rituals of a certain type of people/nationality. If this were the case then
being a world-class henna artist and knowing how to roll choice Samosas would
certainly put you in the top 10 most cultured Asian lists. To reach the same
position in the Arab list you need to know how to belly dance and recite the
entire works of “Badir Shakir Al-Sayab” (Iraqi poet).
So basically being
cultured doesn’t mean being cultured western style i.e. appreciating music,
drama and the arts etc… it means being cultured in the style that you feel suits
you. Wahey! Now merely binging on chocolate and lazing in the sun/cinema can be
made to sound impressive! Hear it from Mr-Culture himself; Aristophanes (famous
Philosopher) said: “Let each man exercise the art he knows”.
On a
more serious note, if we are to see how cultured (western culture) Muslim Youth
are, a different league of questions has to be asked. I’m not exactly sure how
many of us answered “yes” to the first five questions. My guess is that it isn’t
too many. You might think that this is an issue, or you might not. I personally
would be slightly happier and more content if a higher proportion answered
yes.
I think being in touch with the history, heritage and “culture” of
the society you live in can’t do you much bad. In fact the only effect it may
have is that it makes you more integrated into society, which makes the rest of
your life a lot easier. This should be in conflict with our identity as
understanding or appreciating British culture, is not contrary to Islam in any
way, and its advantages all around.
Everyone’s interests lie in different
areas and so nobody should be forced to “culture”-ify themselves if they have no
wish to. However it would be nice if youth that did want to, were not
discouraged by their families and communities (“See how westernised Zahra has
become!!”) and rather had their interested fostered, nurtured and
encouraged.
I strayed quite badly there didn’t I!? So back to the
original question- how cultured are Muslim youth? Hmm… the answer can range from
not at all to very very much so- depending on what you classify as culture. Now
that’s a true test of culture for you.
http://www.muslimyouth.net/guidance.php?a_id=101&id_fk4=39&id_fk=8&id_fkis=39&id_fkt=20
MYC: Connecting
Muslim Youths WorldWide
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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