"You, the youth, are the future of the Muslim Ummah!"
Heard that before? Remember how, at the very mention of the topic, our
blood rushes, our heart pulsates and our faces hold a unique glow? Affirmation rings out
from not only our lips but also our hearts and minds. We truly feel like Allah’s
vicegerents.
But let us look at ourselves a few days, weeks, months later. Where
does that feeling of responsibility and leadership vanish? Have we even taken steps to
adopt such an attitude? Or do we really go beyond such lip service?
This very moment, can we actually see ourselves as the future of
the Ummah? A model for the upcoming generations? A part of the community for
whose sake the Prophet (saw), as injured as he was, refused to destroy the people of Taif?
And how bright is that future anyway? Especially, if we remain as
passive as we are. You know what, brothers and sisters? Passivity leads to inaction. And
inaction leads to indifference, which eventually leads to ignorance. And ignorance, being
the opposite of knowledge, leads us astray.
As a result of our passivity, today the Muslim Ummah is insecure. We
don’t respond effectively and appropriately to the constant accusations, threats and
retorts which are recklessly blown our way. We sit in our comfortable homes, sheltered
from the outside. Hence, Muslim cities are being burned and our blood is being spilled
like water.
The leaders of the nations have seated themselves on the table and are
relishing the idea of devouring the Muslim Ummah. After all, though we boast of our more
than 1.2 billion population, we have only reduced ourselves to the foam of the sea.
Brothers and sisters! In the wake of this tragic state of the Muslim
Ummah, we implore you to sit up, take notice and think. Seriously reflect upon what
it means to be the future of the same Ummah which has had leaders such as the
Prophet and the rightly-guided Caliphs (ra). Let us think about how we can
accordingly better shape that future. And success is with Allah (swt) alone.