When we talk about youth in Islam, this genre of people holds a high level in our faith. In ones’ youth years, those are the prime years in which an individual will either build themselves up or bury themselves in a deep, deep hole. Our beloved prophet ﷺ mentions that an individual will not take a step on the day of judgement until he/she is asked about their youth and how they spent those years. Also, on the day of judgment, the day in which every individual will be sweating according to his/her own deeds, the prophet said only seven types of people will be shaded under the shade of Allah ﷻ. Amongst those seven types is a young man/woman who spent their youth years in the obedience and worship of Allah ﷻ.
Our faith emphasizes our youth years and its importance to excel. Our youth years can literally make or break us. If we invest our youth years in things that are displeasing to Allah ﷻ, then we will have a very miserable life. We will bury ourselves in a deep hole that will be extremely difficult to get out of. If we choose to ignore the truth and disobey Allah ﷻ, we put our relationship with Allah ﷻ in jeopardy. If we spend our youth years close to Allah ﷻ, it will become the basis for paradise, our end goal.
Every person has this void that they need to fill. Oftentimes people become distracted and fill that void with harmful/toxic things that keep them away from Allah ﷻ. We come to realize that the farther we are away from Allah ﷻ, the lonelier and more depressed we will be. The more we fill that void with things that keep us closer to Allah ﷻ, the more fulfilled we will be and the more serenity we will have in our lives.
People who don’t know their purpose will distract themselves from Allah ﷻ. As Muslims, Allah ﷻ has already given us our purpose. Allah ﷻ hasn’t created us except to worship Him and Him alone. Everything else in life comes secondary to Him ﷻ. As Muslims we know our purpose and when we truly understand it, we would not allow anything to distract us from it. The goal is for us to realize our purpose while we are young rather than old.
How will we answer for our youth years if we spent them in sin? Allah ﷻ wants us to do good things, be in good places, and around those who He loves. All it takes is for us to sincerely ask Allah ﷻ for help to have our hearts attached to Him. Having your heart connected with Allah is the greatest blessing and the sweetest of tastes. When you taste that sweetness, you would never sacrifice it for anything. In an authentic hadith, Rasulallah ﷺ told Muath (RA) that he loves him, and he wants to give him a tip on how to stay connected with Allah ﷻ. He said, “Oh Muath don’t ever forget to say after your prayer, oh Allah, help me to remember You, to continuously express gratitude to You, and to worship You in the best manner.”
May Allah ﷻ make us amongst those who have a firm and strong connection with Allah ﷻ.
By Sh. Hassan Natour
