Why are our Muslim Youth becoming MURTAD???

A thought provoking article on the (www.vocfm.co.za) website titled "WHY MUSLIMS LEAVE ISLAM" got me really concerned. Why do they? Has Islam not provided them with a clear, effective and logical enough way of life that they have to resort to another religion? Was it their first or last resort? How long did it take them to reach that resolution? All these questions needs to be answered, but how often do we bump into a murtad (one who left islam) and ask, "Hey, can I ask why you left Islam?". 

The article suggested that, of the many possible reasons for leaving Islam, marriage and Islamic identity crisis tops the chart. It is becoming increasingly difficult for muslim youth to hold their heads in a society which externally worships God, but internally worships its own desires. Islam teaches us how to control our desires such as greed, passion and power.  Probably the most misunderstood religion in the eyes of the west is Islam, and one major misconstrued term 'Jihad' could be the catalyst for the dilemma. But the true Jihad (struggle) is the Jihadun-Nafs - the struggle against oneself. 

So what are we going to do to stop this disastrous migration from Islam to Christianity or even worse, Atheism? Where does the root cause lie? Is it the parents irresponsibility in rearing their kids correctly? Or excessive association with non religious people? or is it perhaps circumstantial? We could take a back seat and say, "Ah well, that's their thing, and they will be responsible for their actions". But hopefully the majority of us would start preparing for this Jihad, the Jihad against Satan. Its not enough to give our kids all the weapons and armour to fight Satan, but they don't know how to fight or use those weapons!

Our Youth are our next generation. They will carry on our legacy, good or bad. The Aljaamiah Quran & Seni Silat Academy will aim to equip our youth with the skills, weapons and armour to defend themselves against Satan and his army. The challenge we face today is the lack of love and respect our youth have for Islam. Love and respect can only be gained through knowledge and heightened understanding of the laws of Allah. At Aljaamiah, students will learn the memorisation of Quran as well as Silat martial arts. The aim of silat is BUDI PEKERTI LUHUR, meaning becoming a person of noble character. 

Religion and martial arts shares a common ground in many asian cultures, especially amongst the Chinese and Japanese. Due to the fact that the vast majority of the malay population follow Islam, Seni SIlat has been used in many Pesantren (islamic schools in indonesia) to culivate Islamic culture and spirituality in students. Many Silat masters will teach their students aspects of tasawwuf (islamic spirituality) as they develop their martial arts skills, and invoking the blessing of Allah with the recitation of Quranic verses when beginning or ending silat lessons is the norm. 

If there are any other alternatives which our society can use to harness the love for Allah, then supporting its cause is a necessity. "O you who believe ! if you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet. And (as for) those who disbelieve, for them is destruction and He has made their deeds ineffective." Quran ~ Surah Muhammad, verse 7 - 8. 
Link to article "WHY MUSLIMS LEAVE ISLAM"