The Path To Victory : Why Young People Must Step Up Their Game

The Path To Victory: Why Young People Must Step Up Their Game

Shaykh Hisham Abu Yusuf

This Deen Was Carried by Young People

This deen was carried by young people. This deen was led by young people. Imagine the Prophet ﷺ is about to die, about to pass away from his life. And he decides, I'm going to send an army to fight the Roman Empire. Because the world at his time was a world in which either you show your force or you get eaten alive by the other empires — the Persian and the Roman Empire. So he has to show what he's made of. He's going to send an army to the great Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire. An army inside of which is Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. Who's going to be the boss? Who's going to lead the army? A 17-year-old teenager — Usama ibn Zayd, radhiallahu anhu.

When the Prophet ﷺ passes away, he passes away having made the decision: this young man is going to lead the army of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. The Sahaba push back — hey, hold on a second. Who is this young guy? Let's change it up. Let's get someone more experienced. We need 20 years' work experience in the battlefield. But Abu Bakr as-Siddiq says: Ibn hibbi Rasulillah ﷺ — the most beloved to Rasulullah ﷺ, son of the most beloved to Rasulullah ﷺ. You're telling me to overturn the decision Rasulullah ﷺ made? No way. Over my dead body. This 17-year-old is going to lead the greatest army ever seen. Watch.

Why did the Prophet ﷺ do this? To prove to the Sahaba: it is not years of experience, but it is youth who know how to lead that are the future of this ummah.

Abdullah ibn Abbas, radhiallahu anhu — he was 11 years old when he heard:

And Abdullah ibn Abbas — everybody is happy, because the surah is about victory. And Abdullah ibn Abbas is crying. Why? This 11-year-old boy — why are you crying? Why are you upset? He said: this surah means the Prophet's ﷺ time is finished. Nobody understood it. None of the senior Sahaba saw this. But this 11-year-old boy understood what nobody understood.

The deen of Islam is not a deen that requires three decades of experience. It's not a deen that glorifies gray hair. It is a deen that glorifies the initiative, the sincerity, and the hard work of people no matter what their age. You had 15-year-olds lining up to be part of the Battle of Badr. And the Prophet ﷺ is telling them: away, sorry, too young, sorry, no, go back. You have two 16-year-old young men who went after Abdullah ibn Ubayy, who went after Abu Jahl. Their target was to finish the great enemy of Islam.

Today, what are two 16-year-olds doing? Playing Fortnite, watching TikTok videos on repeat, finding some Netflix series that they can watch, wasting their time. This ummah will never be revived until its young people step up and are pushed to revive.

Two Messages: One for the Young, One for Those Who Used to Be Young

What is the practical way for this to happen? I have two messages today — one for the young, and one for those who used to be young. We don't want to say old people. You're all young at heart.

Message to the Young: Find Your Why

Young people, brothers and sisters under the age of 40 — because you're still young if you're under the age of 40 — your greatest and most important objective in life is to decide today. Not tomorrow. One day I will leave this earth and I will stand in front of Allah. And I will have a piece of paper to stand in front of Allah to say: O Allah, this is what I've done for you in the short life you gave me.

I'm going to ask you a question. If you're under the age of 40, go home and write down on a piece of paper: what is your answer? What will it say when you stand in front of Allah? O Allah, I played Fortnite — can I have a pat on the back please? O Allah, I binge-watched 16 movies — can I get into Jannah? O Allah, I wasted my time. I ran after girls on Instagram. O Allah, I flopped. I sat at home on my couch. Here you go, this is my paper. Can I enter Jannah? Is there a special door for me? The door for lazy people? The door for the distracted? I know about Baab ar-Rayyan for the fasting people, the Baab for Salah people. Is there a Baab — the door of Jannah — for the people who decided to be distracted and waste their life?

What will be on the paper? Write it down today. And when you write it down, put it up on the wall. I've got 1 year, 5 years, 10 years to achieve this. So when I stand in front of Allah, I have something to say — O Allah, I memorized the Qur'an for your sake. I taught the Qur'an for your sake. I became the first Muslim athlete. I became the first Muslim MP. I went and I opened a GP practice. I went and I opened a dental practice. O Allah, I served the poor. I helped the needy. O Allah, I did something. That's all the generation needs — a sense of direction and purpose, and an answer in front of Allah.

On that day:

There's no money that's going to save you and no children. Nothing can save you — except that you came in front of Allah with an answer, with a pure heart. And paradise will be brought forward for those who had a good answer. And the Fire will be brought close for those who had nothing.

The crux of the matter, young people, is you need a why on this earth. What am I going to answer Allah? Why am I here? What am I going to do? The day you realize this, your whole life will change. What you pick for your GCSEs, what you eat, who you hang out with, what you watch on TV, what games you play — everything will change because you know why you're here. And you decided. Mama didn't tell you, son, I want you to do X. Baba didn't tell you, daughter, I want you to... No, you decide. Because they will not be there to save you.

You have to, young people — you have to really digest this:

The day when your siblings will run away from you. Your parents will run away from you. Your wife, your husband, your children will run away from you. Everybody will be busy with one thing — what's on the piece of paper? What did you do? There's nothing else. And until you make that your personal mission, you will waste your life. Have a purpose — or every advertisement, game, product, Netflix, Amazon Prime, TV series and movie will distract you. Have a purpose.

The Second Challenge: Lack of Initiative

The second biggest challenge for young people is the lack of initiative. We have a generation of young people who feel like everything will be done for them. Baba is here with a big shovel to feed me with his nice golden spoon. Mama is here to do everything for me. They're not used to doing things themselves. Groceries — I got that on Deliveroo. Playing — I've got that on my laptop. I don't need to move from my place for things to happen. This is the generation of fast food, of TikTok, of instant coffee, of instant everything, of everything served to me.

We are going to be a weak and spineless generation if we are not able to be uncomfortable. Get uncomfortable. Go hike a mountain. Go walk to the grocery store — in the heat, yes, in the heat. Go sweat a little bit. Play outside. Shabab, play outside — forget about League of Legends. Khalas. Go and sweat. Go and spend time. Go out of your way. Take initiative. Clean the streets. Pick a street near the mosque. Go and take a broom and clean it up. Get out of your comfort zone. Because the more you sit in one place, the more you sit at home, the more you sit cooped up in your room, the more useless you will become to yourself and to the ummah at large. You are a liability. You are not an asset for us.

Umar ibn al-Khattab, radhiallahu anhu — one day he came to the masjid and he saw people with big bellies sitting in the back. And he wrote a letter to them and he said: akhshawshanū — roughen up. Because I don't like a people who are obese and who are lazy and who are good for nothing. Get to work.

We have to, as parents, instill in our children the idea of discipline and work ethic. It's not enough to privilege them. It's not enough to provide for them. We have to instill in them that you have to do the work. Here's a lawnmower — go and mow the lawn. Your neighbor's lawn too, come on. Go and get to work. Because if you don't work with your hands, and if you don't sweat and learn the art of discipline, you'll become a wasted generation.

The Third Challenge: The Broken Family

The third challenge of young people — we talked about distraction, we talked about discipline — and the third one is the challenge of the broken family. And this is not in the hands of any young person. Now I talk to the parents.

You know what is the greatest bala that I have seen in this city of Manchester, and in every city in the UK? Good and sincere parents who love their children, but who have outsourced parenting to the madrasah. And then what happens? The child is 21 years old, and I get a phone call.

I swear by Allah Al-Azeem — every single week of the last 10 years, without exception, I get a call. My son is 21 years old, he doesn't pray. My daughter is 18, doesn't believe in Allah. My son is 19, he's on drugs. Habibi, qalbi — in 30 minutes, can I fix your absence of 18 years? Where were you? Where were you for 18, 20 years? I was busy working. But this is the work. The work is not to go and bring food home only. This is the big work.

Look how Allah talks to Rasulullah ﷺ — his beloved, his mahboob. Allah says to him:

O Muhammad ﷺ, my beloved — you have to work hard on your family for them to pray salah. وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا — be patient, work hard, be diligent, inspire them, motivate them, love them, give them incentives. Work hard for them to love salah. I'm not asking you to give them rizq — I am the Razzaq. You are not the Razzaq, Muhammad ﷺ. You are not controlling the food. You give them the teaching. You work hard on them. Spend time, play with them, love them, race with them, inspire them. I will provide for you, don't worry. But if you don't provide your attention, there will come a time when it's too late.

I will add one more thing for the parents. If you have an issue in your marriage, do not have those fights in front of the children. One of the ways Allah described marriage in the Qur'an, He said:

You are a garment, a covering for each other. You know when something covers you — can you see the color of my skin right now? You can't. A husband is a covering for his wife, a wife is a covering for her husband. If you're having an argument or a fight, close the door of your bedroom and have it inside. But the more the public display of fighting, and argumentation, and misalignment in front of the kids — the kids grow up and they themselves are lost.

I was in a masjid a couple of months ago, speaking to a very experienced imam from Bosnia who has been working in the community for 50 years. When many of us here were in nappies, he was working in the community — saving marriages and working hard on shabab and young people. I asked him: what is the most important thing to preserve the next generation? He said: parents. If the parenting is solid, they will be mu'mineen. And if the parenting is a failure, they will leave Islam. This is the pattern he has seen over 50 years.

Fathers and mothers — the next generation are not going to raise themselves. The whole world is against you. The school environment is not there to help you. People outside on the street are not there to help you. The internet is not a merciful place. You are alone, fighting against the current — but keep going, keep going. Because this is your jihad. This is your struggle. Your children are your struggle. And if you don't work on them now, we will come to a time when we won't have the young people who can lead us.

A Three-Part Roadmap for Raising the Next Generation

Young people, I'm going to give you a three-part roadmap for your life — young and old — for the preparation of a new generation.

Stage One: Ages Zero to Seven — Build Love

Between the age of zero and seven, oh parents and oh young people, there are two things to focus on. Building the love of Allah, through going out into nature, through learning about who Allah is, talking about Allah at home. Not only when you want to scare your child — "Allah is going to come and shout at you, put you in Jahannam" — no. What about the rahma of Allah, the lutf, the mawadda of Allah? What about the 'izzah? Who is going to talk to your children about Allah except you?

Learn about Allah and the stories of the prophets, their companions, and the prophets before — that's it. This is the focus between zero and seven. Not ahkam, not tajweed, not hifzh. The focus is: love of Allah, love of the Prophet ﷺ, love of the Sahaba. Build love. That's it. Zero to seven.

Stage Two: Ages Seven to Fourteen — Build Purpose

Seven to fourteen — now they're thinking, now they're giving you answers, now they have opinions, mashallah. Now they've gone and seen football matches, they have role models — football players, celebrities they love. At age seven to fourteen, this is the time for them to learn. And young people, this is the time for you to build your purpose. What am I here for? To learn who you are and what you will contribute to this ummah.

In this stage, salah is very, very important. If in this stage you don't learn to love salah, it will be very difficult afterwards. In this stage it's very important to understand the Qur'an — not just to memorize. If you don't understand and love the Qur'an, it's very hard to recover it afterwards. These are the two things between seven to fourteen. Parenting in age seven to fourteen is about modeling to your children. They will not listen to you — they will copy you. So be who you want them to be. Take them with you where you want them to go.

Stage Three: Ages Fourteen to Twenty-One — Befriend Them

Age fourteen to twenty-one — if we didn't work hard for the first fourteen years, it's too late now. Age fourteen to twenty-one is when we get the phone calls at the masjid. My son is this, my daughter is there. She's gone and done this, he's gone and done that. Can you save them? We can't at this stage — it's too late. From age fourteen to twenty-one, this is your last opportunity to befriend them before you let go of them.

The Mandate for the Ummah

This, my dear brothers and sisters, is the mandate for the ummah. If we don't invest in the youth club, if we don't invest in the masjid, if we don't invest in youth spaces, if we don't invest in the teaching — the re-imagination of the madrasah — if we don't invest in parenting, in time with our young people — and please don't give them a smartphone before eighteen. Please don't give them access to their laptop in their bedroom before eighteen. Trust them, but don't trust the shaitan with them. Restrict their access to devices. Restrict their access to the internet. But build companionship and time and love with them, so you can then invest in them afterwards.

Young people — we want you to build great careers and we want you to build real estate in the akhira. We want you to be a hafizh of the Qur'an, and an alim of this deen, and a doctor, and a lawyer, and an engineer, and a social scientist, and an artist, and a writer. We want both — the dunya and the akhira. And this is the model that I hope we will all aspire to. If we can resolve our youth, the ummah itself will rise.