If human resources are the most important resources for the advancement of any nation, then the youth element is the most important of those resources. For the age of a nation is measured by its movement, vigor, and aspirations. It is either a rising, youthful nation or an aged one waiting for its moment of decline.
My discussion will be on four axes:
The first axis: Youth in the Quranic perspective:
- The Quran has spoken about youth as representing the stage of strength and vigor, and what that implies in terms of a strong readiness to acquire knowledge, learn skills, and also to give.
He Almighty says: ﴿ Allah is the one who created you from weakness, then after weakness He made strength … ﴾ 1.
And He says in another verse: ﴿ And when he reached his maturity, We gave him judgment and knowledge. And thus do We reward the doers of good. ﴾ 2
He said in Tafsir Al-Mizan: It appears that what is meant by it is reaching the beginning of youth, not its middle or reaching its end (forty). The evidence for that is His saying regarding Moses (a): ﴿ And when he reached his maturity and became steady, We gave him judgment and knowledge … ﴾ 3 which indicates being in the middle of it with His saying: ﴿ … and became steady … ﴾ 3, and His saying: ﴿ … until when he reached his maturity and reached forty years, he said: My Lord, inspire me to thank Your favor … ﴾ 4. So if reaching maturity was reaching forty, there would be no need to repeat His saying: ﴿ … reached … ﴾ 3.
2. He also spoke about youth, and that they are the fastest people to accept the call to good and turn towards it:
He Almighty says: ﴿ But no one believed in Moses except a lineage (dhurriyyah) of his people, fearing that Pharaoh and their leaders would persecute them … ﴾ 5.
Meaning, no one believed in Moses before he cast his staff except young men and youths, as a group of commentators say.
Hence, the people of Noah (a) criticized him because his followers were from the youth class and not the elders. He Almighty says on their tongues: ﴿ … and we do not see you followed except by those who are the lowest of us, at the outset of opinion (badi al-ra’y) … ﴾ 6
In Tafsir Al-Amthal it says: They called them “badi al-ra’y” (at the outset of opinion) – meaning those who rely on appearances without deep scrutiny and fall in love with something at first glance. In reality, that was because obstinacy and bigotry had no way into the hearts of those who gathered around Noah (a), because most of them were youth with pure hearts who felt the light of truth in their hearts and perceived with their truth-seeking minds the signs of truthfulness in the words and deeds of the prophets (a).
3. He also spoke about youth being more forward in doing what they want. So if their energies are directed in the right direction, they will be more capable than others of making change. He Almighty says: ﴿ They said: We heard a young man (fatan) mentioning them, called Ibrahim. ﴾ 7
Ibrahim (a) was a young man, but he led the change in his society.
The second axis: Youth in the directions and practices of the Ahl al-Bayt (a):
The Ahl al-Bayt (a) paid great attention to youth, given the importance of this stage and the necessity of investing in it optimally. From the Messenger of Allah (s): “Two things whose value is not known except by those who have lost them: youth and health.”
So our Imams (a) gave youth their utmost attention and care, keen to raise them well, with a focus on the aspect of knowledge first, while not neglecting other aspects.
This focus stems from His Almighty saying: ﴿ … Say: Are those who know equal to those who do not know? Only those of understanding will remember. ﴾ 8
We mention here some examples of this attention:
In a narration: Al-Hasan ibn Ali (a) called his sons and the sons of his brother and said: “O my sons and the sons of my brother, you are the young of a people, and soon you will be the elders of other people. So learn knowledge. Whoever among you cannot narrate it or memorize it, let him write it down and place it in his home.”
And from Al-Baqir (a): “When Zayn al-Abidin (a) looked at the youth who were seeking knowledge, he would draw them close to him and say: ‘Welcome to you. You are the deposits of knowledge. Soon, you, being the young of a people, will become the elders of others.'”
Imam al-Baqir (a): “If I come across a youth from the Shia youth who does not study religious jurisprudence (yatafaqqah), I would discipline him.”
And from Imam al-Sadiq (a): “I do not like to see a youth from among you except that he is spending his time in one of two states: either a scholar or a learner. If he does not do so, he is negligent. If he is negligent, he wastes. If he wastes, he sins. If he sins, he resides in the Fire, by the One who sent Muhammad with the truth.”
And from Yunus ibn Ya’qub (in a long narration), he said: Abu ‘Abdillah (a) would stay for several days before Hajj on a mountain at the edge of the sanctuary, in a small tent (fazah) pitched for him. He said: Abu ‘Ubaydillah (a) stuck his head out of his tent, and there was a camel approaching at a fast pace. He said: “Hisham, by the Lord of the Ka’bah.” He said: We thought Hisham was a man from the children of ‘Aqil who was intensely devoted to him.
He said: Hisham ibn al-Hakam arrived, at a time when his beard had just begun to grow. There was no one among us who was not older than him (according to the narration, among them were Humran ibn A’yan, Hisham ibn Salim, Qays al-Masir, and Mu’min al-Taq, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Nu’man).
He said: Abu ‘Abdillah (a) made room for him and said: “Our supporter with his heart, tongue, and hand.”
And when Imam al-Sadiq (a) boasts to his companions about the youth Hisham ibn al-Hakam, in that is a following of the action of Allah Almighty regarding youth as well. In a narration from the Messenger of Allah (s): “Indeed, Allah Almighty boasts to the angels about the worshipping youth, saying: ‘Look at My servant! He left his desire for My sake.'”
The third axis: The call of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) to those in charge of social and cultural affairs to focus on youth:
I will suffice here by mentioning two narrations:
The first: From Imam Ali (a): “Indeed, the heart of a youth is like empty land. Whatever is thrown into it, it accepts.”
The second: Imam al-Sadiq (a) asked Mu’min al-Taq: “Are you from Basra?” He said: “Yes.” He said: “How did you see the people’s hastening to this matter (the Imamate) and their entering into it?” He said: “By Allah, they are few, and even though they have done so, that is indeed little.” He said: “Focus on the youth (al-ahdath), for they are faster to every good.”
The fourth axis: Youth in the era of the reappearance (Al-Zuhur):
In Ghaybat al-Nu’mani and al-Tusi, we read the following narration from Hakim ibn Sa’d, from Amir al-Mu’minin (a):
He said: “The companions of the Mahdi are youth. There is no ugliness (lahool) in them except like the kohl of the eye and salt in food. And the least amount of food is salt.”
This concerns the supporters of the Imam (a). As for him (the Imam himself), there are more than one narration indicating that he emerges as a young man:
From Abu ‘Abdillah (a), he said: “If the Qa’im were to rise, the people would deny him, because he would return to them as a young man (shabban) of successful/fortunate appearance (muwaffaqan). Only those whose covenant Allah took in the primordial existence would remain steadfast upon him.”
And from him (a), he also said: “Indeed, part of the great trial is that their master (sahibuhum) would emerge to them as a young man, while they think he is an old, aged man.”
And from him (a) in a third narration: “Then he will go into an occultation (ghaybah) for a long time, and will appear in the form of a young, successful man, of thirty-two years. So a group of people will turn away from him. He will fill the earth with equity and justice just as it was filled with oppression and tyranny.”
And from Imam al-Rida (a): “Indeed, the Qa’im, when he emerges, will be at the age of the elderly but with the appearance of the youth, strong in his body. So much so that if he were to extend his hand to the greatest tree on the face of the earth, he would uproot it. And if he were to shout among the mountains, their rocks would crumble. He will have the staff of Moses (a) and the ring of Solomon (a). He is the fourth of my descendants. Allah will conceal him in His screen as long as He wills, then will manifest him and will fill the earth through him with equity and justice just as it was filled with injustice and tyranny.”
Thus, the Master of the Command (a) emerges in the form of a young man, and the vast majority of his supporters will be from the youth.
Therefore, this great occasion represents a call to all those working in the religious, social, or cultural fields to devote most of their attention to this group, and to construct advanced programs that address the young generation and their consciousness, and mobilize their energies in all fields of good – knowledge, action, awareness, and morals – so that they may be the pioneers towards progress, and so that they may truly qualify to join the supporters of the Master of the Command (may Allah Almighty hasten his noble reappearance) 9.
—
Footnotes:
- The Holy Quran: Surat al-Rum (30), Verse: 54, Page: 410.
- The Holy Quran: Surat Yusuf (12), Verse: 22, Page: 237.
- a. b. c. The Holy Quran: Surat al-Qasas (28), Verse: 14, Page: 387.
- The Holy Quran: Surat al-Ahqaf(46), Verse: 15, Page: 504.
- The Holy Quran: Surat Yunus (10), Verse: 83, Page: 218.
- The Holy Quran: Surat Hud (11), Verse: 27, Page: 224.
- The Holy Quran: Surat al-Anbiya’ (21), Verse: 60, Page: 327.
- The Holy Quran: Surat al-Zumar (39), Verse: 9, Page: 459.
- Source: Umm Al-Hamam Network.
