By: Faheem ul islam
Youth is the prime time of one’s life with passion, energy, power, drive and desire to create and to contribute to the overall wellness and progress of a society. This is the time of life when one has extraordinary ability, enthusiasm, strength and dedication for achieving a goal.
The history of mankind is witness that youth play a great role in revolutionary movements in nation building and shaping up a society. This is the age when a person has all that it takes to make great contributions towards different realms of life. The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) said that “…take advantages of five things before five other things- Your youth before you become old, your health before you fall sick, your richness before you become poor, your free time before you become busy and your life before your death”. He
(PBUH) also said that, “…the son of Adam will not pass away from Allah until he is asked about five things- how he lived his life, how he utilized his youth, with what means did he earns his wealth, how did he spend his money and what did he do with his knowledge (Tirmidi). The best intention for Muslim youth is to engage themselves in activities which are beneficial to whole humanity and become a means of seeking almighty’s mercy in the world and hereafter.
Furthermore, for those righteous people it is mandatory to avoid, in a dignified manner, whenever they come across that which is useless, meaningless and holds falsehood. A righteous person will not intentionally go anywhere to hear or see or take part in any type of act that amounts to wasting time or engaging in falsehood and because of this feeling one behaves seriously and responsibly throughout one’s life just like the student who is taking an examination paper with his whole attention of mind, body and soul.
So much so even in matters of recreation and sports, a righteous person makes a choice of only those things which prepare him for higher ends in life and do not result in wastage of time. We all know that during examinations, we totally change our activities and engage in things that are result oriented and help us in preparing for the forthcoming exams. Everyone clearly realizes that they have to pass the exams; all try their best, try hard and sacrifice their sleep to get good score during the exams for the fact that it is the matter of our future. What will you say about those students who instead of preparing for the exam involve in useless things? We all know the answer!
Young age is a very precious part of our lives and we must make most out of it. This is the time when we have extraordinary strength to take on any challenge and work hard to be successful. This is also the age when we can lay a strong foundation for a strong and prosperous future. We must not waste our time and try to make correct choices in the age. At this stage of life, we have much to give to others. It can also become something to be very grateful for if we spend this period of our life in the right way.
The writer is pursuing his bachelor’s honours degree in political science at Aligarh Muslim University.
