Source & Credit: Today Online | Gambia
By Staff Reporter
Speaking at the 3-day event which held at the Masroor Senior Secondary School, Old Yundum, the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in The Gambia, Maulana Baba F. Trawally decried the preponderance of negative attitudes and activities among the nation’s youthful generation.
Describing the current attitude of the youths, Amir Trawally said: “They are engrossed in so many activities that are of the least benefit to their moral and spiritual well-being. They are determined to waste hours on playing or watching games. Whenever the call is made in the cause of Allah, they are not ready to spare the least time.”
According to him, youths of the Ahmadiyya community should never show such attitudes. He asked them to always reflect on their pledge to be ready to sacrifice their lives, wealth, time and honour for the sake of their religion, country and nation. “Any activity that is destructive to that objective is therefore forbidden to you,” Amir emphasized.
In his opening speech, national president of the youth group, Mr. Tahir Ahmad Touray explained the objectives of the Ahmadiyya Youth Association to include encouraging the youths to heed their real objectives in life; to make them shun heedlessness to Allah’s commandments which leads to a chaotic society; to inculcate in them the love of Allah and the Holy Prophet (saw), and to inculcate in them the spirit of serving Islam, their country, and to strive for the welfare of mankind in general.
“This is the responsibility of every youth. This is what we owe Allah and this is what we owe humanity,” Touray noted.
According to Touray, it is important for young people to be determined and employ all positive means possible towards achieving their goals. However, he said the primary objective of every human should be the total devotion and submission to Allah Almighty.
“Whenever man loses sight of that goal, he becomes heedless to the collective interests of the society and becomes a transgressor. Increasing rates of crime, corruption, and all forms of injustice are the consequences of man abandoning his real goal and adopting other goals.”
While speaking on the topic Youth and the Contemporary Society, Touray said that the world has attained scientific advancement and efforts are still being made to further propel it, noting that youths in particular should move closer to God.
“Through the internet, people from different parts of the world, who could not have reached each other for six months can communicate and even see each other in seconds. These developments are not without negative results.
The more advanced the world becomes, the more estranged from God it has become and thus more entangled in the Satanic chain.
“It is an undeniable fact that it is the youths who are the main beneficiaries of the technological development and so are they the most negatively affected.
They are given to the pursuit of pleasure and the myriad of games and the opening of all the doors of vices have diverted the attention of the contemporary youth from the ultimate objective of life, i.e. seeking Allah.”
On his part, Fabakary Kalley, a youth leader observed that in countries where the youth are more agile and committed towards the acquisition of knowledge from all domains, such countries prosper.
“Islam has admonished all to seek knowledge, the significance of which is to be able to know Allah and know how to worship Him.
Addressing the over 600 youths who attended the convention from both The Gambia and Guinea Bissau, Mr. Mam Mbanyick Njie, then permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youths and Sports, expressed delight at the high level of moral discipline displayed by the youths of the Ahmadiyya Jama’at.
He also said it was amazing to see young people reciting the Holy Quran so beautifully well. This, he said, is a clear indication of the priority and importance that the youths have attached to the moral training of their members.
According to Mr. Njie, young people are the assets of any nation and they must be engaged meaningfully so as to prevent them from being consumed by the ills of the contemporary society.
He then expressed his delight that the Ahmadiyya Youth Association is also actively engaging its members in the acquisition of skills. “This is important for the socioeconomic development of our country”, he said.
He concluded by raising concern over the mode of dress of young people, challenging parents, religious leaders and the society as a whole to double their efforts in the moral disciplining of the youth.
He then urged the youths to seek blessings from their parents by respecting and fulfilling their obligations to them.
Other speakers at the annual national event included the Missionary in-charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in The Gambia, Ustaz Syed Saeed-ul Hassan Shah, who spoke at length on the topic The Youth as a Role Model.
Over 600 Ahmadi youths from all regions of The Gambia and the neighbouring Guinea Bissau attended the gathering which held between Friday 25th to Sunday 27th December 2009.
The youth gathering was also characterized by academic and sporting competitions.
Read here: Group calls for youth re-orientation
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