The Council Of European Jamaats

With the fast and changing times, many people have been plunged into a state of confusion and bewilderment – especially the youth of the community.  How does one retain his or her Muslim identity and stay on the straight path in such times of spiritual strife?

In an age where being Muslim means being the target of ridicule, embarrassment and baseless accusations, where does the young Muslim boy or girl turn for support?  In addition, how do those who are charged with guiding the community reconcile the life of the world with the goals of Islam?

This work by the late Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari seeks to examine the ways and means to guide the “New Generation” of youth.  However, this book is by no means a step-by-step guide or “how-to” book on how the youth can retain their Islamic identity in such a pluralistic and global society.  Rather, it lays down and explains the principles and key foundation blocks which everyone needs to know.  Once the principles are known, then can each person seek to find new ways and means to help the younger generation through their greatest struggle…

The following is a review of the book, by IEB Publications:

The discussion regarding the Youth is an ancient issue which has and always will affect communities. Individuals who have spend their lives working for a cause, such as the improvement of global affairs, or even for personal gain realise that eventually these matters for which they laboured during their lifetimes will be placed on the shoulders of a new generation after them. Furthermore, regarding current matters, the youth possess the ability to comprehend new ideas and the strength to enforce them, both these faculties indeed being victims of age. Accordingly, the youth embody the strength and aspirations of every family, community, country and nation to a significant extent.

In this text Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari provides a fascinating insight into the mindset of youths with the same characteristic genius with which he tackled many social and academic issues confronting the Islamic world. In his trademark style, he spends much time identifying the problem in an intellectual manner and then clearly exhorts particular modes of thought. The book is primarily targeted at the leaders or elders of the community, who are keen to cultivate virtuous youth, yet are unsure as to how they should achieve this goal. The cover of the book, including the narrated Hadith, suggests that this text is aimed at the youth themselves. However, the content shows that they are not its principal beneficiaries, although they would undoubtedly profit from reading it.

The book is well constructed, with useful forewords and an enticing contents page. The actual text is approximately sixty pages long. Twenty of these pages narrate the biography of the author, which is excellently done. The biography contains a perfect level of depth and is indeed inspiring. The second third of the book basically proves that the concept that a different method of guidance is necessary for different time periods. Consequently, less than a third of the book is dedicated to what is arguably the most interesting issue “analysing the mindset of today's youth and the attitudes towards them. As a result of its brevity, the issue is merely touched on rather than examined in great depth. This summarisation is indeed interesting yet, as the foreword correctly states, leaves the reader with more questions than answers. For example, the chapter fascinatingly touches on the greater exposure of the youth to the world's social and political problems, the effect of rapid technological advances on their lifestyle and their continuous internal confrontation with the world's varying ideologies. Each of these could command their own chapter when discussing the youth, examining the problems and explaining the origins and solutions for each respectively. However, the text merely highlights all three without providing an in depth analysis.

Throughout the book, narrations from the Quran and Hadith are usefully quoted in clear legible Arabic or Farsi with the English translation. The exception to this is on the back cover where the Arabic font used for the narration is illegible when a readable font, which did not compromise the artistry of the writing, would evidently have been preferred. Furthermore, at certain places within the book the translation of Hadith is paraphrased, when an exact interpretation would have been more in line with the flow of the text.

The book is completed with a collection of narrations pertinent to the youth, with many of them targeted at elders who wish to develop their relationship with their younger counterparts. Accordingly, the Hadith are beneficial to a broad spectrum of society and their content does well to induce inspiration amongst the young and old alike. It should be noted that the Arabic quoted with the text in this section does not possess Halakat and thus some may find it difficult to read. In addition to this, narrations with the same content are occasionally repeated when it may have been preferred to provide a broader range of quotations, hence disseminating more knowledge. Conversely, the repetition of narration does reinforce their impact upon the reader to a certain extent.

Accordingly, the book contains a couple of factors to consider when guiding the youth without really providing practical steps to achieve this goal. Interestingly, Ayatullah Mutahhari places the onus for strengthening the youth on the elders as well as the youngsters themselves. The current leaders of the community provide the role models for the next generation and have the ability to cater for the youth's requirements, shield them from social harm and set up the means to guide them to a correct path. Ayatullah Mutahhari does mention one practical step to be employed when guiding the youth, and that is the use of the Quran and its lofty principles. Indeed the Quran speaks about the passing of successive generations and communicates the practical steps required to guide the youth. Yet, as the author highlights, the Prophet (s.a.w.w) will complain on the Day of Judgement, O my Lord! Surely My nation took this Quran as something trivial.

UK Sales & Distribution:
Islamic Education Board, Dar al-Tableegh, Jackets Lane, Harefield, Middlesex, UB9 6PZ. For more information www-world-federation.org e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Also available from:

1) Birmingham Jamaat
2) Essex Jamaat
3) Leeds Jamaat
4) Leicester Jamaat    
5) Hyderi Islamic Centre  - South London Jamaat
6) Milton Keynes Jamaat
7) Peterborough Jamaat
8) Islamic Centre  - Stanmore Jamaat
9) Wessex  Jamaat