Hosai Mojaddidi – Have We Turned Our Backs On Our Muslim Youth

			This is from a sister named Susie
Ismail. He also works with teens
		

			so please pay attention. Last
weekend I spoke at a youth
		

			conference on the topic of gender
interaction. When the talk
		

			finished I asked the room of over
100 teens aged 13 to 18 years old.
		

			If they had any questions, I was
met with complete silence,
		

			thinking that hesitation and
embarrassment may be the culprit.
		

			I shared my cell number with the
teens and asked them to text me
		

			any questions they had on the
topics we covered, expecting maybe
		

			four to five questions from a few
brave souls. I was shocked to see
		

			my phone light up with question
after question after question that
		

			continued late into the night long
after the session was over. In the
		

			end, I received over 100 text
messages from 79 Different teens.
		

			Some of the numbers were cloaked
in anonymity, and couched in doubt
		

			of whether or not parents might
find out the questions ranged from
		

			is marijuana and vaping really
haram to Why do my parents hate me
		

			so much? To How do I stop people
from bullying me and beating me up
		

			in school? To comments such as I'm
not sure I believe in God anymore.
		

			Or I'm really depressed and
sometimes I don't think life is
		

			worth living, to heartbreaking
words of how do I recover from
		

			something really bad that I've
never told anyone about? Buried
		

			amidst the questions about
sexuality LGBTQIA plus secret
		

			boyfriends and body image, their
lives a palpable undercurrent of
		

			fear, sadness, loneliness, and a
type of desperate reaching out
		

			what broke my heart was after
staying up late and responding to
		

			each and every text. So many of
those teens sent back a surprised
		

			message of I didn't think you
would really answer or wow, I
		

			didn't expect a response. Have we
turned our backs on our youth that
		

			they no longer ask because they
expect to be dismissed or ignored?
		

			Have we led them to believe that
they will not be heard, validated
		

			or responded to? So many of these
questions and comments that came
		

			through my phone that night, were
stitched with threads of helpless
		

			desperation, a cry that shook the
depths of my consciousness as a
		

			mother, a speaker and educator, a
counselor and a community member?
		

			We are so quick to blame our youth
for not talking to us. But are we
		

			accessible enough to them in the
way that they need to speak and
		

			express themselves? Do we simply
expect them to mold to our method
		

			of communication and the
guidelines we provide? Last
		

			weekend I learned more from the
teens that attended that session,
		

			and from the text that came in
than they could ever learn from
		

			me. I pray that Allah subhanaw
taala guides us all as parents,
		

			teachers, mentors, friends and
community leaders, to be better to
		

			do better to open up the channels
of communication with our
		

			children, to listen to hear and to
love. May Allah Subhana Allah
		

			forgive us for our feelings and
raising our children with a sense
		

			of security and safety, safety, to
face their fears with us by their
		

			side. May God make us better than
we were and better than we are in
		

			protecting our youth and being
there for them when they need us
		

			the most. And when we need them
the most to learn to understand to
		

			grow and to heal together before
it is too late. We cannot lose
		

			another heart, another mind or
another soul. I mean it was my
		

			aim. Everybody's