Al-Qalam 
BY NONTOBEKO MKHWANAZI
Young people who attended the Muslim Youth Movement orientation camp in the KZN South Coast recently were told to set an example in the way they live their lives as Muslims so that it can be a form of Dawah to non-Muslims.
Guest speaker Moulana Habib Milanzi was addressing about 60 secondary and tertiary students from different parts of KwaZulu-Natal at As-Salaam Educational Institute in Braemar. He said as young Muslims, they will inspire others to come to the deen if they themselves base their lives on the Quran and Sunnah.
“As young Muslims you should always remember that everything you do in front of non-Muslims is Dawah. From the way you conduct yourself, the level of respect you portray to the manner in which you respect your body in covering it for modesty is Dawah” he said.
“Prophet Muhammad (SAW) always took into account the situation of young people, and was always cautious of social and psychological conditions that would hinder them from engaging in productive learning, therefore the onus rests on every Muslim to prioritise the youth,” the Moulana said.
He also addressed the many challenges that the Muslim youth have to face in their everyday life. Among them where the issue of identity, dependency, drug abuse, peer pressure, sexual engagement and lack of inspiration.
Yusuf Moloi, one of the attendees, said that youth need more such camps, where esteemed guests are invited to teach the youth on how to deal with issues and dreams they face on a daily basis.
“The camp brought a new perspective to the way I do dawah. I am confident now that I will not only be doing dawah in the form of sending a verbal or written action but through conduct as stated in the Quraan and Sunnah” said Moloi.
A robust discussion on Islam and culture stirred a huge debate among participants around polygamy. It was evident that majority of the female participants had views that leaned towards feminism on the concept of polygamy based on societal experiences.
Sifiso Duma, who was also a guest speaker used Surah An-Nisa to guide the youth into seeing that the Quraan has solutions for all challenges and that they needed not to look elsewhere for guidance but the Quraan.
“If it is written in the Quraan then you must know that it is not just a theory but it’s a way of life. The problem with these modern day theories is that they are not sustainable, let alone practical. If polygamy is wrong, Allah would have stated so in the Quraan. Instead he stated that it is permissible, substantiated why it is permissible and he even stated rules for it,” said Duma.
Khadijah Thusi, one of the participants, says Duma’s explanation really brought some light into the often argued concept of Islam and polygamy vs what the western world says about polygamy.
“With the knowledge gained now I will be able to defend Islam on the aspect of polygamy because I was often unable to answer when society says Muslim women are oppressed in a sense that from a very young age they are groomed into believing that whether they like it or not they are going to marry Muslim men that will treat them less of women because of polygamy,” says Thusi.
The youth would not let anything get in their way of making the camp memorable by learning and also having fun. Even load shedding could not stop them, as through the dark, they recited meaningful poems, did plays and even sang as a way of doing dhikr.
