News:

On the 30^th of April, the media reported on an investigation by the Press Association that found that councils across the UK are referring hundreds of children under the age of 12 to specialist drug and alcohol treatment centres in the country. Some were as young as four years old. According to most recent figures from Public Health England, around 366 children aged 12 and under in England were referred for such treatment in 2012/13. Experts have said that the most common reason that children had access to drugs and alcohol was through parents who were heavy drinkers or drug users. In response to these staggering facts, politicians and children's specialists have called for improved mental health services for children as well as more effective educational programs to teach the young about the harms of drug-taking.

Comment:

This story is a reflection of the sheer scale of these corrosive problems that affect Western societies - problems they are clueless as to how to solve. It is a damning indictment of Western capitalist liberal values which have created a materialistic self-gratifying lifestyle, pushing individuals to pursue selfish pleasures, regardless of the consequences, and where children have become primary victims. It is also a result of the spiritual void created within individuals by the secular capitalist creed that has increasingly marginalized religion within societies, replacing it with the superficial belief that life is simply about the here and now and seeking temporary sensual pleasures. It is hardly surprising therefore that so many seek to fill this spiritual emptiness with drugs and alcohol, or that they turn to them if they are not able to achieve their worldly aspirations - whether  it be related to acquiring of wealth, status, or securing particular relationships with the opposite sex. Additionally, the countless social, economic, and moral problems caused by the capitalist, liberal lifestyle and system - such as severe financial hardship, broken families, crippling loneliness due to individualism, or neglect of the elderly or those in need - has driven so many to feel that they have no way out of their difficulties other than drown their worries with alcohol or escaping their realities with drugs. This is exacerbated by the fact that capitalism offers no solutions and therefore no hope to those suffering from these issues.

This liberal lifestyle, this materialistic outlook on life, and this destructive manner of dealing with problems is all witnessed in the homes, on TV, and on the streets by the children of the society who then unsurprisingly emulate it. According to a 2009 survey by the Trading Standards Institute, half of all teenagers admitted to drinking alcohol to the level of getting drunk. And according to a 2008 study by the UK Government's NHS Information Centre, a quarter of under 16's had taken illegal drugs. It is farcical therefore that Western politicians talk about the need for better education to teach children about the dangers of alcohol and drugs while implementing and promoting a system where the creation of these problems is ingrained within the DNA of its values and superficial view of life.

Incidentally, these are the same secular liberal values that Muslims in the West are labeled extreme if they reject and that Western governments fight wars to force-feed to the citizens of the Muslim world, or introduce with such fanfare and dazzling words though secular educational programs, curricula, or projects in our lands. They are the same corrupt values that the Muslim regimes of the region embrace with open arms, allow their free import into the schools and homes of their states, and that they shower praise upon, expressing their pride of governing over systems that promote them within their societies. Sadly, it is therefore not surprising that the problems of alcohol and drug abuse amongst the youth of our Muslim lands is increasing. Allah (swt) has said,

((وَلَوِ اتَّبَعَ الْحَقُّ أَهْوَاءهُمْ لَفَسَدَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ بَلْ أَتَيْنَاهُم بِذِكْرِهِمْ فَهُمْ عَن ذِكْرِهِم مُّعْرِضُونَ))

"If the truth had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! Nay we have sent them their admonition but they turn away from their admonition." [Al-Mu'minun: 71]

As Muslims in the West or the Muslim world, we need to do the utmost to shield our children from such harmful secular, liberal values, no matter what labels secular governments and media throw at us. We must exert our greatest efforts as individual Muslims; and as Muslim communities to instill the sublime Islamic values and beliefs within our families and youth to create personalities who are constantly conscious of their relationship with their Rabb (swt); who understand that their true purpose of life is to seek His Pleasure and not their own; and who have their sight and hopes firmly fixed on the unlimited joys of Jannah rather than the temporary benefits and pleasures of this Dunya. And importantly, we need to struggle hard for the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" under which our children will be educated in true Islamic schools and homes and immersed in an atmosphere of the noble Islamic beliefs, morals, and conduct through the full implementation of the Islamic Shariah laws. This will create generations of Muslim youth of outstanding Islamic personalities Insha Allah who submit themselves completely to the obedience of their Lord (swt), and who are a source of goodness for their families, community, and society.

Written for The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz

Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir