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* Alfia Patel, 18, everyday encounters her parents’ wrath when she listens to music or watches television. Her question is how is she supposed to spend her leisure time in vacation if not watch television or listen to music?
* Javed Mukhi, 19, is aware that as a Muslim, he is not supposed to visit pub and dance. But he says where else he is supposed to spend evening with friends?
* Hussain Narpali, 21, spends maximum leisure time chatting on the Internet.
Today’s young Muslim boys and girls are conscious about their Islamic identity. They are aware of the Islamic position on the issue of music, film, television and entertainment. But because of lack of alternatives, many of them are forced to watch popular cinema, TV serials and listen to vulgar music.
Entertainment is a vital element in today’s world and it is multi-media. No doubt, in the current era, both in the West and in the Muslim world, people are focused on what leisure time activities they plan to do on the weekend. Allah (SWT) tells us in the Qur’an that we were not put on this Earth except to worship Him. So entertainment cannot dominate the daily life schedule. But community cannot ask its youth to shun entertainment totally.
Just imposing restrictions and not providing them alternatives is not going to solve one of the gravest issues facing the Muslim community. The need of the hour is to debate and provide alternative entertainment to Muslim youngsters.
It’s easy to sermonize about the deleterious impact of entertainment and that Islam discourages it if it is inappropriate and interferes with reading a book or jogging, etc... as long as they do it to a healthy degree, then there are no restrictions. Being consumed by any activity, sometimes to the point of addiction, is what is disallowed in Islam.
Entertainment and fun activities can differ from generation to generation and culture to culture. The Companions did what was conducive to their circumstances; they were bound by their surroundings and natural environment.
Independent film and television is an excellent field for Muslims to be in right now. With the popularity of people such as Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 911, Bowling for Columbine), major entertainment companies are realizing that alternative media has a well-defined audience and that such media can be a strong source of revenue.
In my opinion, there has never been a more appropriate time for a new generation of Muslims to step to the fore with creative and engaging documentary films, alternative television programming and other alternative media.
Additionally, we have seen the rise of music subcultures in the last decade which has thrown the door of opportunity open to musicians and other artists.
Alternatives entertainments tips:
* Arrange community dinner or activity: Make a special effort to organize and attend events where other Muslims teens will be present and the speaker caters his/her message to this crowd.
* Help teens start their own youth group: Help them establish a youth group, not just to learn about Islam, but to go to the amusement park together, go to swimming, etc. Have meetings at members’ houses on a weekly or bimonthly basis. Get this group involved in useful work like cleaning up litter around the Masjid or visiting senior citizens’ homes. This group must have parental supervision, although teens’ decision-making powers should not be interfered with unless really necessary.
* Establish a TV-free evening and monitor TV watching in general: Parents’ biggest competitor for their children’s attention is the TV. Monitoring what everyone watches simply means taking care to remind and help everyone avoid shows which depict sex, violence and encourage un-Islamic activities. Put up a list of acceptable and unacceptable shows on the wall beside the TV. Establishing TV-free evenings means having one evening of the week when no one, adult, teen or child is allowed to watch television. Hopefully, this is a first step towards general TV reduction in the home. This is an ideal time to have the next tip.
* Have “Halal Fun night” once a month: Islamic entertainment is a much neglected area of Muslim concern. Songs, skits, etc. are a viable tool for the transmission of healthy values. Let Muslim youngsters present their own songs to the whole family. Make one of the teens in charge of this event. Help them establish criteria of acceptable and unacceptable Halal entert-ainment.
* Visit various Muslim websites that sell audio, video and other entertainment products: Astroblabe Productions/Soundvision is a great resource. Islamicity.com is another place that has a large bazaar section on its website with artwork, books, videos, nasheeds and other products available. The Rumi Bookstore (www.rumibookstore.com/) which has some affiliation with Imam Hamza Yousef has an excellent selection of tapes and videos in addition to some very unique calligraphy (art is often overlooked in the discussion of entertainment).
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