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  • johnpi 2:09 pm on December 25, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , , Muslim children, , , , , , ,   

    Muslim leaders look inward after arrests of N.Va. men.

    The adults thought they’d done all they could. They had condemned extremist ideology, provided ski trips and scout meetings, and encouraged young people to speak openly about how to integrate their religion, Islam, with the secular world.

    But since five college-age Virginia men were arrested in Pakistan earlier this month after allegedly being recruited over the Internet to join al-Qaeda, many Washington area Muslims are questioning whether mere condemnation is enough.
    ….

    Until now, many Muslim leaders have focused on what they saw as external threats to young people, such as Islamophobia or the temptations of modern secular life. Now they say it is time to look inward, to provide a counterweight to those who misinterpret Koranic verses to promote violence — and to learn what rhetoric and methods appeal to young people.

    Radicals “seem to understand our youth better than we do,” said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation.

     

    • Abu Noor Al-Irlandee 4:27 pm on December 25, 2009 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I agree with the comments in the article that this is a very rare phenomenon and therefore it would probably be a mistake to think that the central purpose of masjid youth programming should be to prevent radicalization. It is still true without a doubt that far far more youth are being lost to the religion on the other extreme, meaning that they have little understanding of and have lax to nonexistent practice of Islam and are “fully integrated” into the society.

      Still, some of the solutions might broadly be similar. We all agree that mosques desperately need to develop programming that is more relevant to youth and helps to guide them as to who to integrate a positive Muslim identity with constructive approaches to helping others and seeing one’s place in society. Personally, I really dislike when this is done through channeling Muslims into the American political system. There is more merit to attempting to engage in charitable works and other positive community engagement. The idea of some kind of “Muslim peace corps” that could actually give young people a chance to assist with other parts of the ummah in concrete ways sounds great although great care must be taken not to associate such a project with the U.S. government or its foreign policy objectives which in our current situation will undoubtedly be difficult.

    • Abu Noor Al-Irlandee 4:28 pm on December 25, 2009 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      should be “how to integrate” not “who to integrate”

      • johnpi 6:12 pm on December 25, 2009 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Why charitable projects for the ummah? Why not charitable projects for struggling Americans? Aren’t we supposed to be a mercy to mankind as well as to fellow Muslims?

        I know I’ve seen that narrowly interpreted as meaning we are a mercy when we convert other humans to Islam, but I read that and see that we are commanded to do good deeds among all peoples, not just for other Muslims…

    • Abu Noor Al-Irlandee 6:21 pm on December 25, 2009 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      John,

      You’ve misread my comment, and I’m not sure exactly why. I stated “engage in charitable works and other positive community engagement.” Absolutely no mention of ummah, muslims or anybody’s religion, ethnicity, or nationality.

      Then I went on to also agree that the idea of a Muslim peace corps that could assist the ummah in other parts of the world which was mentioned in the article had some merit as a specific way to positively engage the concern for the ummah that young people have.

      There is no debate nor dispute about the obligation and encouragement in Islam for helping all human beings regardless of their religion. I am always disturbed when people from any direction desire to create such a dichotomy, whether by saying that we should only help Muslims, or whether by saying that we should care less about the ummah and focus on Americans. The choice and the dichotomy is a false one.

  • johnpi 9:32 pm on December 14, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , , Muslim children, , , ,   

    Not a very nice story about madrassas in you-know-where and the young students from throughout the world who attend them along with thousands of Pakistani kids, including American youth.

    Anas bin Saleem, a 12-year-old American, spends seven hours a day sitting cross-legged on the floor memorizing the Quran.

    He is one of thousands of foreigners who have flocked to conservative Islamic schools in Pakistan, despite a government ban, the Associated Press has found through interviews with officials, documents, visits to the schools and encounters with dozens of students.
    ….

    In Anas’ school, Jamia Binoria, several hundred students from 29 countries live alongside 5,000 Pakistani pupils, teachers said. Binoria is one of the largest schools in the country and one of at least four schools in Karachi with foreign students on its books.

    Anas says he’s not taught militant Islam at Binoria. But clerics firmly endorse suicide bombings and jihad against Western troops in Afghanistan on the school Web site, and Anas admits he is fed up with anti-American barbs from teachers and pupils.

    “I get it like every second,” says Anas, who left Louisiana last year with his Pakistani-born mother, barely spoke the national language when he arrived in Pakistan and misses Hannah Montana. “I’m like ‘shut up’ and don’t talk like that.”

    Only a handful of the foreign students are Westerners; most are Asians and Africans in the late teens or early 20s. Many come to Pakistan for a cheap Islamic education, albeit a conservative one, part of a tradition of Muslims traveling to gain knowledge that goes back centuries.

    I guess US kids in Pakistani madrassas don’t get it much easier than the children of US foreign service employees.

     

  • johnpi 8:51 am on September 19, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , , , Muslim children, , ,   

    World Policy Review had a pretty good three part investigative series that delves into the question of why Somali-American youth in Minnesota would be susceptible to appeals to go fight in Somalia.

    Part I here.
    Part II here.
    Part III here.

    Here’s an excerpt from Part II:

    For protection and justice, many young Somalis turn to gangs with names like the “Hot Boyz” and the “Somali Mafia.” Minneapolis community organizer Shukri Adan estimated in a report to the city that between 400 and 500 Somali youths are in gangs, according to the Associated Press.

    What’s striking is the similarity between the Somali gangs and Shabab, which not coincidentally means “youth” in Arabic. Like the Somali gangs in Minneapolis, Shabab originally formed to defend innocent victims of violent crime, before evolving into the armed wing of an Islamic political movement from which it subsequently split. Today, the group mainly functions as a loose alliance of mercenaries, religious zealots, criminals and, yes, street gangs.

    During our visit to Mogadishu in November 2007, city residents told us they feared the gangs more than they did any Shabab army, for the gangs would stop cars and steal drivers’ cash and cell phones. Over the years, Shabab has become what it once despised. So, too, have the Somali-American gangs. Formed to protect Somali youths from white violence, the Minnesota gangs are now suspects in a number of killings . . . of Somalis.

    For young Somali-Americans already deep into gang culture, the step to joining a group that is, in essence, just a bigger, better-armed and more strictly religious gang, based in another country, is a short one.

     

  • johnpi 3:00 pm on August 30, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , Muslim children,   

    Unsupervised, unfettered access to the Internet was father’s ‘terrible mistake’ that caused the Rifqa Bary debacle.

    Mohamed Bary is a doting Muslim father, intent on giving his daughter the best education he can. But he says he made a terrible mistake last October: He bought her a laptop computer.

    Because of that laptop and access to the Internet, he says he lost his daughter to Christian extremists.
    ….

    In the weeks before she fled, her parents noticed she would sleep all day and stay up all night exploring the Internet.

    Until this spring, Rifqa was a model student, an obedient daughter. She earned good grades, worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant and called home even if she were running just 10 minutes late.

    But about the time school ended in May, she began all-night Facebook sessions. She started withdrawing from family members and longtime friends, her parents said.

    Many of her chats were with evangelical Christians, her father said. They turned her against him, he said.

     

  • johnpi 5:34 am on August 30, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , Muslim children, ,   

    Nice story about Ramadan as a coming-of-age challenge for Muslim children.

    Naveed Khan of Waterbury and his three children won’t eat food or drink water for 15 hours today, or any day, through Sept. 19.

    The purpose isn’t to inflict pain; it’s to celebrate their Muslim faith as part of the 30 days of Ramadan.

    ”They’re really excited about it starting, they’re really excited to fast,” Khan said of his sons, ages 8 and 9, who are observing the fast this year for the first time. The month-long period coincides with the start of school for most children. Coupled with classroom demands and the trials of growing up, Ramadan is a challenge for students but it’s hardly a chore.

    “Ramadan is a challenge for students but it’s hardly a chore.” Well put.

    The fasting is never forced.

    Children tend to begin observing on their own accord, before it’s required by Muslim teachings.

    Aida Mansoor, the director of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, said her son started fasting at age 5 after watching his parents.

    ”I stressed that he did not need to fast and would pack his lunch each day, but it would come back unopened as he wanted to participate,” said Mansoor, who lives in West Hartford.

     

  • johnpi 7:30 am on June 8, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: Muslim children   

    The ‘Disneyfication’ of tween Muslimahs.

     

  • johnpi 5:32 am on May 27, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , Muslim children,   

    A Connecticut school district representing two towns is considering a proposal to close schools on two Muslim holidays – Eid ul-Fitr (end of Ramadan) and Eid Ul Adha (conclusion of Hajj).

     

  • johnpi 7:10 am on May 8, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , , Muslim children,   

    The most unusual and unexpected Muslim blogging community: Muslim children. In my own conception of the online ‘Islamsphere’, I don’t think of Muslim children as being a part of it, but they are as I keep running across Islam-focus blogs being published by kids who may not be in junior high school yet. Obviously, this is a development limited to the economic class of Muslims who have computers or have enough money to give their children computers.

    Aside from questions of parental due diligence, and whether children should even be online in this manner, such blogs give us an insight into minds of the next generation of Muslims when their topics stray out of the realm of childish concerns – though we need to be able to put aside our inherent adult bias against childish modalities of communication to listen. Hal786 for example, was concerned about suicide and depression among nonMuslims and was motivated to Dawah activism among them. And this girl had a complaint about the lack of images of ‘action hijabis’ online.

    Anecdotally, all of the Muslim children’s blogs I’ve stumbled across so far have been published by girls, and I have no idea why such a phenomenon might be ‘gendered.’ But one could certainly imagine that children with blogs are getting early practice on expressing themselves and community building. To the extent that any are motivated to engage in online activism, as adults they may be more likely to move on to other forms of off-line activism and community leadership.

     

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