Why Muslim kids have doubts about Islam Part 2

<p>In part 1, I explored the reasons why Muslim teenagers lose their connection to Islam due to their parents/grandparents emigrating from a Muslim country. The detrimental effects of ‘immigrant assimilation’ on our kids can easily go undetected; I only realised it when I began studying the topic. In this episode, I want to explore other factors that make our kids think and behave more liberally.</p> <p>A Lack Of Muslim Friends Or Good Muslim Friends</p> <p>Alhamdulilah, globally the Muslim population is enormous. According to a study in 2015, Islam has 1.9 billion adherents, making up about 24.8% of the world population. www.pewresearch.org. This data is four years old; as you know, we Muslims love having babies, so the figure is probably 2 billion now!</p> <p>Although we are huge, in Europe and the US, we are a minority. If you don’t live near a masjid or have a Muslim community nearby, your kids can’t attend Quran classes/ Islamic studies classes where they can be friends with other Muslim teenagers. Whether you like it or not, your teenager’s friends influence them more than you do.</p> <p>Hadith About Friends</p> <p>Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet (saw) said, “A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends.”</p> <p>Tirmidhī</p> <p>Abu Musa reported: The Prophet (saw) said, “Verily, the parable of good company and a bad company is only that of a seller of musk and a blacksmith. The seller of musk will give you some perfume, you will buy some, or you will notice a good smell. As for the blacksmith, he will burn your clothes, or you will notice a bad smell.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri</p> <p>As a high school teacher, I noticed the different cliques that formed in year groups. These friendship groups would have the same ‘look’, speak the same, attend parties, and listen to similar music. Basically, follow a set of unwritten rules; if you wanted to be part of the group, you would have to conform. But I think we all know this; we’ve watched the movies and once upon a time, we we