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Introduction

The population of the Muslim community in Britain has significantly increased in the past few years; it is now 2.4m according to ONS in 2008. The number of mosques, Islamic schools, civic organizations, businesses, newspapers and magazines has grown. In spite of recent negative media portrayal, Islam is now recognised in many levels of society and many members of the Muslim community are known to be contributing to the social and economic fabric of British society. Muslims are a diverse and evolving community with a relatively higher proportion of young people in their midst. With their growing social integration comes the diffusion of social norms, values and challenges. How Muslims learn ways to successfully raise a strong and healthy community that contributes to the betterment of the wider society is a big question that dominates the public discussion inside and outside the community.

Issue of Social Malaise

To discuss this issue we need to see it in context. We need to see how contemporary Britain is coping with the social changes that are affecting British people. It is now widely acknowledged that the considerable material progress in recent decades has brought about some serious social challenges and issues of social malaise in developed societies. Commercialisation of life, sexualisation of our young people and individualism that often expresses itself through self-gratification are now haunting post modern Britain like other European countries. Social scientists, community groups, education providers, think tanks, children’s charities and politicians are now talking about issues that were often treated as social taboo. Certain social malaise has raised alarm bells in the education circles as well. The Guardian reported on 23 June 2009 that Ofsted inspectors investigating an increase in exclusions from primary schools have discovered "worrying" levels of sexual behaviour among very young children. The inspectors also reported high levels of "trauma", such as family breakdown, and domestic violence.

Lifestyles have changed over the past few decades. Even the widely known conservative Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim communities are hugely affected. London Assembly recently published a report that reveals ‘young people from Muslim communities, whose Islamic faith forbids alcohol,  are now drinking far more - girls now as bad as boys for underage drinking’ (The Guardian on 16 June 2009).

Sickness transmits easily, not healthiness. Like infectious diseases, social ills can spread quickly. In a society where nafsaniat (sensuality, permissiveness, promiscuity, etc.) are abundant, the pressure on individuals is very high indeed. Here are a few areas where we need to concentrate. The list is not exhaustive.

Social Malaise and Young people

Young people generally lack maturity, in comparison to their elders, and are vulnerable to the social ills if they are overwhelming. Human beings are susceptible to social pressure. Allah, in His divine wisdom, has instilled in man the dual nature of good and bad (fujur and taqwa). In an environment where piety is encouraged and evil suppressed, young people can flourish. Piety needs nourishment, not only for growth but also for survival. Throughout human history, schools and institutions have been established to create good human beings that can make a positive contribution to society. Schools were not built in order to train rapists, paedophiles, gangsters, drug users and people of evil nature. Rather these individuals found themselves in a society that had lost its anchor, its direction. Although many of these ills are condemned, they are still prevalent in society today.

Loss of Childhood Innocence

With sex becoming a commodity and exploitation of sex becoming an industry in the post modern life, the increasingly early sexualisation of young people is having an impact on their innocent and balanced growth. TV programmes and commercials, internet, tabloids and magazines are becoming more and more explicit in erotic sexual expression and the pervasive culture is putting tremendous pressure on young people’s mind. This is having an unwholesome impact on their attitude towards life. What should be innocent youngsters enjoying their childhood is being tarnished by an early over-awareness of sexuality. Young boys and girls, in order to conform to the changing norms of the society, are losing their childhood innocence very early. This is now acknowledged by the Ofsted. It is not surprising that teenage pregnancies in most developed countries is a worrying phenomenon.

Sex and Sexuality

It is shocking that the sex industry has become a source of national income in some countries. Sexual promiscuity has given rise to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially among young people. Public health is experiencing a huge rise in STDs and the so-called 'safe sex' message is leading to more promiscuity. In a conservative country like Britain, hundreds of thousands of women are raped or suffer other forms of sexual assault every year.

In several religions, including Islam, homosexuality has been treated as a sin. However, this is now accepted as a social norm in many western countries due to the campaign from the gay lobby in recent times. While discrimination and hatred against any community is unacceptable, it is important that society does not shut its door on democratic right to criticise each other. Social trends change over time depending on organised challenges to the status quo by some.

Delinquency and Crime

This may be considered to be a symptom of the rebelliousness of puberty. However, delinquent behaviour before or after puberty could be a sign that the child is emotionally or morally disturbed. With rising family problems and numerous other social ills, discipline among adolescents has become a serious issue. The tendency to rebel against the status quo and follow role models has tremendous influences in young people’s behaviour and many turn to antisocial activities. Schools across the country are struggling to put the genie of delinquency inside the bottle.

According to some studies Britain’s young people are not faring well in their behaviour. Is it because our children are unhappy, as UNICEF report of 21 developed countries in 2007 suggested? Anti Social Behaviour and petty crimes by young people are costing the society financially, but most importantly a significant section of our youthful energy is wasted through knife and gun crime. The Muslim community is worst hit in criminal record. There is a disproportionately higher proportion of Muslim prisoners (over 10%) in our prisons! Muslim parents need to be conscious about what is going on in their children's world and discuss issues directly with them so that they grow with positive attitude towards life and shun antisocial behaviour.

Family Breakdown

A warm and caring stable family environment is essential for healthy growth of children. Violence, neglect or abuse in a family has always had adverse effects on children. Sadly, in Britain there have been many cases of this. Domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, and unhappiness among children in Britain are disproportionately high. Over half of babies are now born outside marriage (compared to only 7.2% in 1964), the number of lone parents has multiplied and more British people are getting used to 'solo' living.

Marriage is losing its importance in society and divorce is increasing at an alarming rate, giving rise to more confused children. Modern technologies, such as mobile phones, computers, TV and other gadgets is decreasing the need for physical communication and is keeping people apart. Loneliness is becoming a norm. Muslims are easily sucked into this social black hole. Its impact in schools, in terms of discipline and poor performance, is causing concern in the world of education.

Drug Addiction and Alcoholism

Muslim communities, especially those in inner cities are increasingly becoming pulled into the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Drugs, sex and violence are intertwined. Only a generation ago the Muslim community could proudly shrug off any accusation of Muslim involvement in them. However, situations have changed and Muslim parents have come to acknowledge this issue. Addictions can negatively affect the educational and social progress of the Muslim community as well as the health, economic and social lives of individual Muslims.

Pornography and Prostitution

Eroticism, exploiting mainly young and attractive woman, has probably become a weapon to debase womanhood. In many places even today women are traded as 'sex slaves'.  Some beneficiaries of women’s exploitation hide themselves under the guise of women’s liberation. On the other hand, paedophilia, a crime of using young children for sexual gratification and making money is also on the rise. Pornography and nude modelling are tools to proliferate sin in society. Eroticism in adverts, TV films and print media is provocative to the adolescent mind and creates pressure on them. Maybe talk about how youngsters get easily caught up in this. At the same time, the uniqueness of masculine and feminine features is now contested by some. Women suffered in the past and they still suffer in many cultures today. But extreme feminism has put a heavy pressure on women and, in many cases, degraded them. They see woman's role in the society as competitive to man, rather than complementary.

Laissez Faire Morality

Over the centuries materialism has marginalised religion and as such societies have fallen in the grip of amoral or often immoral values. Post modern societies have seen the rise of moral relativism where the concept of absolute value is all but gone. Universal values are lost in the moral maze. Morality has often become selective and double standards have taken over in most political decision making. In the social context this has given rise to permissiveness. Moral and ethical values are fundamentally important for a society.

Bullying

Bullying is a major issue in our schools today. It destroys the self-image of the victims and can leave long term psychological scars. Both the bully and the victim lack self-esteem. A bully might have undergone abuse in his or her own life which they compensate through bullying. A bully is most often an unhappy or frightened child who has an angry, bitter or defeatist attitude to life. Bullies tend to target their behaviour towards those that can seem to be different or not like ‘one of them’. A loner, or socially passive child, or children of minority groups could easily become the targets of bullying. A Muslim child can also be the target of bullying because of his or her dress, attitude and culture, unless they are assertive and confident in themselves.

Racism and Islamophobia

Racism and xenophobia are a disease. The Lawrence Report in the late 1990s highlighted how deep-rooted racism is even in today’s Britain. In our day to day life, in schools and workplaces, racism creates fear, distrust and a disturbing environment. The atrocities of 9/11 and 7/7 have given rise to a significant rise of Islamophobia in Europe. Sadly, Muslims have now become an easy target of far right media and politicians. Britain’s right wing media and some think tanks have already created an environment of mistrust about Muslims in Britain. This is endangering community harmony and social cohesion. Muslim children often undergo undue prejudice and mistreatment in many places for their religious background.

Tackling Social Malaise

The challenge of combating social malaise is daunting, especially in the context of the weaker socio-economic condition of the Muslim community. This cannot be tackled by one group or community in isolation. It needs a holistic approach and national consensus. Muslim parents will ultimately want to build a protective shield around their children to shelter them from this malaise. However, for them to succeed in doing so, the social ills in society need to be dealt with first. The community as a whole, regardless of religion, needs to tackle these issues head on. There needs to be a joined up intervention and the Muslim community can play a key role in combating this. A social trend is like an avalanche and cannot be prevented by running away from it or through selfish attempts of individual or group protection. This is neither effective nor sound from an Islamic point of view.

Those concerned with social issues include our religious leaders, professionals and other community activists. They must develop interventions and strategies that conform to the values of Islam and are socially sound. Every member and every family of our community is an asset to the ummah and the British society. There are issues of deprivation and underachievement on the one hand and prejudice and discrimination on the other. Where possible we need to address them as well.

1. Positive Parenting

For a solid, healthy family we have to address the issue of parenting. The community must invest in educating our parents in positive and assertive parenting. Poor parenting can lead to serious consequences on the upbringing of a new generation. Due to generational and in many cases cultural gaps young Muslims live parallel life in many Muslim household. These problems become acute when children enter the age of puberty and at the same time go to secondary schools with embedded freedom. Positive parenting empowers parents in understanding the world of youth in a post-modern society and gives them confidence through useful techniques of addressing the challenges. Mosques, community organisations and youth centres should concentrate heavily on this.

2. Youth Services

Young people are energetic and need good role models and strong leadership from the family and the community. They need to be engaged positively. They need help in understanding Islam and the values of meaningful, sound and stable family life. Mosques, community organisations and youth centres should be able to provide them help in finding potential spouses so that they can start family earlier. There is a tendency of young Muslims, even those who are involved in Islamic work, to get married late.

Premarital counselling should be provided as part of social service delivery in the Muslim community. There are now a good number of professional social workers that work with the mainstream society. They need to be provided with Islamic aspect and on the other hand Imams and scholars should be provided with professional tools in this area.

Services for the youth must be provided by those who can engage with them, such as counsellors and social workers. Young people need to be reached out – in schools, youth centres and mosques. They need basic life skills training, e.g., communication skills, anger management and decision making based on Islamic teachings. We must work to build within our youth a strong sense of Islamic identity and personality based on good human character.

3. Mental Health Services

Mental health has also become widespread among young Muslims. Problems of depression, family disorders, poor parenting, drug and alcohol related stress have now become common and can contribute to an individual developing a mental illnesses. There are now social workers and mental health therapists who are well grounded in Islamic strategies who should be included to assess and treat these young people.

4. Education

Education is the gateway to success for any nation. The Muslim community has come some way in its educational achievement for the young people. Most Muslim children are educated in state schools and mainstream public schools, only 2-3% attend Muslim day schools. But many attend evening or supplementary schools in the evening and/or weekends. Holistic education of all these children, who are the future of the ummah as well as productive citizens of Britain, is essential. The Muslim community, particularly the educationalists, should proactively address the educational and emotional needs of Muslim children in all sectors of our society which is changing rapidly.

In addition, the composition of the Muslim community and its diverse background demand that adult education and education of matured students is important for the social improvement of the Muslim community. Mosques and community organisations should encourage all in the community and facilitate in this life-long learning experience.

Conclusion

It is imperative from the teachings of the Qur’an and Prophetic tradition that each one of us is charged with an obligation to assist those in need to help promote spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual and social well being of all. New issues such as caring for our elders, although still a small number, are also becoming more relevant in our community with time. It is crucial the community is aware about the social concerns that exist within today’s society. Individuals and Muslim institutions must volunteer to help tackle these issues so that we can not only preserve the health and well being of our future generations, but also develop the society for a better future.

Social malaise within our community is getting deeper and more complex with the passage of time. However with a higher level of awareness, targeted interventions where necessary by relevant experts and positive contributions from concerned section of the community this can be remedied. Social ills need social healing. The age-old proverb ‘desperate diseases need desperate remedies’ is now the demand of time.