THE CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES AND THE ROLE OF MEDIA.

Confidence is the foundation of faith and belief in an ideology. The more confident about an idea we are, the more faithful we tend to be. Nevertheless, a shake in confidence can dismantle even the strong pillars of faith. Islam, just like other religions, is an ideology strongly held by Muslims worldwide. However, currently, the liberally owned media is spreading guilt in an attempt to demoralize our young generation. It portrays Muslims as medieval and Islam as a dying religion. Additionally, it has given women undue prestige that has altered the functioning of Muslim society. To counter such an attempt, we must encourage our younger generation to take pride in practicing their religion. We need to disseminate the message of the Messenger ^(PBUH) and teach the next generation the love and compassion that the companions ^(RA) had for the Prophet ^(PBUH).

The primary source to spread guilt among young Muslims is the media. Coming across a news editorial today about the attack on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, I felt that the focus was not the incident itself; rather it was religion that was unnecessarily dragged into the discussion and held responsible for such an incident. It isn’t only this newspaper or this particular news that has tried to depict Islam as a terrorist religion, but it is a routine of all media outlets if observed. Print media, electronic media, and social media all are used to spread remorse among young Muslims. It is a common phenomenon that a crime committed by an instructor of a seminary is depicted as heinous, whereas the crime of a university teacher is portrayed as mere mismanagement of events; although both are criminals of equal standards in the court of law. This and numerous more examples show the biased nature of our media towards Islam and Muslims.  

Muslims are proclaimed as fanatics, bigots, orthodox, and antiquated when they adhere to their Prophet’s Sunnah or their religion. Muslims are taunted for being unable to use or develop modern-day technologies that improve one’s quality of life. Defending religion and its core ideals are being termed as religious bigotry and a case of personal vendetta against basic human rights. Promoting the bogus humanist mantras while demonizing Islam in the process is an old ploy of the Western mercenaries. Indeed, they are clever enough to exploit our weaknesses such as our desire for abundant wealth and finding pleasure in evil.

Another one of our weaknesses, women, is being actively exploited by the West and its mercenaries. By promoting a culture of nudity, the West is attempting to pollute our religious identity. Through media, they want to instill in women a sense of authority that they do not need men to care for them or obey men for keeping peace and piety in society. The TV drama serials have become a teaching hub that teaches women how to behave in a wholly unethical manner. The so-called celebrities incite our women to pursue fame through nudity and audacity.

Our women are forced to believe that religious instructions of “Pardah” are self-generated notions and wishes of “Mullahs”, whereas the truth is that these instructions are divine and only the Lord himself has commanded us to abide by them. Thus, in an environment like this, we need to take notice and make personal efforts to protect our society from the dirt of the West.

To counter the enemy’s attack, we need to instill optimism and confidence in our young generation. We must take pride in both following and defending our religion, its core tenets, and the Prophet’s Sunnah ^(PBUH). There must be no guilt in following our religion. The feeling of superiority associated with wearing a three-piece suit and the emotion of denigration associated with dressing in accordance with the Sunnah must first vanish inside us before we can inspire someone else. “Learning English as a second language is fine and learning Arabic is medieval” such feelings must be resisted. Therefore, if we are mature enough to comprehend this narrative, then we are duty-bound to pass this message on to future generations too.

A simple method to reinvigorate the lost confidence of our younger generation is to teach them the Seerah of our Holy Prophet ^(PBUH). We need to teach them the love and compassion that the companions had with the Holy Prophet ^(PBUH). We must start reading their stories of love and sacrifice and pass them on to the upcoming generation.

To summarize, faith is trust in an idea, and that trust needs to be jolted in order to weaken the faith. That is what the West and its allies are trying to accomplish by utilizing various media platforms. The West has somehow accomplished its goal by spreading remorse in Muslims for being conservative and unsocial. However, as responsible Muslims, we need to inspire our young generation to study the history of the companions and take pride in practicing and protecting our religion just as they did. “Indeed, they were the truly guided ones.”