Is it worse for someone to cheat on their lifetime spouse, parent of their children; or to park their car over two painted yellow lines?

Perhaps a strange question, but a question I hope which evokes some thinking about what we determine as right and wrong. Britain and the West are free, secular societies so they say that they do not concern themselves with the private lives of individuals. However the rule of law in any nation frames the parameters of the society they live in, and therefore set forth the rights of wrongs that that society lives by.

In Britain it is a criminal offence to park your car on a double yellow line. To be honest I haven't really researched the rationale behind this law, however I assume it must have something to do with safety for motorists, convenience for those who live, work on those roads, etc (Who knows?) However to cheat on your life partner, someone you have married for life, and had children with, might be viewed badly in some sections of society, but is not a legal offence.

Although Western societies claim to not involve themselves in people's private lives and do not claim to dictate any type of moral code to the public, the reality is that often they do. They do not lay down a comprehensive moral code exactly, but they definitely do set down parameters for what people can and can't do within society. I can't run stark naked through Oxford Street, I can't hurl racial abuse at my work colleagues and I can't go and end the life of some random person on the street. There is the argument that freedom exists only until your assertion of freedom will harm someone else, and so such laws are justified - But however you put it, that's not real freedom, then is it? It's a set of norms, set within the Houses of Parliament with very little public influence (look what happened with Iraq), which the public must accept as their code to live by. It's a set of dictated rights and wrongs, labelled as 'freedom'.

However you could argue, that a dictated set of norms is a bit of an exaggerated adjective to use as the public largely accept the rights and wrongs which their laws have put down. And this is fine, however the question then arises is who actually decides what is right and wrong in the first place? Who really knows what is right for an entire population of over 60 million people in Britain? Is it right to ban every single citizen from smoking in public? Allowing every adult citizen to drink as much alcohol as they want? Not allow all groups of people within the society to debate and discuss their values, as they really are?

If parking my car in certain places is illegal, and adultery isn't, who designates these things as wrong and right? The truth is law making in democratic nations, is not simply about creating a set of laws for the betterment and benefit of the public - even though it can sincerely attempt to be at times - But the reality is that in a Capitalist nation, corporate companies, economic pressures, political rivalry, can all be things which can influence and help formulate law and policy. A recent documentary laid out how the Israeli lobby has clearly seeped into the main political parties within Britain, influencing their view towards the MidEast conflict, just because many of them have big bucks or their hands in some important pockets.

This discussion about right and wrong is a key one, in a time where the Government is eager to define what should be right and wrong for Muslims. What type of political voice we should have, what type of Islam we should have. In this climate, we need to be able to discuss with everyone, Muslims nad non-Muslim and get them to think about this idea of what is really right, and what is really wrong. Even the norms in society, which are deemed right, outside of the law, should be questioned. So why is it we deem it right to walk out the door showing our body and hair as women, luring others to our femininity and sexuality? Who deems this right? Where did this come from? Yes maybe the desire of women to be free, but more largely the desire for capitalist companies to create a booming fashion and beauty industry - Have we ever thought about where our rights and wrongs come from in this way?

So how can we ensure that we follow the right and abstain from the wrongs which are best for us, as human beings, best for our selves, our families, communities? And not simply for the benefit of the rich and therefore most powerful? The problem with man-made law is that human beings are inextricably influenced by their own desires, needs, prejudices when viewing things and are of course limited in our understanding - We don't even know what is going to happen to ourselves in the next second. So if we don't even know what's best for ourselves, what is best for our families according to their needs, how would someone therefore know how to meet the needs of millions of people?

The Shariah is a set of rules and laws, devised by the Allah SWT, who created every single thing on this Earth, and therefore knows each and every one of us best. In the Shariah Allah SWT has given an entire code for living for an entire society, where no particular individual has any particular precedence, but all are subject to the law of Allah SWT. No one's desires, personal benefits are allowed to take centrestage in policy making, as it is Allah who knows best:

'It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.' Surah Baqarah

The Shariah enshrines the rights and wrongs of Islam, where pleasing Allah is what is always right, and displeasing him, wrong. The family is the microcosm of the Islamic society and is given due importance, and individuals are obliged to live with one another with respect, care and concern, whether Muslim or non-Muslim.

Therefore for the Muslim, what is right in life and what is wrong is set out, crystal clear. It's not about what we as individuals think is best and right, but what Allah thinks is right. It means what is right for society, not what is right just for the individual.

I'm not trying to say we need to go around calling everyone in the UK to live by Shariah, before my words as I imagine will be oh so misconstrued, but that we start a debate with people from all elements of society to begin to question the very foundations in society and understand that the rights and wrongs which the West live by are not the only universal rights and wrongs. That we should not just take the status quo of what is deemed right and wrong around us, for our own, just because the majority around us follow them. Rather Muslim or non-Muslim - we should question the basis for the views which we have, the beliefs we have and start the debate about what is really right and best for any society in this world.

Freedom to speak (dec 09)

The freedom to speak is an enshrined value of the Western world. Something they pride themselves on and wish to promote in the Muslim world. So when the Danish cartoons happened, it was the freedom of speech debate which took centre stage. When the film Fitnah was created it was all protected by this freedom of speech value. One should be able to criticise and debate ideas, with openness as this is what creates a society which thinks about what it believes in, and questions it. So questioning the Islamic traditions in fitnah was the freedom to question and probe. Depicting the Prophet SAW as a terrorist was all about questioning the place of Islam and the Prophet SAW.

Therefore one would hope that the ability to question and debate the values embedded in the society all around us would be encouraged, urged. However the recent war on terror in Britain has set quite a different standard for Muslims, when it comes to their ability to speak and debate freely. If Muslims voice their different views about politics, society and question the norms which people swallow as universal around them, freedom of speech suddenly has no place for them. If Muslims believe that the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan is fully legitimate, as these lands have been bombed and destroyed, masses killed without any type of consent of the people, then are we supporters of terrorism? Because we believe in the self-determination of a people who are in the hands of foreign occupation? Did not Britain fight back during the Blitz? Did they welcome the bombing of their cities and embrace the Germans with open hands? Would we call those who assisted in the war effort to counter the blitz, insurgents and terrorists, simply because they wanted sovereignty in their own land?

What about those who believe the values of the people of the Muslim world should shape the way they live. The Muslim world should be allowed to let their way of life manifest itself in society and wiithin the state. Is this barbaric, backward if they want to live by the just Economic system of Islam, which distributes the wealth of the state to the poor, instead of letting the rich and elite accumulate it? A system which provides stability putting the interests of the people first, above the speculative markets? What about if they want their social values to manifest in society so that men and women maintain a respect towards each other instead of being encouraged to sexualise one another? So that family units are sanctified over individual's freedom to run after desires and temptations. Is this extremism? As if you call for a Caliphate, the Khilafah system, for the Muslim world, believing that democracy only perpetuates tyranny of man, allowing corruption of power and wealth; you have rejected the values of the West and have gone to far for this society.

But is this not the West who prides itself on the debate of ideas and values? Is this not the West who encourages people who criticise and discuss what leads to better societies? More harmonious societies?

Questions. Questions. No one seems to really answer. The problem is, the Government today, the prospective Conservative Government today is banding around alot of what will never be allowed. Extremism will never be allowed in British society, terrorism will never be allowed in British society and as Cameron has promised, he will ban Islamic groups who call for such terrorism once he comes to power. But Cameron has been quick to shove the debate about productive values in a very broken society which he wishes to mend, under the carpet. As these Islamic groups are those who are not and have never been engaged in any type of violent extremism, but have always been at the forefront of speaking out against colonisliam, occupation and the ability for Islam to solve the broken problems of society in the Muslim world. They want to discuss what values could potentially mend a society broken socially, economically and politically. So clearly Cameron's promise to ban such groups essentially means the promise to ban discussion and debate about values in society and silence those who actually think and don't just adopt the status quo blindly - That democracy is supreme. Rather maybe Cameron could stop to think - The reasons why some Muslims believe and call so wholeheartedly for Islamic law in the Muslim world, is because they wish more than anything for justice to return to our world today, the ceasing of the rich usurping the poor, and the powerful oppressing the weak. Something he could actually learn from maybe?

The sick trio

The news that three separate individuals living in different places across the UK have been charged with a series of acts of child abuse, has sent ripples of disgust as well as disbelief through the public.

The three individuals are said to have met on Facebook, and have since shared endless amounts of emails, texts and photos of the most depraved acts of child abuse. Vanessa George, a 39 year old nursery worker in Plymouth, had sent over 150 photos to Colin Blanchard from Rochdale and Angela Allen from Nottingham where she had taken the most graphic and disturbing images of sexual abuse of the children in the nursery she worked in. Between the three of them, graphic descriptions of child abuse, explicit photos were intensively exchanged to such a degree that police believe some sort of contest was occurring, due to the rapid acceleration in the depravity of the images and texts. The content of these photos and messages are so disturbing that the details are not being revealed to the public, but as they were described inside the courtroom, it was said that the parents of the children who Vanessa George possibly abused, wailed and cried in absolute despair.

The reality is paedophilia is rampant in society. The pages of newspapers are seldom free of some sort of case of sexual abuse of children. In 2002 the BBC conducted a documentary series which went on a hunt for Britain’s paedophiles and then the police’s lowest estimate for the UK, was around 230,000. And such cases are not restricted to only Britain, there was Jaycee Lee in America, the shocking Josef Fritzel case in Austria; just to name two - And these were simply two high profile cases. And finally a sad testimony of how rampant sexual abuse against children is, is just to read the barrage of comments listed after the BBC’s reports of this current case – The majority of the entries are individuals describing sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of someone as a child.

The question therefore always arises – How can we rid society of this despicable crime? The Sex Offenders Register, the CRB checking system are initiatives which seek to try to prevent acts of such sexual abuse occurring. After this current case of child abuse, a debate has now arisen on the need to ban camera phones in the workplace. Parents from the nursery within which Vanessa George worked, have already started a campaign calling for this amongst other things, as a way to prevent such sexual abuse against children in the future.

These policies and initiatives, although may make it a little difficult for sex offenders to carry out their crimes, they in no way make it impossible. A nursery worker can still smuggle a phone in into an enclosed nappy changing area in a nursery; a teacher can still obtain a successful CRB check, but still have committed atrocious crimes in secret – As was the case with Vanessa George. And although such initiatives make sexual crimes a little more difficult, they in no way eradicate the sick mentality that these people hold – the desire to sexually gratify themselves by abusing children, not caring about the consequence. This is because these people live in a society which is constantly screaming out that personal gratification is the most prized thing above all – We are told to make ourselves happy, whatever the cost. For some people that maybe enjoying a stable marital relationship, for some having one night stands with strangers one after the other, and for others sexually abusing a child. The problem is once you urge people to please themselves, different people will interprete this in different ways as this is the nature of human beings – Our desires and urges have no innate limits.

Personal gratification is pushed within Western secular societies because of the value which these societies hold as their cornerstone – Personal freedom which iterates that every individual is free to believe and behave in whatever way pleases them. This concept of freedom within society is founded by the viewpoint in life which all secular societies hold – That whether God exists or not is irrelevant, this is one life which is just about enjoying oneself and putting oneself first. Therefore this viewpoint in life inevitably affects the way people behave in the society. They have no regard for consequences of actions, as they live for themselves and are answerable to no one. This urges them to gratify themselves to a maximum degree, without even passing a thought about whether what they are doing is right or wrong, will have a good or bad impact on society. It’s simply about making oneself happy. The law is an after thought for many people, as many attempt to simply escape it.

Cases of paedophilia and child abuse, we know are not at all rare within the society we live in. However this particular case has caught much more media attention as two of the three perpetrators were women. When cases of paedophilia are committed by men, there has almost a level of desensitisation, as people are upset and angry, but not surprised. However the fact that in this instance, such depraved and disgusting acts of sexual abuse against children were committed by women – One of which who was herself a mother of two – has sent shockwaves throughout society.

The question has arisen across the board that how could a mother, who has children herself, carry out such disgusting abuse of other children? And women are seen to be the more nurturing and caring race – How could women therefore go against these instincts and behave in this way?

However in a way this debate is redundant, as regardless of whether the perpetrator is a man or a woman, both exist in the very same society which pushes increasing sexualisation in society. Therefore just because women may have more of a maternal instinct, does not mean they are immune from the dark consequences of letting their desires run free to any extent they desire. The American Psychological Association carried out a study in 2007 and found that magazines, television, video games and music videos all portray an alarming level of sexualisation in society which has a detrimental effect on particularly young girls.

Therefore paedophilia, can in no way be eradicated by simply banning camera phones from the workplace. What needs to happen is an entire overhaul of the very values of society which induce such behaviour within people. In Western secular societies this is the poisonous concept of freedom.
Islam on the complete other hand has a totally different viewpoint in life to secularism. Islam believes there is a God – A Creator who created everything in this world, including all of mankind. Islam iterates that mankind has come from this Creator, Allah SWT, and will undoubtedly return to Him SWT. This viewpoint in life creates a fundamental value within the Muslim, of accountability to Allah SWT in every action that one does.
This means that before seeking to fulfil one’s desires in whatever way one wants, despite the consequences on other people and society, the Muslim will think about what pleases Allah first.
Islam’s stance on sexual relations of any type outside of marriage between two consenting partners, is clear as the Prophet said in narrated by Abdullah bin ‘Abbas:
“A person who commits this act (sexual intercourse outside of marriage) is not a true believer of their faith” Imam Bukhari and Muslim
The system of Islam works to help sustain this mentality of chastity outside of marriage which Muslims hold, within the society. The fact that Islam directs the sexual instinct specifically to the realm of marriage and takes it completely out of society; means there are minimal agitations for the instinct in public life. This means that any billboards, TV advertisements, magazine pictures which depict anything even slightly sexual would be forbidden. The rule of segregation of the sexes, a man and woman not being allowed to be alone together and the strict punishments for fornification, rape and even accusing a chaste woman all supplement this mentality of chastity, and help the Muslim uphold their taqwa.
Therefore forget abusing children, the Islamic society aims to prevent the abuse of any man, woman or child. And it therefore is only the Islamic society which can return the depraved state we see across the world today, to a content and harmonious one. One where the simple thing of protecting our children and vulnerable, is maintained.

I am free to do what I want

In this society, many of us really believe we are free to do what we want with our lives. And being a teenager or young adult, brings with it a whole different perspective. Soon as we enter into the world of being a young person in this society, we are tempted to take on a whole outlook on the way we live life. Whether its going out to clubs and pubs, looking for no-strings-attached romance or being typically rebellious with family and authority; the attitude of just living by whatever takes ones fancy or gives one pleasure is a common one for teenagers.

In Western society, the youth have created as well as have been pushed into a niche where responsibility is a far concern as seeking pleasures is the only concern. Thus being sexually active without responsibility has grave consequences – Alfie Patten, the 13 year old who became a father was a shocking example of this. This is no surprise as a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in 2005 revealed that in the US, 27% 13 to 16 year olds and 41% of 14 to 15 year olds are sexually active. It is therefore no surprise that teenage pregnancies are a significant problem in the West, with the US and Britain having the highest rates.

Although the attitude of doing as one pleases exists in the West, the reality is that we live in a society, not in isolation. Therefore although some of us may interprete freedom in our lives as just trying to get a good job, have a decent career and start a stable family to make ourselves happy, another person may interprete this freedom in a totally different way. So making oneself happy for a rapist has a lot more of a disasterous consequence, although they have acted upon the same idea that we ourselves hold - the freedom to please ourselves. So if we really believe we all should be allowed to exercise our own freedoms as we live quite a decent and righteous life, then we should not have a problem with a rapist existing in our society too, who also has exercised his freedom.


Are you really free?

This is the question which many of us living in Western societies assume the answer to. However if we really ask ourselves this question we will find the answer to be in the negative. We are not at all really free. Although society promotes sexual freedom to satisfy ones desires, the British law requires that you must be above the age of 16 to do so. Although we believe we are free to dress in whatever way we please, be it a sack even if we chose, the reality is if you decided to walk down the street stark naked, you would be arrested. If you asked a newspaper to report some type of abuse about the Queen you would be told that it was not allowed.

Therefore it is clear we are not at all totally free – We are just free to the extent that society and the Government allow you to be. Therefore the question then begs, that if we are not free, but all live by a set of norms and rules, then what rules should we be following? The norms of a society which human beings have decided for themselves, or the norms and rules of the Creator who created our very bodies and souls?


Freedom causes you to think only about yourself

The desire to exercise their desires before anything else, damn any responsibility naturally fuels a certain mentality within young people. The endless quest to make oneself happy, makes people put their own desires first, above anyone elses.

The idea of individualism in society causes young people to just have fun without limits, without thinking about the impact on other people or on society. Individualism gives boys the licence to do behave sexually in whatever way they please, but never intend to commit to the girl they are intimate with. Individualism means a superficial desire of always wanting a pretty size 8 girlfriend, as a woman on a BBC reality TV show about single mothers disclosed, that her partner left her whilst she was 5 months pregnant because he felt she lost her ‘looks’. Individualism means parents who prioiritised their own career success or love life over the wellbeing of their children, as reported by the 2009 Children’s Society report; which has resulted in children being more anxious and unhappy.


The panel which produced the 2009 Children’s society report stated that the current ‘excessive individualism needs to be replaced by a value system where people seek satisfaction more from helping others rather than pursuing private advantage’. [1]


Western societies breed the idea of individualism as an idea people live by in society and you are told it does not matter how your actions affect others – if you are fine that’s all the matters. However this is not at all true as everything people do in society affects others – If a man is intimate with a woman and gets her pregnant and then does a runner, he not only affects the life of the woman who has to survive and bring up a child and fend for herself alone, but he also affects the life of the baby who grows up without having a father figure. Actions by individuals affects society, and this is the idea that must be understood by Western society for it to deal with the current social breakdown that is being witnessed in society.

Islam cares about others around you

There is a Hadith reported in Bukhari, narrated by Nu'man bin Basheer (ra) that the prophet (saw) said,
"The example of the one who stands for the Deen of Allah and the one who has left it are like the people in a boat, some of whom occupy the upper deck and some occupy the lower deck. Whenever those in the lower deck need water, they have to go to the upper deck to retrieve it. So some of them said, ‘why don't we make a hole in our deck so we do not harm the people of the upper deck?' If the people do not stop them, they will all fall and be failures, but if they stop them they will all be saved"
The Prophet SAW is here aliking the example of the situation of people needing to work together to keep a ship afloat, like people in society – If people just seek to fulfil their own needs and desires without thinking about everyone else, then eventually they will all sink. Islam therefore necessitates that we think about the community and society, as well as our own selves. Under the Islamic Khilafah, the social system of Islam necessitates that the agitation of the sexual instinct is totally removed from society, so that the society and community are protected from the ravages of unrestricted promiscuity which occur as a result of unrestricted freedom. The Prophet SAW said:
‘Oh you youngsters. Whoever amongst you who can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him more to lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e.chastity). And whoever is not able to marry he should fast, because it will be a protection for him’ (Bukhari and Muslim).
The stability and commitment of marriage is the place for the satisfaction of this instinct, so that it is not let loose in society.
We are slaves of Allah

The idea that we are free to do whatever we want and fulfil are desires in whatever way we want, is a total fallacy. If we have no freedom over the number of times our heart beats, how many electric impulses our brain sends and how much oxygen our lungs intake, how can we possibly believe that we are free to fulfil the needs and desires of our body in other respects, as discussed above? Clearly we have been created by Allah and are being kept alive by Allah, so how can we have the audacity to believe that when it comes to the areas of our needs where we have a choice, that Allah has no room to tell us what to do?

Rather Allah SWT has clearly told us in Surah Adh-Dhuriyat,

‘I have created jinn and man for no reason but to worship me’.

This makes clear that whether it is the involuntary or ivoluntary needs and desires, everything we do must be in line with what Allah loves, and abstaining from whatever Allah hates, as our very purpose in this world, is for Him.

The Prophet SAW narrated in a hadith, ‘Any action not based upon our affair will be rejected.’

Therefore there is no room for a Muslim to feel that he has the freedom to choose however to fulfil his desires – Every single action he does must be in line with Islam. This does not mean that a Muslim must pray and fast 24 hours a day and nothing else, but it just means that in the way we have relationships with people, how we buy and sell, how we behave with our parents, where we go in our free-time, must all be in line with the deen of Allah.

This is because as Muslims we know that death is the most definite thing and that after death the Day of Judgement will inevitably come, where we must answer for every single deed that we carried out in this world. This will be the Day when, ‘he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it And he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it.’ (surah Zalzalah 7-8)

Thus knowing that Allah will account us for even the smallest error we make in arrogance defying his deen, should make us people who use our minds to always think before we act. The behaviour of doing as we please, damn consequences and whether it is right or wrong, is never for the thinking, mature Muslim.

The thinking, mature Muslim has taqwa, fear and consciousness of his Creator, which ignites within him a desire to continuously remember his Lord in everything he does, so even if she wants to freemix and join in with the other girls with their flirting and college romances, her fear and love for Allah far exceeds her small and human desires. She remembers that Allah’s promise of the great reward of the Hereafter which will satisfy ones desires beyond imagination, is the best reward to wait for:
"And whoever fears Allah, and keeps his duty to Him, He will forgive his sins from him and will enlarge his reward." [TMQ At-Talaq 65:5]
Indeed, life in this society is extremely difficult to withstand for the Muslim youth, as they are constantly forced into submitting to their lowly human desires and seek their own benefit. But a Muslim knows that this is simply the path to destruction, in this life and the Hereafter and for the community around them. With the help of their Creator, therefore they are able to seek the higher ground for actions and live purely for Allah over the base desires of human beings:
‘Those who believe and constantly guard against evil, for them are glad tidings in the life of the present and in the Hereafter, no change can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme felicity.’ (Surah Yunus 63-4)
[1] http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/whats_happening/media_office/latest_news/14758_pr.html

The latest big gulp

Catching a glimpse of the front page of one of most popular British tabloids a few mornings ago, was a sight a little too shocking for even the most liberal in British society. Every once in a while, British society manages to throw up a case which has pushed the values of liberalism to such an extreme, that even the staunchest advocates of the famous freedoms, need to take a big gulp.

The picture shows thirteen year old Alfie Patten sitting on a hospital bed holding his tiny, fully formed newborn baby girl in his arms. Without the bold text across the page informing you, anyone would have assumed he was her older brother or cousin – but never father. But it is true, that baby Maisie was conceived by this young boy and his fifteen year old girlfriend apparently after a single episode of promiscuity. And the public have been further shocked by the mad scramble that has presented itself in the media as other young boys have come forward, claiming to actually be the baby’s father.

Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary as well as the Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, have been among the politicians swift to show their disagreement with this event. Cameron said that it was worrying that in the UK ‘children are having children’ and this is something that has to be put right. Ed Balls further urged that society had to do everything possible to try to bring the level of teenage pregnancies down. Additionally the local MP in Eastbourne, where both Alfie Patten and his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman are from, has called for an urgent assessment of the actions that have been undertaken by the children’s (and yes, you cannot call them anything but this) parents and everyone elses’ attempt to make as much money as possible out of this PR dream.

The problem is, although the public have been overtly horrified by this latest story, there really should not be a problem. The liberal pioneers amongst British society should actually not take a big gulp, or even sigh for that matter! As Alfie Patten and Chantelle Steadman, amongst thousands of other young teens, have just been following the way of life that everyone else in the society they live in, follows. The society that they have walked into teenagehood with, is one where everyone is urged to live life to the full and believe they are free to do what they want. After all, freedom is the enshrined value which their nation felt important enough to export to the rest of the world.

And according to the values that David Cameron himself has so staunchly advocated in the past, little Alfie has just exercised his freedom to live the way he wants to, in a society which has urged him to do so. The fact that he can barely look after himself, forget another human being by exercising his freedoms, is not something I have heard many British politicians discuss deeply when they have so impassionately defended the untouchable freedoms before.

Therefore British politicians should stop being hypocritical and stand by what they constantly ram down the throats of the rest of the world. That if freedom and liberalism is your yardstick, then Alfie and his latest escapade is absolutely fine - damn the consequences to society - Even if we get a horrible feeling in the bottom of our stomach as we foresee an innocent baby girl face a life ahead of family instability. As her father, who when asked about how he would support her financially had to ask the journalist what that very word meant.

The reality is that we are done damning consequences to society. Not just for Alfie Patten’s innocent baby girl, but for each and every individual in this society. We are done living in an increasing hell hole, where your property, the innocence of your children, your very lives are not at all sanctified.

It is high time we realize that freedom and liberalism will only deliver a society with social degradation. Rather it is Islam that enshrines the values of honour, security and a strict social code to deliver a society which functions with harmony. It reminds every individual in that society, that in fact you are not at all free, rather you are accountable to your Creator and he will account you for all the responsibilities and relationships you undertake in this dunya. Maintaining your rights and responsibilities to your family is a key facet of the Islamic social system. As the noble Prophet SAW:
"There is no sin more deserving of having punishment meted out by Allah to its perpetrator in advance in this world along with what He stores up for him in the next world than oppression and severing ties of family." [Tirmidhi]
Hence it is without a doubt, that the Khilafah and the society it creates, is what the world needs today for the return of a harmonious, responsible society.

Our neverending desires

The recent report from the Children's Society has only reaffirmed the doubts many of us have had about the effects of the society we live in on our precious, innocent children. That the impact of living in a society where the adults amongst us have been led by an ever growing need to appease our own desires, has been catastrophic. Family break-ups, working mothers, excessive materialism are all factors which, in three years of research by the Society, were found as contributing to children today being more anxious and troubled.

Ideas such as liberalism and freedom we see are cornerstone in Western society, people live by them, politicians and the media advocate them. These values, are the values which are said to make people happy and content - People have the freedom to eat, dress, live and worship whatever and whoever they want, as long as they do not directly harm anyone else. We are all individuals in this society who have the freedom to live however we want to. These values have not only be thoroughly adopted here, but have been exported to the Muslim world as the values which should be adopted if those societies wish to progress.

However, there is a big but, the but, which whilst everyone has been busy being in the relationships they want, and walking when they want, being in the job they want and career they want to trying to have all the material things they want; has been silently festering away. The but of the impact of continually self-indulging behaviour.

It is true capitalist systems view their societies in this way and recognise them as being made up of a group of individuals. The reality is however, we don't live in isolation, we live as human beings in communities, come from families and build friends. Our actions not only impact our own selves, but impact those around us. And this could not be more true for anyone than our own children.

The Prophet SAW narrated in a hadith that for the woman, looking after her husband's home and children, is not only rewardable but the weight of this work equates with the work of the men who march forth eager to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Islam. Allah SWT knows the needs of our children and he has thus laid out for us the priority we should hold in securing their needs. He has set out the whole female sex, the mothers, as prioritising the upbringing of children as their primary role. The neverending greed and desires of adults, can never be the basis upon which we decide how to bring up our next generation, as we have seen in this society, if it is; they will always be put second after careers, the latest romance and wanting to have fun.

This report has surfaced the ugly realisation that the grossly individualistic culture that is engulfing British society, is damaging the wellbeing of the next generation. Although the report makes a series of recommendations such as civil birth ceremonies to attempt to combat this ailing culture for our children, nothing recommended actually begins to tackle the real problem at bay here. Giving parents better access to information and trying to curb commercial advertising to children may help the situation, but at the end of the day as long as parents in society believe in freedom and individualism, the danger of individual needs and desires dictating the way family lives are led, will always be. I'm not saying here that everyone in British society are gluttonous ineffective parents, but that the values upheld in society are conducive to adult behaviour which puts oneself first knowingly or unknowingly. We may not all be like parents of Baby P, but unless we have a yardstick and measure with which to judge our actions by and guide us, how do we know whether we are really meeting the needs of those we are responsible for?

The report recommends that our selfish adult behaviour has to stop. But I say, why blame the people who are simply living by the norms of the society and system which propagates them? Rather it is not the average parent we should really be blaming for this particular lifestyle people lead, but we should be looking at the society and values which promote and uphold such ideas of putting oneself continually first. Thus the release of this report has reinforced the need of an alternative system for us to live by which promotes a whole new set of values, not just prioritising the accumulation of capital and wealth, leaving society to rot. A system with values which allows the Creator who created us from nothing to dictate how we manage our relationships, is integral now if we want harmonious and secure family relationships to return to the face of this earth.