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Written by: Fatima Chand

Category: ARTICLES

Published: 26 March 2015

Tablets and iPods no longer fascinate youths. Living in a techno-era has made everything easy but at the same time, these so-called techs have killed the zeal of life. Forget gadgets, and flaunting selfies on Facebook. The latest ‘in thing’, is Jihad. No longer liking the battle grounds of what thousands of video and computer games are offering, today’s youths want the real deal. This week, two teenagers aged 16 and 17 were stopped at the Sydney International Airport from leaving the country.

The authorities closed in on these two brothers as they were allegedly going to join ISIS’s battle grounds in Syria. The boys are following in the footsteps of those youths that believe that extremism is cool. Automatic rifles, grenades and mortars add to the field excitement that they anticipate. Similar alarming reports are coming in from USA, Canada, Sweden and other European countries.

Last year, the ISIS recruitment video highlighted young British Muslims being members of their group. This created a global concern with a number of countries such as France and Canada monitoring its young citizens. Counterterrorism Units around the world have been alerted but to no avail as more and more youngsters make way to Syria and Iraq. Terrorism analysts say that those who join want to create a masculine image and identity of themselves. The machomania and the promise of adventure works on the youths in the same manner that magnets pull sand grains!

Standing in front of death in the battle ground drains all the adrenaline. Nothing is left. The sense of ‘brotherhood’ is gone as it becomes an individual game of saving one’s head. Many youths that have returned safely back to the comfort of their families describe the horror of the war. Some have been scarred with images of mutilated bodies and dying innocents and some will have depression for life because of the wrong decision they made. It will haunt them again and again. With such stories emerging, why do youths continue to go out there? This is a big question which even physiatrists are not able to answer!

In the name of Islam, terrorist groups such as ISIS have been misleading youths into the dark. Such groups have been labeled as traitors of the religion and to humanity as a whole. No religion tolerates nor propagates terror. Wars are becoming bloodier and more and more destructive. If this problem is not rooted, it will become a threat to global civilization. Jihad is very much part and parcel of Islam, not only Islam, but the overall humanization as a whole. It’s all about struggling with oneself and achieving the best. The inner struggle between good and bad, resisting the temptations of this world for something that is much better, this is jihad in the true sense and has also been highlighted in the Al-Quran. Misinterpretations and those who want to give Islam a bad name have darkened the term ‘jihad’ and Islam.  Keeping this in mind, Islamic leaders world over are urging Muslims and interested persons to pursue Islam in its entirety. The religion of Islam is free off violence and extremism.