Secretary-General of ABWA to German youth: Inform people about “Modern Slavery” & “Postcolonialism”

News Europe and America News of Secretary General

Friday, 26 March 2021

Young people need to pay attention to social, cultural, and political challenges, and what is happening in the human world today, such as problems, oppression, poverty, discrimination, and injustice. For example, many adolescents and children suffer from malnutrition. Young people need to know about modern slavery. They need to know how the West seeks to employ today's human society. In Postcolonialism, the West seeks to deceive people with beautiful words.

On the occasion of the birth of Imam Ali Akbar (a.s.) and Youth Day, the webinar meeting “Youth, AhlulBayt (a.s.), modern Islamic civilization” was held by the Office for International Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly with the cooperation of German Muslim youth.

Organized in line with the series of programs for the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, in this webinar meeting, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani, the Secretary-General of the Assembly, Dr. Yavuz Özgüz, and Maher Faqih, prominent professors of the German Muslim community, delivered their speech at the meeting.

“Today, young Muslims must be rational, thoughtful, spiritualistic, responsible, and just; And wherever he is present, he should have these characteristics and introduce the truth of Islam with his behavior,” emphasized the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in his speech.

“Young people must be aware of the social, cultural, and political challenges facing human society, such as oppression, poverty, discrimination, and injustice. They need to know that many children and adolescents today suffer from malnutrition. Modern slavery is used in various ways. In “Postcolonialism”, the West seeks to deceive people with beautiful words,” he added.

The full text of the speech of the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, Ayatollah Ramazani, in this webinar which was held on the evening of Wednesday, March 24, 2021, is as follows:

I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I am very happy to say these few words on these great days. I offer my congratulations to all of you brothers and sisters, and I hope that God Almighty will grant Tawfiq to all of us to enjoy the spiritual atmosphere of this noble month (Sha’ban) and we should not neglect the supplication of Sha’baniya, so that, God willing, we pave the way for enjoying the month of Ramadan, the Ghadr Nights, Eid al-Fitr, and InshaAllah we receive the spiritual reward that God has set for us.

It is very important for those who live in places like yours, especially the younger generation, to pay attention to their duties.

There is a lot of discussion about young people. It is even emphasized in the Hadiths that you must pay serious attention to the younger generation. Imam Ali (a.s.) wrote in a letter to Imam Hassan (a.s.), “Because of the set of experiences I had, I gathered everything that was necessary and gave it to you so that you can use it the past experiences. Also, before you run into any problems, I overtook you in the discipline. Because before the mind becomes confused and scattered, it is very important to organize it.

How young Muslim life in today’s world and what s/he pays attention to, are important points that I would like to mention in this short time.

Certainly, in a world where different ideas, such as humanism, liberalism, and absolute human freedom, are presented and the results are nothing but vulgarity and debauchery, we must define for ourselves a precise logic in life and define how to live. That is, basically, what should we mean by life and happiness and what we expect of it.

Today’s world often seeks to lead the younger generation to superficiality in order to educate them based on sentiments. That is, s/he pays attention to appearances and in fact, they do not want her/him to know other dimensions of her/his existence to flourish.

Therefore, we must have logic in our lives and follow the path that we have determined based on the school and religion of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) in a goal-oriented way. The school of AhlulBayt (a.s.) presents this view to us precisely so that we can pay attention to the set of capacities that are given to human beings and all dimensions, including the emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social dimensions, and consequently all dimensions to be known.

Today, young Muslims must be rational, thoughtful, spiritualistic, responsible, and just; And wherever they are present, they should have these characteristics and introduce the truth of Islam with their behavior.

I would like to make a few points about what a young Muslim should do according to this logic. Of course, it is also possible for a person to realize this logic in himself and own this behavior.

In describing his son, Hazrat Ali Akbar, Imam Hussein (a.s.) said, “أشبه النّاس خَلقاً و خُلقاً و منطقاً برسول الله”. The man may not be like the Prophet in terms of creation and appearance (خَلقاً), but in morality (خُلقاً و منطقاً) one can emulate the Prophet; of course, everyone as much as his capacity. If a person has good morals, he can reach perfection with this spirituality. This requires self-knowledge and self-awareness. When a person knows his potential, he will try to flourish it.

One of the tasks that the younger generation seems to have to consider is self-awareness for guidance. Today, the kind of attitudes that are presented in human societies, lead to a kind of anonymity, bewilderment, and confusion that leads to depression, heartbreak which is a threat to human society and the younger generation. Therefore, one must acquire the correct self-awareness, self-belief, and self-knowledge along with his set of capacities in order for self-awareness to provide the ground for identity recognition.

The path of humans must be the path of thought and reason. Feelings and emotions must also be under the control of reason and thought, otherwise they may go to extremes and later cause regret. As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “There is no worship like thinking.” Thinking is valuable worship that guides man and gives him a perspective on life that is important.

Studying science is another task of young Muslims today. They must be at the forefront of the scientific field and be prominent in various contemporary disciplines needed by human society.

Another point is that one should pay attention to morality, be spiritual, not superficial. Because the West calls mankind to superficiality. But in the school of AhlulBayt (a.s.), spirituality is important, that is, paying attention to the meaning and concept of life and its truth.

Young people need to pay attention to social, cultural, and political challenges, and what is happening in the human world today, such as problems, oppression, poverty, discrimination, and injustice. For example, many adolescents and children suffer from malnutrition. Young people need to know about modern slavery. They need to know how the West seeks to employ today's human society. In Postcolonialism, the West seeks to deceive people with beautiful words.

We need to know that these are beautiful words and concepts, but in fact, they are all kind of challenging human beings.

We must pursue demands, especially in the field of justice, on the world stage. If there is authoritarianism, tyranny, and exploitation, which really exists in today's human society, introduce it to others wherever it exists to prevent the continued colonization of humanity and today's generation. The worst kind of colonization is intellectual and moral colonization.

If the path of human life deviates in terms of thought and morality, he or she has lost life and will have no logic for it. Such people, the maximum that can imagine for themselves, is enjoying in this world. If a person seeks only this superficial pleasure of the world, the way he looks and interacts with people will be very different from a person who has a faithful view of the origin and resurrection.

Certainly, a faith view of the origin and resurrection causes one to have an afterlife view, and the (material) “world” becomes his means and tools. Such a person becomes goal-oriented and seeks it and tries to reach it and make a serious move in that direction; a movement based on science, thought, faith, and spirituality that will definitely lead him to his destination.

I hope that we will become more familiar with the school of AhlulBayt (a.s.) day by day. I hope that the young generation, in particular, will come to a true knowledge of themselves in order to use the will and authority that God Almighty has placed in them to achieve great goals. After that, serve and help human beings and help the young generation and teenagers to know the way and the destination. This is the help that the divine prophets were concerned about. In human societies, part of this task is the responsibility of the younger generation.

When young people know and find themselves, they can have a worthy presence in various fields.

Good Luck

Peace be upon you

ABWA Ayatollah Ramazani German Modern Slavery Postcolonialism youth