We invite parents to consider an alternative set of values in which there is no ambiguity between the values that children grow up with and the rules which they are governed by.
Parents in a secular liberal society face abstruse situations in how to safeguard the dignity and respect of their children, who are exposed to a world in which sexual laxity, pejorative behaviour; binge drinking and unruly activities by teenagers are not sporadic but have almost become customary to the British way of life.
A recent discussion that’s taking place is the extent to which parents should interfere in the personal lives of their children and the limit to which children should have access to the internet which is more easily accessible than ever with smartphones owned by children as young as 9.
In the latest report, Government’s response to the consultation on parental internet controls, the key findings showed pornography, sexual messages, gambling, violence and alcohol/drugs as the top 5 harmful things which parents said their children were exposed to and concerned about.
Labour Shadow Public Health Minister, Dianne Abbott has also expressed her views on this issue and is to launch an attack on the hypersexualised culture. She said, “the looming sexualised advertising; the music videos that blare out at us; the fashionable online bullying; the hyper masculinised music lyrics, and the sexualised figures of women in films that are now commonplace” has emphasised this discussion in the media and what actions should be taken. She proposed that “”We must look at ‘child friendly’ computers and mobile phones where adult content is filtered out by default. But perhaps most of all, we need to start a national conversation between parents and their children about sex, pornography and technology.””
The advice offered by Conservative MP Claire Perry, who is the new government adviser on childhood is a set of protocols to restrict access on Lads’ Mags, ratings for sexually provocative music videos and a push on internet safety education in schools.
However, this policing of children do not only contradict the ‘freedoms’ every human is privileged with in a secular, liberal model of governance, but is unfortunately a further piece of evidence to suggest how the secular liberal model has failed in creating a virtuous environment for children to be cultured in.
These are mere pragmatically attempts by the Government to address this issue. Parents should be made aware that these proposals simply try to address the symptoms of the problem and ignore the causes which have led to such a dilemma.
The secular liberal model disseminates freedom of choice legalising companies to generate a profit from the sexualisation of women and allowing a pornographic industry which is rampant on the internet with no regard for decency of life. The limits that are then proposed not only confuse children but invite them to cross what are arbitrary boundaries .
We therefore invite parents to consider an alternative set of values in which there is no ambiguity between the values that children grow up with and the rules which they are governed by.
Islam has a concomitant system in which the same message is pushed from the birth of a child to the rest of the life cycle. The message is that you will be held accountable for all your actions in this life in the hereafter by God. This value known as ‘Taqwa’ is a concept which encourages a child to adopt the best of values verbalized by God via the Quran and demonstrated to us by our Prophet Muhammed, Peace and Blessings be Upon Him.
‘Taqwa’, one of many values Islam, would be promoted by parents, education institutions, media and most importantly the state, with the principles defined by Islam, ensuring that there is no opportunity for a child to be a victim of such a culture in which individuals, media and businesses push to new limits the freedoms given to them within a secular liberal model.
Allah (swt) says in the Noble Quran:
“Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it.(99:7-8)”
Further to this, in an Islamic Caliphate there would be absolutely no chance of the honour of a women being brought down to an object via advertising or entertainment, never mind a pornographic industry, prostitution and sexual laxity in which an individual is free to express his sexual desires in the way he pleases. Rather, Islam prohibits sex before marriage and the raising of children to develop a mature understanding of relationships from an early age which will prepare them for a married life earlier in life compared to the West where marriage is now in the minority.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “The world and all things in the world are precious but the most precious thing in the world is a virtuous woman.”
Today, the Muslim World, largely governed by despotic rule, has failed to show the rights women have under Islam and therefore it would be prejudicial to use Muslim countries to compare the treatment of women in Islam with the value of women in secular liberalism.
Furthermore, the alternatives that Islam offers will never be seen as coherent in a secular model of life even though they have been proved successful in the history of Islam. The Islamic model known as the Caliphate provided women with a dignified status in society and they were granted with rights of employment and were engaging in the political system over 1300 years ago. In contrast even in the 21st Century the secular model has major problems of gender equality exemplified by such issues as the ‘Glass Ceiling’ and the ‘Equality of Women’.
Many people today are joining over 2 billion Muslims to live a life in which the value and sacredness of human beings is put before commercial interests and the answers to how to deal with child parenting, the value of women and all issues humans face are not only rational but the only solutions to solving the problems of humanity.
Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve – their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein. (2:257)
24th January 2013
Reader contribution
Rochdale.
