The Role and Responsibilities of Youth in Islam

Youth is considered to be the backbone of any nation. The level of moral development, civilization and consolidation of authority and potency depends on the morality of its youth. It can be said that nations survive till their ethics live. The question of youth and Islam at present stems from the overwhelming demographic weight of youth and their relatively recent invasion into the public domain, as well as a wave of Islamic revivalism throughout the world. For any society and its future the youth plays vital and integral role both for progress and decline. The reason is that youth can make the future dark or bright through their role as individuals and as active members of society. This paper draws on lively focus group narratives of young Muslims to explore the interactive presentation of Islamic selves. By bringing together young people who practice Islam in different ways, this paper offers a deeper insight into how claims to a universal identity are actively constructed and contested through particular social relationships and interactions in specific structural contexts. The first part of the paper presents introduction of the whole study. Second part gives description about the categories of youth including; pious, deviated and confused. In third part importance of youth in Islam has been highlighted. Fourth part presents social, moral, political situation of Muslim societies in contemporary time. Fifth part gives description of impact of moral, social, and political situation on the minds of young people. Discussion concludes with the responsibilities of youth which is followed by findings and conclusion of the whole discussion. In so doing, the paper takes up recent calls for more research on the personal meaning of Islam as religion for Muslim youth

Language Shift and Ethnolinguistic Vitality: A Sociolinguistic Study of Indigenous Minority Language Speakers in Karachi.

This research aims to explore the linguistic behaviour of Burushaski speakers (an indigenous minority language group belonging to the Northern-most areas of Pakistan) living in Karachi, and the factors, both social and psychological, that are responsible for their linguistic choices to determine their degree of shift/maintenance and their ethnolinguistic vitality. Being a Mixed Methods case study, the research utilized both quantitative and qualitative data gathered through a SEV questionnaire administered on 120 Burushaski speakers studying at the University of Karachi, followed by in-depth interviews of 30 key informants, who were selected on the basis of the questionnaire analysis. In order to present the scholars’ perspective on the status of Burushaski language, some local scholars working on the indigenous languages were also interviewed followed by a visit to Hunza to cross check the validity of the information provided by the research participants. The research findings indicate clear signs of Burushaski language shift among the Burusho community living in Karachi despite having a positive attitude towards Burushaski language which is indicative of a high sense of ethnolinguistic vitality. Although the findings reveal that the Burushos living in Karachi have mostly confined their language to the home domain, it is heartening to discover that the intergenerational transmission of Burushaski has not completely stopped. All the Burushaski speakers who participated in the study not only claimed to have the ability to speak Burushaski but a majority of them also expressed the desire to transmit it to the next generation which reflects their willingness to maintain their ties with their native language and culture. The results of the study also reveal gender differences with regard to the participants’ language use in different domains and their psychological orientation towards Burushaski language. Gender differences were also observed in the participants’ views regarding the future of Burushaski. The significance of this case study lies in its attempt to promote research on indigenous languages of Pakistan (especially the ones that are declared endangered) and their speakers, particularly those linguistic groups, who move to urban centers for better economic prospects and upward social mobility. As a result of their movement, most of these indigenous language groups either integrate or assimilate in the mainstream society, resulting in language shift and in certain cases language attrition. The findings of this study can lead to the awareness that is needed to make efforts for maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity at both regional and national level in Pakistan and can accelerate the efforts to bring reforms in the existing language and education policy of the country which hardly has any room for the preservation and promotion of minority languages.