IN THE PREVIOUS article, I mentioned a young student from Bangladesh who was experiencing mental distress following the fall of Hasina’s government last year.
In that piece, I approached the issue primarily from a political angle, highlighting how systemic oppression is a natural byproduct of secular political systems.
But there’s another important perspective we must consider: parenting.
Our children do not grow up in a vacuum. They are immersed in the realities of the world around them, including political injustices. In the case I mentioned, the student had witnessed her father and brother suffer under the previous ruling party—a deeply traumatic experience that shaped her worldview. When young people witness such oppression without a moral and spiritual framework to help them process it, it can harden their hearts and entrench an “us vs. them” mentality. This division, if left unaddressed, can pass from generation to generation, perpetuating cycles of hatred and violence.
History is full of such examples. The tribes of Aus and Khazraj fought each other for generations, eventually forgetting even the original cause of their conflict. The Prophet ﷺ, through Islam, broke this cycle by replacing tribalism with unity based on iman, truth and justice.
وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءًۭ فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًۭا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
And hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you—by His grace—became brothers. And you were at the brink of a fiery pit, and He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may be (rightly) guided. (ale Imran 103)
As parents, we bear a crucial responsibility: to equip our children with the correct lens through which to view injustice and tyranny. That lens must be shaped by Islam, not nationalism, secular ideologies, or reactionary emotions.
This is why the early generations of Muslims would teach their children about the battles of the Messenger ﷺ and the Sahaba after teaching them the Qur’an. These stories weren’t just about war—they conveyed lessons in sacrifice, honour, heroism, tawakkul (reliance on Allah), hope, activism, political awareness, and striving for truth. It anchored them in a worldview where justice is defined and guided by divine principles.
Today, many of our youth witness global and local injustices. But in the absence of a strong Islamic grounding, their activism is often co-opted by the liberal left, socialist movements, nationalist ideologies, or partisan politics. These frameworks may offer a critique of oppression, but cannot deliver true justice, because they are not rooted in divine guidance. Instead of breaking the cycle, they may unintentionally perpetuate it.
Worse still, without Islamic clarity, our youth become vulnerable to manipulation. Governments and political parties go to great lengths to reshape public perception- rewriting history, controlling education, and crafting media narratives to portray themselves as patriots and protectors, even as they oppress their people. Without spiritual discernment, young minds may end up supporting the very systems that harm them.
May Allah grant us the ability to see truth as truth, and falsehood as falsehood, and raise our children with that same clarity. Ameen.
Living For Islam 