Understanding the Threat of Drug Abuse on Muslim Youth – Winning Essay from the 18th (2024) CMO International Youth Essay Competition

Abubakar Muhammad Bello’s essay, The Effects of Drug Abuse and Other Related Vices on the Lives of Muslim Youth, captures the modern-day challenges faced by young Muslims in an age of widespread drug abuse and societal distractions. Winning second place in Category D of the 18th (2024) CMO International Youth Essay Competition, Bello’s work reflects on the spiritual and material dangers posed by substance abuse and calls for a return to Islamic teachings as a guide for Muslim youth in navigating these threats.

Introduction:
There has never been a time the spiritual life of a Muslim youth is at risk than the 21st century. The advancement of technology and the ease of communication have brought with them a great threat to the conservative ideas of the Muslim world. Drug abuse and social platforms are the frontrunners in the race against the moral values of the Muslim youth. An ideal Muslim youth should be sincere to Allah, follow the prophet Muhammad SAW and seek guidance from his life. He should do righteous deeds and abandon all that is forbidden. However, the menace of drug abuse with its related vices poses a great challenge to the Muslim youth of the 21st century.

Drug Abuse is defined as a pattern use of drug in which the user consumes the substance in amount or with method harmful to them or others. Drugs are substances used primarily to bring about a change in the biological processes in the body. In youths, drug abuse is often intentional and starts usually in teenage years. The commonly abused drugs include narcotics, alcohol, cannabis, stimulants, depressants and analgesics (Yakasai, 2020). These drugs are grouped as psychoactive drugs in that they can affect the perceptions, mood, thought process, feelings and behavior of an individual. Youth engage in drug abuse as a result of many factors. Peer group influence is one of the commonest reason youths indulge in drug abuse (Adetiloye and Abel, 2022). Other factors include parental disharmony, emotional stress, lack of self-esteem and etc.

The effects of drug abuse in a person manifest with the onset of addiction. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite its harmful consequences. These effects are not restricted to the abuser alone, they also affect his family, close associates and the society at large. The effects on the victim, a Muslim youth in this context, could be classified as either spiritual or material. The spiritual effects are associated with continuous moral decadence due to indulgence in an act forbidden by Allah SWT.

Islam is a universal and eternal religion, and have completely provided all the needs of the society at all ages (Sattari, Mashayekhi and Mashayekhi, 2012). As such, several verses in the holy Quran warn against wine, which is intoxicant, and several traditions of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him reaffirm the ruling laid by the holy Quran.

In Q2:129, Allah SWT says; “They asked you about wine and gambling, say; in both of them there are great sins and few benefits to mankind, however, their sins are greater than their benefits”.

In another, Q4:43, Allah SWT says; “O ye who believe! do not go near prayer while you are intoxicated until you understand what you are saying”.

Also, In Quran 5:9, Allah SWT says; “O ye who believe! Wine, gambling, idolatry and lottery are only an abomination, a handiwork of Satan, so avoid it to be saved. Satan only desires to cause enmity and hatred to spread in your midst by means of wine and gambling, and to keep you off from remembrance of Allah and from prayers, will you then desist?”.

Looking at the verses carefully, it could be deduced that the prohibition against wine and intoxicants did not happen at once. This could be due to addictive nature of the substances and the possible withdrawal effect of intoxicants. However, the last verse clearly spelled out the ruling against wine and other related acts. It also aptly summarized the spiritual effect of drug abuse on a Muslim youth. A drug abuser is almost always intoxicated which keep him off his five-time prayers, zikr and other religious duties. The act itself is a great sin in the sight of Allah and the aftermath of the act results in a chain of inevitable sins.

It is important to note that wine is not the only intoxicant even at the time of the prophet. In a hadith in Sahih Bukhari, the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said; “Every intoxicant is like a wine and every wine is forbidden, whosoever drinks it in this world and dies whilst having consumed of and not repent, will not drink it in the hereafter.”

In book 23 of sahih Bukhari, hadith 4957, Aisha may Allah be pleased with her reported that the messenger of Allah peace be upon him was asked about a Bit, whereupon he said: every drink that causes intoxication is forbidden.

Therefore, Islam is very clear about intoxicants, and whoever practice drug abuse surely engage in an act forbidden by Allah, and thus inviting God’s wrath upon him, this is why the spiritual effects of drug abuse and addiction is the major undesirable effect on the life of a Muslim youth.

The Material effects of drug abuse on a Muslim youth are numerous. These affect all the domains of his life. Health effect is one of the most common consequences of drug abuse. Health problems not only affect the victim, it also impairs family life and productive employment, diminish the quality of life and may threaten survival (UNDCP, 1995). Addictive substances are known to alter the function of the brain and impact on behavior. the chronic effect of such is progressive cognitive impairment, insanity and death.

Another dangerous extreme of drug abuse is intravenous drug administration. This serves as an important route of transmission of blood related infections. Diseases such as AIDS, Hepatitis viral infection amongst others are prevalent in a youth population of nowadays due to intravenous drug abuse (Adetiloye and Abel, 2022).

Islam did not turn blind eyes to these material effects. In many verses of the holy Quran, Allah SWT warns against self-harm. For example, In Q2:195, Allah SWT says: “Do not cast yourself to perdition with your own hands”.

In another instance, Allah SWT says in Q4:29, “Do not kill yourselves, surely, Allah is merciful to you”.

Surely, those engaged in drug abuse have violated these verses for they are engaging in an act of destroying themselves. Apart from these material effects of drug abuse on the victim, it also has social and economic impact. Drug abuse deprives the Muslim society of some of its finest minds. Youth are seen as the backbone of every society, the more they indulge in unwanted acts, the more the society derails from prosperity.

The close connection between drug abuse and other social vices is supported by many studies. Drug addiction is invariably associated with other social vices which are antisocial behaviors that violate a variety of cultural norms and values (Hassan and Abdulkareem, 2023). Example of these vices include robbery, cultism, pornography, phone snatching, pick pocketing, sexual immorality, exam malpractice amongst others. The effects of such vices are moral decline, dishonest conduct, lack of prospects, failure in life and becoming burden to a society (Hassan and Abdulkareem, 2023). Youth constitutes a significant percentage of population in every society and this presents massive difficulties that must be curtail for the society to flourish.

On Islamic ruling against harming others, the prophet peace be upon him said: “A Muslim is the one whose fellow Muslims are safe from his tongue and hands.”

In another narration, the prophet peace be upon him said: “Whoever bothers people is like the one who bothers me, and whoever bothers me is like the one who bothers God.” It is obvious that drug abuse and other social vices like cultism, kidnapping and so on plunged youths into misdeeds against the society. They abandoned all their spiritual and material quest and became a nuisance to their family and society. Their presence is threatening and they became a focal point of mischief, violence and all sorts of societal disturbance.

Another aspect of which drug abuse and its related vices pose a threat is education. This is an unwanted effect on both the victim and the society. studies have shown that illicit use of drugs impairs cognitive functions making it difficult for the youth to develop functional set of values. This leads to poor academic performance and resulting decrease in self-esteem. (UNDCP, 1995). For a Muslim youth, this will involve tempering with his quest for Islamic knowledge and values.

From the foregoing discussions, it could be concluded. that drug abuse and its related vices such as alcoholism, smoking, sexual immorality and so on all leads to different form of consequences like mental illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and death. These social vices affect the Muslim society at whole and the Muslim youth in particular. The mental, physical and moral aspect of individual are negatively affected. Therefore, it is the mandate of the Muslim youth and the society to standup against the menace by upholding Islamic teaching and values.

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