Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
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| meraj |
| 08/04/01 at 19:34:47 |
| slm, ok this question may have come up in some form or another before but i need new ideas... what are some good youth group activities? so far we have done the following: bowling, movies, and a lecture. ok you may straight away say 'halaqah!' or 'camp/retreat!' but theres something to consider here... our youth group is kinda slow starting up (lack of participation/time, etc.), and the youth we want to come to these activities are youth who are distanced from islam and need to first be comfortable with associating with other muslim youth (as opposed to non-muslims) and the relationships/connections need to be built up first. then we can worry about introducing them to masjid activities, and other more islamically oriented things... because we dont want to scare them off right from the start, namin? ok having that been said, imma sit back and let you guys take it from here.. lets hear those ideas :) stuf liek camps are good, but im looking for stuff that can be done like in one evening or something. something not too difficult to get going and it will help us get closer to our goal inshallah :) (oh and also i live in alabama.. theres not a ton of stuff to do here, so keep that in mind ;) ) |
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| Fahad |
| 08/04/01 at 19:45:40 |
| [wlm] If the kids over there are fond of it, then I would say basketball practices is a good idea. Or maybe what ever sport they usually play where you live. [slm] |
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| Haseeba |
| 08/04/01 at 21:12:54 |
| xactly what i was gonna say .. basketball bring the bros together ive noticed with my bro .... one question ... is there girls 2? |
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| Salaam2u |
| 08/04/01 at 21:36:12 |
| Salaam, I'm the current Amirah of the Youth Group here in my community for the past year, but have been an active member for the past 5 years, and Alhamdulillah we have done a wide range of things, we've gone horseback riding, bowling, ice skating, swimming (in door women's pool for the sisters) oh and by the way, and the youth groups are not co-ed, we've done soccer, basketball, sleepovers, picnics, trips to amusement parks, those were our main recreational events, as for islamic events we have done question and answer sessions with scholars/knowledgable brothers and sisters in the community, since we are located near DC we have attended some of the rallies for Palestine, Kosovo, etc. umm... we have done fundraising dinners and blood drives.. things like that, but I would suggest asking the youth themselves as to what they are interested in doing and what they want to get out of the youth group. if you have any other questions or anything at all, please feel free to email me :) Wasalaam, Anjum |
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| Arsalan |
| 08/04/01 at 22:59:34 |
| Assalamu alaikum, A few months ago, a friend of mine told me that he'd been asked to start a youth group, and he wanted me to give him some ideas. Here's what I wrote to him. Some of this may be useful to you, insha Allah. You can pick and choose, modify ... be creative :) >About time you started doing some *real* Islamic work!!! :) > >Before I say anything, please realize what you have taken upon ... >You have, in your hands, a GOLDEN opportunity to provide tarbiyyah to the >Mujahideen and the Mujaddideen of tomorrow's America (insha Allah). Do >justice to this task. And may Allah help you and reward you with the >best yaa akhi. > >You have already listed some ideas: > > > * CAIR > > - creating a chapter > > - increasing awareness/membership > > * Palestine > > - raising funds > > - increasing awareness > > * Community Service > > * Helping the Islamic school > > * Masjid work > >These are all good. However, these should all be secondary activities, >and not primary. The primary activities should >focus more on the tarbawee aspect, i.e. building a stronger Muslim of >tomorrow in these youth that you are working with. > >Such activities should involve regular halaqahs, outings (be it picnics, >camps, sports activities, other types of "socials", etc.), and other >activities which strengthen the brotherhood(/sisterhood?) among these >youth. The halaqahs should be designed to accomplish the following >things: > >1. Increase the knowledge of the youth about their Deen, although not too >Deen intensive. > >2. Instill the correct *understanding* of Islam among the youth - the >importance, methodology of da'wah, the comprehensiveness of Islam, the >bigger picture/goals of ours as Islamic workers etc. > >3. Increase the spirituality of the youth in order for them to become >closer to Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'aala). > >4. Rejuvenate and motivate them to become eagerly involved in Da'wah work >when they leave the halaqahs. > >5. Nurture the brotherhood among the attendees of the halaqahs ... this >would mean adding a social touch to the halaqah (light food, >casual/lighthearted discussions after the halaqah is "over", etc.) > >Having talked about the halaqah, let me talk about the "outings" now. > >I would suggest two kinds of "outings." One that is done on a regular >basis. The other which is done once or twice a year. > >The regular outing - this should be something that is done at the same >frequency as the halaqah (or close to it). So if the halaqah is every >week, the outing should also be every week, etc. The outings should be >simple, and something that everyone enjoys doing. They should not be too >well-organized or well-planned, but simple, casual, relaxed meetings where >brothers(/sisters?) can come together and have "fun" and *bond*! This can >be something as simple as going out to eat together every Friday night, or >playing a sport every week, etc. Or it can be something more creative >[insert your creative ideas here!] > >Besides these regular outings, there should be a once (or twice) a year >type of activity also. This can be something like a picnic or a camp. >There should be a program, a schedule. The activity should be >well-planned. The idea is to have >something fun-oriented, although the >educational/imaani aspect should definitely be there also. > >These are the primary activities, designed for the tarbiyyah of these >youth. Furthermore, there can and SHOULD be activities such as the ones >you have mentioned to put what they are "learning" into "practice." That >is, a taste of *real* Islamic work! > >Again, your ideas are good, but some are too ambitious. > > > * CAIR > > - creating a chapter > >I'm hesitant about this. If it's a long term project, then yes, it could >work. But don't let this become the primary focus of the youth group >where they end up putting all their time and efforts for this sole >purpose. Don't let this undermind the other activities mentioned above. > > > > - increasing awareness/membership > >Sure. This should take place, definitely. Awareness may be accomplished >also by talking about these things in some of your halaqahs or picnics. > > > * Palestine > > - raising funds > >Good. Let the youth come up with creative ideas for raising funds... > > > - increasing awareness > >Yes. Same comment as above for awareness about CAIR. > > > * Community Service > >Yes. This could replace some of the regular outings. Note: community >service can be to Muslim community OR non-Muslim community. > > > * Helping the Islamic school. > >What kind of help? > > > * Masjid work > >Definitely, absolutely! One of the objectives of this youth group should >be to get the youth closer to the Masjid, in general, in order to develop >the youth into that group of people who will be among the seven groups >to be under the Shade on the Day when there will be no shade ... > >"the man whose heart is attached to the Mosque" > >These are all good ideas. But I would also get the youth input on this. >What is it that *they* want to do? Do they want to hold seminars and >bring in speakers? Do they want to have blood-drives? Do they want to >sponsor children through relief agencies? Do they want to band together >and attend ISNA/ALIM/MYNA-camps? > >Hear it from them. Don't dictate. Make them feel involved and a part of >all this. > > > I feel that if we have a project or something that will have an end, the > > youth will be more enthusiastic rather than a long term goal. > >You should have goals, objectives, and means to achieve those objectives >(i.e. projects). If you want, I can look for a copy of the MYNA Action Plan that we had >during my old days in the youth group. |
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| ShAAhI |
| 08/11/01 at 14:24:02 |
Aslam Alykum, Well I honestly believe now that a lot of youth groups are going through more or less the same tribulations in North America. In our youth group the burden of organizing and mainly working is been piled up on 2 or 3 individuals , I feel like everyone who some how associates with our group gets fed up and runs away. I remember in the good old days we had less people and we did more and now its the opposite. Anyways inshaAllah a Muslim never gives up and hopefully the old spirit of MYNA would be rejuvenated in our group and in every youth group. ma-salam |
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| se7en |
| 08/11/01 at 15:04:06 |
| as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatAllah, InshaAllah I'll write some more on this later. just one comment for now.. MYNA has an AWESOME packet called "Let's Build a Muslim Youth Group" -- it will definitely help you out inshaAllah. It was written by people who've had a lot of experience in youth group work and it has like 110 suggestions for events like the ones you're looking for meraj..as well as advice on a lot of other things.. (check out [url=http://www.jannah.org/articles/triangle.html]the triangle effect[/url], something from the packet) InshaAllah when we get the myna page up and running we'll have the packet online.. but anyone who's interested, send me an email with your address and I'll get a copy sent out to you inshaAllah.. take care wasalaamu alaykum |
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| se7en |
| 08/14/01 at 02:06:18 |
as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatAllah, the only thing I can think to add to brother Arsalan's post is to just keep your perspective and intentions in check.. it's just *really* easy to get high off this..like.. ameer arrogance :) it's so easy to fall into this attitude of.. "I'm a better Muslim than these ppl, and I know better than they do, and I'm making these sacrifices to help them out.." whenever you end up with the majority of work, or you're the one pulling things together for an event or meeting, or you're the one people come to for advice.. this'll come into your head.. and when you start to agree with it, start to believe it.. it feeds into something wrong and your intentions get messed up.. this also messes with the success of your youth group.. youth don't need another parent/imam/whatever telling them what they think is best for them.. and when you start to do that it builds resentment.. youth don't want to be told what to do, especially by some kid their age thinking they know what's good for them.. and also with this attitude you starp to look at all the time and energy you spend as some great sacrifice.. you start to see the work you do not as this opportunity for ajr or this obligation you have towards your brothers and sisters but as this burden.. you walk away from the events/meetings thinking they were of no benefit to you because they were 'beneath your level' and because of that they *don't* benefit you.. and others get a sense of this burden you feel and a lot of youth will walk away thinking 'i don't need you to do me any favors..' and also with this attitude the work you do becomes less and less about Allah, and your duties to Him, and more about maintaining this ameer status you have in the eyes of other people. You need to seriously step back and question your intentions whenever you do *anything* in youth work.. you need to seek refuge in Allah from that self righteousness and arrogance because when that comes into the picture your deeds won't be worth *anything* in the sight of Allah.. in fact they may be things you're punished for.. but just keep this stuff in mind.. keep coming back to *why* you're taking the time to do these things and don't forget to benefit in the process inshaAllah.. I think that's it on my part.. sorry if this was a bit heavy / not what you were looking for.. the myna packet should inshaAllah have a lot of suggestions like the ones you're looking for.. wAllahu 'alam wasalaamu alaykum :) |
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| Arsalan |
| 08/14/01 at 02:10:11 |
| [quote]it's so easy to fall into this attitude of.. "I'm a better Muslim than these ppl, and I know better than they do, and I'm making these sacrifices to help them out.." [/quote]Man, getting away from this pitfall is hard. Really hard! The hardest thing is to realize that you have this feeling, because it's so rooted in the subconscious. But it can ruin everything. Just keep yourself in check the whole time. Self-evaluation is the key. Do it regularly, and insha Allah you'll be ok. Wassalamu alaikum. |
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| meraj |
| 08/14/01 at 16:48:24 |
| slm, yeah thats true.. the whole keeping your intentions in check thing.. cause also in addition to being a member of this youth group, im the president of our club at school and i also will be giving the khutbah each jummah at school too.. so i gotta do some serious thinking and stuff before then :) |
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