The following has been narrated from Hamid Al-Samandary: “I said to Abi Abd-Allah (SwT) Ja’afar Bin Muhammad, peace be upon him, “I enter polytheistic nations and some of our companions have said that if I were to die I would be raised amongst them?!” So the Imam, peace be upon him, said: “Oh Hamid, would you mention our matters and preach them?” To which I replied affirmatively. He continued: “And if you were in Islamic cities would you mention our matters and preach them?” To which I replied negatively. So then he said, “Then if you were to die then you would be raised as a nation alone and your light will be between your hands.”1

It is important for scholars and preachers to travel to polytheistic and non-Islamic nations in order to serve the Islamic communities in those countries and strengthen their identity, resolve fallacies, propagate Islam and facilitate interfaith activities. Those societies are not free from religious and social issues and problems and need the presence of a learned guide.

Furthermore, mosques and religious charitable centres such as hospitals and schools should be built, and global opportunities which benefit Islam should be taken advantage of.

Along with the building of mosques, the spirituality and education of the adolescent population of that community should be attended to. That is, as well as preparing a nest for the chicks, care should be taken to nurture them appropriately. The spiritual nourishment of the young population, to be most effective, should be in the same language they speak and learn in, the language of the country they live in.

There are many examples where buildings continue to be built by elders of a community, and are run in a way that pleases the elders rather than the young adults that crave to learn. Usually, these programs are in the mother tongue of the country the elders migrated from.

This leaves the youth and young adults uninterested, pre-occupied with gadgets that keep them away from the programs of these centres and the education they would otherwise crave for. Furthermore, in what has become a fashionable trend, certain speakers and centres are asking for children to not even be brought to an event lest they interrupt the speaker or event. An unfortunate trend, and one that could lead to generations of Muslims only by name, if at all. A topic that needs to be dealt with independently.

Of course, the mother tongue and the language of the nation in which the children’s parents have migrated from should be taught to the following generations so that a

migration back to their country of origin is possible, and is not met with the difficulty of a language barrier.

• 1. Shaykh al-Amili, Wasa’il al-Shia. Vol. 15 P. 101.