“We’re really good at pointing out the problem, but not so good at dealing with it. Someone can tell me that I need to be a good son, a good husband, or a good father — but no one is telling me how to actually be these things, especially through a lens of Islam. The absence of strong, male role models in society in general, and within the Muslim community in specific, makes it that much harder for a young Muslim man to know what responsibility really means religiously. How many of us were ever taught how we’re supposed to treat women from an Islamic standpoint versus a cultural standpoint? It’s important here to not think in absolutes — meaning not knowing how to treat a woman doesn’t necessarily mean that one mistreats women. How many of us were really ever sat down and told how to respect and uphold responsibilities as young men and then saw those words manifest themselves into actions by the male figures who we looked up to while growing up? If I don’t know what my responsibility is as a young man, how will I really know what to look for when I am trying to find a woman to spend the rest of my life with? More importantly, why would anyone want to marry me?”
[excellent article, and on point. -y]
6 months ago