It is a common knowledge in Japan that most of the Muslim kids whose father or mother was born in a foreign country, are not so much attracted to the religion of their parents, Islam, and, thus do not visit local mosques to get advice on religious affairs and other social issues. Rather, they feel more comfortable being in the company of other non-Muslim kids in their communities. How can we bring them back to the folder of their Masajid and thus help the Muslims become a truly vibrant community in the country?
The Muslim community in Japan is, seemingly facing two major challenges in this regard? First, how to outshine the present-day allures of modern life in the country which our kids are experiencing on day-to-day basis? Second, how to create awareness among the Muslim parents in the country about the gravity of the situation?
Muslims in other non-Muslim countries are also facing the same problem. Now, we, as adults, have to take corrective measures to reverse the trends and bring our kids, the future of Islam, back to Masajid, the original center of religious, and social centers of our communities.
We need to create an conducive environment in our Masajid for people of all ages to feel at home at Masjid instead of keep themselves away from them. Japanese schools provide books and other interesting material to their kids so that they feel pleasure in going to the schools and thus spend lot of time in the school premises.
We, the Muslim adults can start making conscious effortｓ to collect Islamic books and other reading material for kids of all ages from around the world.so that they are attracted to the religion of their forefathers and thus try to get more and more information about it by reading these books.
One other step we could take to make our Masajid, a place of attraction is to provide small refreshment and gifts to kids on regular basis so that they start coming to these mosques. We could also arrange social gatherings and other events especially tailored to the kids needs so that they are more attracted to Islam.
One could also organize Quran recitation events so they they prepare for the competition and thus feel pride after participating in this kinds of events. We could also distribute prizes and other gifts on various occasions such as Eid, ul Fitr, Eid ul Adha.
Help older kids play leading roles in any events related to kids so that they start considering themselves a part of a larger Muslim community and feel proud of their personal and leadership achievements. We also need to induce parents to visit the mosque regularly and educate them why they need to bring their kids to the Masjid.
Bring children to the Masjid in a non-threatening way so that when the time comes, they could make the masajid even better places for their own kids.
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