ISLAM has put much of its focus and attention on noble ethics and good manners. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a role model for all Muslims with his good deeds, sayings and treatment of others. If this is the essence of our religion, why do we find many ethical ills in our society? Our society is overwhelmed by a host of anti-Islamic practices including lying, cheating, lack of loyalty and sincerity, bribery and nepotism. The contradiction between the teachings of Islam and what we do in real life is mainly because of our failure in education, both at home and in schools. The focus of home and school education is on certain issues and ignores many other values, including the development of an ethical conscience and the inculcation of good manners and noble values in the hearts of our male and female children. What makes things worse is the lack of a role model at home or in school. Our children grow up watching a great contradiction between what they are taught and what they see in real life. They observe adults indulging in many un-Islamic behaviors day in and day out. For instance, a child may see his father being lazy in going to the mosque for prayer after hearing the Adhan (prayer call). The same child is taught by his teacher in school that not performing prayer on time is an act of atheism. This child may also hear another teacher badmouthing some of his students, which is again an act forbidden by Islam. A young girl may hear her mother telling lies to her neighbors or relatives, or backbiting about this or that woman. The same girl will be taught in school that backbiting is extremely forbidden by Islam. These contradictions between what they are taught and what they see in society or at home will confuse the children. They may, therefore, lose confidence in their school and home at the same time. More serious than this is forcing the children to memorize by heart huge syllabuses of what is halal (permissible under Islam) and what is haraam (prohibited by Islam). For instance, the young boys and girls are taught that entertainment is haraam, but they see a large number of men and women going to amusement parks or even traveling outside for entertainment. The children may come to believe that Islam is a rigid religion, when in fact, it is a flexible religion that advocates moderation. Our religion calls for the cleanliness of spirit, the purity of conscience and good treatment of the others. Why do teachers and preachers then give a wrong image of Islam, portraying it as a religion of extremism and punishment? We need to completely revamp our curricula. We need to focus on noble ethics and good treatment of others which Islam calls for. We have to consolidate good manners if we want our society to develop.
