How to Lead a Revolution

These are just some thoughts I had.

Nearly 1500 years ago, a Prophet led a revolution which changed the world. He, peace be upon him, had many followers.

The youth are often crucial in leading revolutions. A man who most Muslims consider to be crucial to the growth of Islam after the Prophet died, Umar was just 27 years old when he became a Muslim. A man who became the 1st ambassador of Islam, who delivered an intelligent and eloquent speech to the King of Abyssinia to save the Muslims from being returned to the hands of their dangerous enemies, Ja'fa ibn Abi Talib  was no older than 25. There was also Mus'ab ibn Umayr, who was trusted by the Prophet to go to Yathrib to pave the way for the Muslim migration, to help unite to the divided clans of Yathrib under one religion. He was only 20 years old. Perhaps most amazing of all, the first boy to convert to Islam, a boy who did not for a second doubt the Prophet's message when others twice his age did, Ali was 10 years old.  These are just a few examples, Islam was in its early days, and indeed throughout history, pioneered by the youth, may God be pleased with them all.

Recently I've spent a lot of my time reading this book and a fair bit of time watching the news. In the light of what's been happening recently I can't help but  draw comparisons, even if these comparisons are quite tenuous. Today the youth are still trying to lead revolutions. In some areas of the world, they've succeeded tremendously and have toppled tyrannical regimes. In other areas, the youth have burnt, smashed and stolen things and hardly know why themselves.

Comparing the first example to the latter, there seems to be a  complete degeneration of the youth where young people in some societies are completely lacking direction. In the UK, politicians are racking their brains right at this very moment to try and come up with some plausible reasons as to why their youth decided to trash their own cities. Amidst the talk, I doubt any politician will point out the flaw of this country's misguided cultural tendency of excusing the youth from growing up. In the past, children grew up to become adults. Now they grow up to become adolescents. And whilst adults can lead revolutions, adolescents can't.