1) Young Muslims - The Message

Exalted has for us. In this concern and care let us rejoice and seekHim, let us console and encourage one another in this divinelargesse.While working with youth, my experience shows that we do nottruly value our youth as well as ourselves. Rarely do our elders,whether scholars, teachers or even our parents stress our truevalue in the sight of the Qur’anic revelation and the domain of theProphetic exemplar. We must address our youth compassionatelyand sincerely convey to them their true self value whileacknowledging our own.These are some of the words I wished toshare on this topic; I hope that this will be beneficial for our youthand be of practical use.Harm of SmokingThirty percent of men and 19 percent of women around the worldsmoke. One hundred thousand children under the age of 15 startsmoking every day. One of every ten deaths around the world iscaused by a smoking-related disease. With statistics like this, it'shard to imagine why smoking continues to be so widespread.There are over 4,000 chemicals in a single cigarette, some of whichare highly poisonous. Examples include naphthalene, which is usedin moth repellent; acetone, the main component of nail polishremover; butane, a constituent of lighter fluid; and formaldehyde,used in embalming. Cigarettes also contain nicotine, a highlyaddictive stimulant that causes physical and psychologicaldependency.The two most serious health effects of smoking are cancer andemphysema. Smoking has been linked to 11 forms of cancer,including cancer of the esophagus, mouth, pancreas, bladder, andkidney. According to recent studies, smokers are 26 times morelikely to die of lung cancer than non-smokers. Emphysema is aYoung Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 187