where are we heading to?

Just back from hometown. Had to accompany my in-laws on their way back home from Hajj Mashaallah. Had a  nice time hosting people pouring in to meet in-laws. Btw my hometown is a picturesque small town on the foothills of western ghats, with a predominant muslim population.

 Though I have never lived there except for a few months post-marriage and regular visits every summer holidays while in school, my fascination for this small town never ends.

 Farming and weaving used to be the main occupation of the people here. Streets used to be filled with the sound from the handlooms. Men and women working in tandem. Marriages and other festivities used to be held at night so that the productivity is not lost. Fridays used to be the weekly holiday.Children studied in schools run by muslims. Every house had an Alim, a Maulvi or a Hafiz. No time was spent in vain like backbiting  or watching TV. The elderly people used to sit in the thinnai or the frontyard watching over people. Since it was a small town everybody knew everyone. While I was a kid everytime I set out of my house, I had to make a hundred stops answering old people sitting in the thinnai, nothing escaped their eyes.

 This was the case until say, mid nineties. Things changed with people moving to other cities and countries in search of greener pastures. There isn’t a single handloom in the town at the moment. When children started going to schools in the neighbouring towns for better education, Fridays stopped being the weekly holidays. Old people no more sit in their frontyards. They would rather sit in front of the TV. No one is interested in religious education any more.

 As a result of all these changes the ummah here is facing the worst issue, girls eloping with non-muslim men, worst still, girls engaged to be married and even married women elope, leaving behind small children. No matter where one is settled when it comes to getting their son or daughter married everyone comes back to the hometown. No marriage ties are made with an outsider. Since everyone is familiar with everyone else, checking out on ones background is easy. But these days girls from even much respected families run away, subhanallah.

I wonder what goes on in the minds of these girls. All of us agree that lack of Islamic knowledge, poor bringing up are the cause of all this. Some young women have taken up this issue and started a trust to address this issue. There is going to be a conference and workshop exclusively for women next month inshaallah. May Allah help them in their noble endeavour and bring about a change in our Khaira ummath, Ameen.