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SOCIAL ILLS FROM THE ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

by Nadzirah Ahmad Basri [View Writer's Profile]

Abstract
Social ills are rampant these days. They are now becoming part and parcel of the
modern society. Nearly everywhere in the world, the number of social ills are
increasing day by day at an alarming stage. Involvement in one social ill will lead to
another social ill, which will harm not only the individual causing it but also the
society surrounding the individual. A deep analysis and reflection is needed to
identify root causes and eventually lead up to solutions. Modern approaches with
combination of scientific and Islamic knowledge will help address the solution.
Sociological tools and social work techniques may be used to better understand the
problems faced by the ones causing social ills. Islam has clearly all the solutions to
social ills that are increasingly happening in the modern world and ideally Muslims
should be showing good moral examples to the non Muslims, whilst helping them to
overcome the problem. This could only be done by living Islam wholeheartedly.
Social Ills from an Islamic Perspective
One of the biggest problem that comes along with development in this modern
society is moral degradation of the youths. In US, a 1997 statistics show that the
majority of adolescents had engaged in sexual intercourse by 17 years old (62% in
-school females; 60% in-school males)1 while there were 99,342,000 juvenile arrests
in 1997 for violent crime, which roughly corresponds to an arrest every .3 seconds2.
Sexual intercourse and violent crimes are just two of the many social ills are
becoming more rampant in this modern world. Nearly everywhere in the world, the
number of social ills are increasing day by day at an alarming stage.
Evidence shows that most of the time, an involvement in an act of social ill will
usually lead to another act of social ill, which many times will harm not only the
individual causing it but also the society surrounding the individual. Sexual
intercourse with different partners for example, brings about diseases. In fact more
than 12 million acquire STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) every year with
adolescents and young adults at particularly high risk3.
Another example would be the intoxicant influence of alcohol or drugs on one to
lead them into committing crime. Consider the following: In the US, 51.9 % of state
prisoners had alcohol or drug use at the time of offense for violent offences. The
numbers are 52.4% for murder, 56.0% for negligent manslaughter, 45.2% for sexual
assault, 55.5% for robbery, 51.8% for assault4.
1 National Center for Health Statistics. Healthy People 2000 Review, 1998-99.
Hyattsville, Maryland: Public Health Service. 1999.
http://home.att.net/~islamicinfo/islamsolution.htm
2 U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States #140. Source: U.S.
National Center for Health Statistics.
http://home.att.net/~islamicinfo/islamsolution.htm
3 National Center for Health Statistics. Healthy People 2000 Review, 1998-99.
Hyattsville, Maryland: Public Health Service. 1999.
http://home.att.net/~islamicinfo/islamsolution.htm
4 U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States #383. Source: U.S.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal
Prisoners, 1997 http://home.att.net/~islamicinfo/islamsolution.htm