In the 12-18 December 2010 issue of Radiance Dr. Kamalodeen has put his invite to Islam very endearingly. He presents his discourse in a positive manner without any apologetic disclaimer. However, I may be allowed to add the piece of Hadīth narrated by Muslim ‘Islam begun as a stranger (among the popular ways of the pagan of the time) and it would revert to its origin of being stranger (in the backdrop of the chaotic condition spawned on account of the nefarious activities by transgressors). Therefore, good tidings for the strangers’.
Whereas the topic ‘Youth culture’ chosen by Syed Adfar Shah is very important and contemporary; its academic value would have surely enhanced if the learned scholar had taken the youth of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi as a proper case study material. To me the three features of youth culture underlined by the author do not sum up the totality of the youth experience. ‘Restlessness’ or suppressed energy, the urge to challenge and experiment may be regarded as other normative patterns of this explosive age. The youth has certainly many things positive also.
Tanwir Shahab
Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi