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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Human Cycle Lesson 9 4-8-10 The Open School Class: Explanation of Forty Ahadith Text: Jalali, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn. Sharh al-Arba’in al-Nabawwiyah. Arabic edition 1987, pages 432-435. Summary As said before, children are the future. Insha’Allah (if God wills), one can raise a child in a proper manner to become a good mature member of society. The age of maturity may be relative to the society in which one lives.

For example, in the United States, the age of eighteen seems to be the threshold of maturity. In Islam, however, the legal ages of maturity for males and females are identified by jurists,[^1] and, also, physical features may be considered when determining maturity. When a child reaches maturity, what is his or her role towards society? A person will become independent in thought and will have to identify his or her role in society.

For example, a person will start thinking about what profession he or she should pursue. However, despite whatever the person chooses, bringing peace and safety to one’s society is the main goal. A person in a society wants to be in a safe and peaceful environment to live his or her life and raise a family, and so that person’s role should be to promote stability and peace.

Through our professions and way of living, we should contribute to society and make sure our actions foster a positive environment. For example, how should we live here in the United States? Should we go around breaking laws? If we do, we will be put in jail and disrupt not only the society but our families as well. This does not mean we agree with everything the government does or that we like every law. However, we can try to change laws and attitudes through rational processes and techniques.

Islam is a religion of reason, and the objective is peace and security. Yes, (peace be upon him and his family) fought in wars, but a study of those wars will show the necessity of such for defense and to fight against oppression.[^2] You see, the objectives of war can be to protect and vanquish oppression so that peace and security may be established. The objective of terrorism, on the other hand, is only to instill fear.

And even if one argues that terrorists may use fear only as a means for whatever they want, that is not Islam. Extremism is not the middle road or the straight path of Islam. This is evident by the beautiful acts of the Prophet of Islam towards the different peoples and even his enemies.