I'm dissapointed with my brother

Anas_L

Young Muslim
:salam:

It is not my intention to expose my brothers sins but hopefully it will help anyone who would like to give an in-depth answer. If exposing his sins is haram, please remove it ASAP.

I went to the local shop at around 7:00pm to buy a phone top-up, and as I was going back home I saw my younger brother (14)... with 2 girls. I said

"where are you going?"

he said

"to (such and such's) house"

And I just carried on home. In these situations I'm never thinking straight else I would've took him aside and spoken to him. I know that it's partly my fault that he continued to where he was going. I take full responsibility for it. May Allah forgive me.

Recently, he's been doing a lot of haram things. He hasn't been praying, listening to music, smoking a shisha pen (I think he's stopped now, but he thought it wasn't haram and so did I for a while).

So first of all, I ask for you all to pray for him. Secondly, I want advice on how I should attend to this...

Please do not ask me to ask my parents because I won't. We're not in a close relationship so if I told one of my parents they would be bound to just start shouting at him, and that's not my goal. Nothing will be resolved by verbal abuse off my parents except further problems.

Make du'a for my brother Inshallah.
 

Mabsoot

Amir
Staff member
wa alaykum salam wa rahmatullah,

No doubt growing up as a Muslim teenager is difficult anywhere in the world, and more so in Europe. There are some ways to safeguard and protect your Deen, one of those is having good friendships. Maybe you can take your brother to meet other Muslims who are around his age and practising? If that is impractical then keep on advising him. You can both watch interesting Islamic videos, documentaries etc, so anything that can get him into thinking more about Islam, and respecting himself. Apart from stories of the sahaba, there are some things that might interest him such as the life of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali etc Try to speak to him in gentle way about Islamic topics, just drop it into conversations. Do not try to argue or force him as that might push him further away.

May Allah guide and protect us all, Amin
 

Anas_L

Young Muslim
:salam:

It is hard, yes. Everywhere I go I end up sinning. It's hard not to question myself whether I'll actually get a chance to go to Jannah.

I mean... in today's society, being a virgin at 16 is abnormal. I feel almost as though we're neglected. I'm not exaggerating when I say this. From the moment I look out my window in the morning to the moment I sit down on my laptop at night, there is a slim chance of me avoiding sin.

You look outside your window and see 100's of women uncovered. You go to your local store and the shopkeeper is uncovered. You chill in a park (even when it's not summer) and women have shorts on further up than their knees... You go onto youtube and there are ads promoting the act of adultery.

Even when you're not intending to sin, a girl can easily approach you without your request and drag you into sin...

How are we expected to abstain from committing sins? May Allah help all of us Muslims and especially the youth who are finding it hard to cling to the rope of their deen.

My dream right now is to live and die in Saudi, or anywhere where Muhammad (SAW) stayed most of his life. May Allah make that happen. Ameen.
 

Ummah 99

Junior Member
Subahan Allah, brother, no worries, Allah (swt.) helps the believers as he says in the Quran:
"And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah ]" (2:45)
Also:
2013+-+1

Now let me clear some issues, honestly you don't need to feel so guilty for your brother.
And I just carried on home. In these situations I'm never thinking straight else I would've took him aside and spoken to him. I know that it's partly my fault that he continued to where he was going. I take full responsibility for it. May Allah forgive me.
Listen brother, your brother is now old enough to make his own decisions and that he has reached an age where he can judge whether something is good or bad. So you don't need to feel guilty for that, just mention it to him plainly and if he listens it's your credit, if not then it is not your fault. Remember Nuh (AS) was not responsible for his son, Lut (AS) was not responsible for his wife.
This is must watch for you and your brother, please, trust me both of you will understand a lot of stuffs after watching this:
http://turntoislam.com/video/133/youth-impulsiveness-temptation-responsibility-nouman-ali-khan/
So first of all, I ask for you all to pray for him. Secondly, I want advice on how I should attend to this...
Of course brother.! :)
Please do not ask me to ask my parents because I won't. We're not in a close relationship so if I told one of my parents they would be bound to just start shouting at him, and that's not my goal. Nothing will be resolved by verbal abuse off my parents except further problems.
Now I seem to understand the root of your problems. Mend your relationship with your parents and never think it is impossible. Recite Surah Isra, Ayah 24 for this http://quran.com/17/24
I mean... in today's society, being a virgin at 16 is abnormal. I feel almost as though we're neglected. I'm not exaggerating when I say this. From the moment I look out my window in the morning to the moment I sit down on my laptop at night, there is a slim chance of me avoiding sin.
This is where you are wrong brother. You are born at the right time and trust me the harder the generation becomes, you can prove yourself to be more efficient than others, I tell you why. In olden age when people had less difficulty in retaining Imaan, a simple sin caused was actually more threatening. But as time goes, the Ummahs get weaker and so Allah becomes more merciful towards us and gives us more chances. You at the time of Akhirah all the dreams of the people will be set to come true so as to make them come towards Islam but then again keeping the Imaan will be like holding a charcoal in your hands so challenges will grow and as it grows you rather feel optimistic that you are in fact being honored of tackling the difficulties coming to you. :)
You look outside your window and see 100's of women uncovered. You go to your local store and the shopkeeper is uncovered. You chill in a park (even when it's not summer) and women have shorts on further up than their knees... You go onto youtube and there are ads promoting the act of adultery.
Okay, this complain I hear from many guys but I always say this: If you are strong in Imaan, no girl is supposed to have the power to dazzle you. The more you ignore the face of a female and reject them, the more your Tawqa is polished. So it is needless to complain about women of this age. They are just showing themselves, you just ignore all their invitations! :p I do that all the time so girls always criticize me. LOL. I then refer to the story of Yusuf (AS) and mention this dua to them:
Dua of Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) to protect oneself from the fitnah of women:
''My Lord! and if Thou turn not away their device from me, I will yearn towards them and become (one) of the ignorant''
Rabbi wailla tasrif AAannee kaydahunna asbu ilayhinna waakun mina aljahileen
Surah Yusuf ,verse 33

May Allah (swt.) guide us all! Ameen :)
 
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MehmetHilmi

Junior Member
We kind of have to expect these things when living in Non-Muslim countries. A while ago I was in the same situation. I was so angry at everyone. People were dating. Non married couples were kissing in plain view. Some girls were wearing extremely inappropriate clothing. But soon I realized that I was from a different background than these guys. What they do is what they were raised with. They are not raised with Islamic principles of modesty. An American girl won't think twice about wearing a tank top with really short shorts.

I stopped being so judgmental and relaxed a little on such issues. Yes being a virgin is abnormal. I realized that as I am currently in college. Also not drinking alcohol, not taking drugs, and not partying like crazy is also abnormal these days. There is intense pressure on young people to adopt this lifestyle. I feel the pressure too.

My advice: don't try to be a religious police and change everything. Don't even worry too much about your brother. Because you already have a mountain of problems on your own back. That doesn't mean don't watch over him. Still keep an eye on him. If you need to, pull him aside and have a brother to brother talk. I wish I had an older brother. I had to navigate through the difficulties of growing up as a teenager in the west all by myself. I'm basically generation zero in the US. No one else in my family had ever experienced high school or college here.
 
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Anas_L

Young Muslim
:salam:

What all of you are saying is true and I take heed of the general message; spending every day in a society where corruption prevails will most likely lead you to being corrupted.

See, I'm not old enough to leave this country nor do I have the money to do so. By Allah if I had the financial and physical capabilities I'd make it my top priority to get out of here while I still can. I do not want to die in a country like this... I haven't even done Hajj yet.

Pondering on how much better I would feel if I was in a Muslim community every day of my life as opposed to the community I'm in now brings tears to my eyes. It really does sadden me. I hope Allah will decree for me to go to Saudi and wear Muslim garb in my every day life, because that is what I truly desire.

I'm out for the Akhira, and true say not every person my age is conscious of it. It just takes a little reflecting to come to the conclusion that this life is meaningless, it's the next one that we should brace ourselves for.

So I want to encourage my brother to get there with me. May Allah allow this to happen swiftly.
 

muhammad sabri

Junior Member
I quote Mabsoot :) , be gentle,but smart, tell what you want to tell in the best way, you know your brother the most and Allah surely even more, so make du'a..like the du'a of Musa(peace be upon him) and go for it! :) Musa's dua: ''rabbi ishrah le sadree wa yassir lee amree wa uhlul Uqdatan min lisanee yafqahoo qaulee'' ''Oh my Lord expand my chest and easen my task and untie the knot on my tongue so that they may understand my word'' Wa salam! <3
 
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SonOfAdam

Well-Known Member
Staff member
You are his older brother and he is very young still, you have time so be patient inshallah. Inshallah take him to the mosque togther, take him to lectures, have him listen to really nice audio lectures that strengthen iman that you like. If he will not listen to you or your family he will listen to others. Take him to the Mosque with other humble and God Fearing brothers so he can see the nur on their face and want to be like them. It is very inspiring to be around such brothers, mashallah. It will show him what is the correct way inshallah. Do not go around brothers that fool around so much though, rather the very pious ones inshallah. Showing by example is best and also putting fear of Allah SWT in him works quite well often too, show him certain ayat inshallah and how people can fall astray easily...

May Allah guide him, your situation does not sound too bad though. Smoking is haram in my opinion, it says it will kill you right there on the box, but it is considered Mekru by a lot. Music is haram too in my opinion but considered mekru or acceptable by others (if it is not talking or making a person think of haram).

So inshallah ignore these things for now, in time inshallah as he matures he will also be more willing to leave these things on his own. The girl thing is scarey though, if he is very handsome, as it sounds, you should tell him that Allah gave him these good looks so he would be thankful not to use it for haram. If he wishes to be with girls to seek marriage, 2,3 and 4, but if he fears he cannot be just with them to only marry 1. And before he can be married he needs to become a real man that fears Allah SWT and be able to provide a decent living for them. Right now he is more like a person that imitates the kuffar, no good sister will marry such a man as you described unless she herself is weak.

If he is not changing or you fear he is getting worse, assert that you are his big brother inshallah and start cracking down on him. Even if he is older than you you can still be more like this as the love of your kinship and being brothers for so long will also cause this respect to have him listen to you inshallah. But gentleness is always more appealing and better if you can do it this way. But don't be afraid to tell him what is right and wrong, it sounds like he already knows all these things anyway but needs to strengthen his iman a bit.
 
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