The Citizen Organising Foundation Institute 2005 Lecture at the people’s Palace, Queen Mary college, London University
11th April

“Formation: Who is bringing up our children?”

Your Grace, friends and colleagues – May I greet you all with the Islamic greetings of – Assalamu Alaykum was Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu.

Let me begin by thanking Neil and his excellent team of the COF for arranging this highly pertinent and valuable lecture. I have been a trustee of the Citizen Organising Foundation for over 10 years now and the Islamic Foundation, of which I am the Director General, has had a formal and active relationship with the COF for about the same period of time. It is a testimony to our friendship and mutual interest in creating active and confident citizens, that our co-operation and ties have held strong and continue to prosper. This work is an invaluable and necessary accompaniment to Westminster politics – for as we have seen, passive political involvement has brought us to a state of apathy and distressingly low voter attendance, especially among the young.

And who is better to address this gathering, on this topic, than Dr Rowan Williams, one of the foremost leaders and commentators of our times. He has shown, with great courage, that ethical values are relevant in public life and his passionate yet incisive writings such as Lost Icons have extensively dealt with the issue of formation. With his wisdom, openness and generosity of spirit, he is an example far beyond the Anglican Communion alone.

Dear friends, the issue of Formation and the raising of our children is of paramount importance. As we all say, it is our children who are the future. And as each generation hands over the baton to the next, thus humanity moves through history.

According to Islamic teachings, all of creation is formed in a natural state of purity and goodness in accordance with the Will of God. This is known as fitra in Arabic. This is what we call Islam – the act of submission – in the broadest sense of the term, as an adjective rather than a noun. Hence the birds, the animals and trees we see around us, the oceans and lakes, the stars and planets are considered to be ‘Muslim’. This is not just an attempt to increase our numbers! But is an important philosophical outlook that is perhaps sadly forgotten, too often today. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stressed this when he commented that all children are born as with fitra, in a state of purity and goodness, and it is their upbringing that may change the course of their lives.

After the mother’s womb, in which the foetus develops - in what can genuinely be described as a miraculous process, the family is the most important place of formation that a child will encounter. It is here that a child is taught the basic building blocks of its identity. Ideally it is here that it is taught, among the infinite other things, to love and be loved, to have compassion, to share, to seek justice and be fair, to be confident, and something that gives all this a context – to keep a live connection with God at all times. And it is for this reason, hence, that the family is viewed not only in Islam but in many other religions as a sacred institution and vital pillar of society. Whatever threatens and fragments the family is seen as a threat to not only the individuals concerned but to society as a whole.

But the family faces many trials and tensions today – individualism and the shrinking space around each one of us is not conducive to collective life. The cost of living too has had a tremendous impact on our lives. Many mothers, and indeed fathers, would like to spend more time with their children as they grow, but are unable to do so, or feel unable to do so. Time flies by and though we cherish every second with our children, we are left with regrets. It is for this reason that the nurturing of children has to be given far more value and worth than it has been so far. It has to be seen and recognised as the demanding career and vocation that it is. As we all juggle with the work-life balance we need to remember that time is life and that money is not the measure of all things.

But the market would like to convince us otherwise! For the market, it is our wallets that need to be open not our minds. We are asked to be willing and needing consumers, rather than citizens whose job is to promote good and forbid evil.

In Islam the concepts of formation, nurturing and rearing are collectively called tarbiyah, often translated as education, but actually far broader than only education. It is this comprehensive outlook that we need, for as we may educate our children through institutions of the state or privately – we cannot abdicate the responsibility of society, the family and of parents to create a wholesome process of formation to nurture the young.

Schools, like the family face many serious challenges today. As Jamie Oliver’s relentless campaign for healthier food in schools has vividly shown – the media and advertising have a tremendous impact on the way even very young children develop likes and dislikes, tastes and preferences. I am not advocating censorship of the media, for a free media is a pillar of a free society. But somewhere, somehow, as a society we have to reflect long and hard about the impact of an unfettered media that is so easily subject to financial muscle.

My purpose is not to merely grumble, for the subject of formation is one that is primarily about an amazing and wonderful process. As a Muslim I would describe that process as one of keeping the fitra alive, allowing the natural state of goodness in a child to thrive, to grow and develop. I would couch the process of formation in the language of the Qur’an that describes the successful “as those who cause their soul to grow in purity” and those who corrupt it as the ones who fail. In the process of nurturing the soul, and hence the individual, lies a journey full of complexity and wonder. And here is the place of faith and spirituality – we live in hope.

With these words, I thank you very much for listening and look forward to the valuable insights and thoughts of our keynote speaker today.