Youth is the most challenging phase in preserving the natural purity with which everyone is created. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is peer pressure:
YOU’RE A VICTIM OF PEER PRESSURE WHEN:
You are curious to try something new because ‘everyone’s doing it’
You feel compelled to fit in simply to ‘look cool’
You worry that others will think you are weird or a coward if you resist
You say or do things in the group which you would not do on your own
You wish your parents would stay out of your ‘social life’
You do things without questioning the outcome.
The Hadith says: ‘Islam began as a strange (way of life), and it will revert to being strange (in latter days), so glad tidings to the strangers.’ (Muslim) When we resist peer pressure, we become ‘strangers’ to friends, we are branded as spoilers. Those who can’t resist peer pressure will sigh with regret in the Hereafter: ‘And on that day the evil doer will bite his hands (in despair) exclaiming: ‘If only I had followed the path shown to me by the Prophet.’ ‘Woe unto me! If only I had not taken so-and-so as a friend.’ (Qur’aan 25:27/8)
HOW TO RESIST PEER PRESSURE:
Know your limits of fun so you can resist with confidence. The Hadith says: Whoever gives up something for the sake of Allah, Allah will replace it with something better.
Choose company. Choose friends on character and not popularity. The Hadith says: A person is likely to follow the faith of his friend, so look (carefully) whom you choose to befriend. (Ahmed)
Don’t substitute parents with friends. One of the signs of the Last Day as stated in the Hadith is that a person will draw closer to his friend and become distant from his father. (Tirmizi)
Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal
PEER PRESSURE
