"Dreams stifled, Egypt's young turn to Islamic fervor"

[Alex+R 0]

Source:

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

Published: February 17, 2008

CAIRO — The concrete steps leading from Ahmed Muhammad Sayyid’s first-floor apartment sag in the middle, worn down over time, like Mr. Sayyid himself. Once, Mr. Sayyid had a decent job and a chance to marry. But his fiancée’s family canceled the engagement because after two years, he could not raise enough money to buy an apartment and furniture.

Mr. Sayyid spun into depression and lost nearly 40 pounds. For months, he sat at home and focused on one thing: reading the Koran. Now, at 28, with a diploma in tourism, he is living with his mother and working as a driver for less than $100 a month. With each of life’s disappointments and indignities, Mr. Sayyid has drawn religion closer.

Here in Egypt and across the Middle East, many young people are being forced to put off marriage, the gateway to independence, sexual activity and societal respect. Stymied by the government’s failure to provide adequate schooling and thwarted by an economy without jobs to match their abilities or aspirations, they are stuck in limbo between youth and adulthood.

“I can’t get a job, I have no money, I can’t get married, what can I say?” Mr. Sayyid said one day after becoming so overwhelmed that he refused to go to work, or to go home, and spent the day hiding at a friend’s apartment.

In their frustration, the young are turning to religion for solace and purpose, pulling their parents and their governments along with them.

With 60 percent of the region’s population under the age of 25, this youthful religious fervor has enormous implications for the Middle East. More than ever, Islam has become the cornerstone of identity, replacing other, failed ideologies: Arabism, socialism, nationalism.

The wave of religious identification has forced governments that are increasingly seen as corrupt or inept to seek their own public redemption through religion. In Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morocco and Algeria, leaders who once headed secular states or played down religion have struggled to reposition themselves as the guardians of Islamic values. More and more parents are sending their children to religious schools, and some countries have infused more religious content into their state educational systems.

More young people are observing stricter separation between boys and girls, sociologists say, fueling sexual frustrations. The focus on Islam is also further alienating young people from the West and aggravating political grievances already stoked by Western foreign policies. The religious fervor among the young is swelling support for Islam to play a greater role in political life. That in turn has increased political repression, because many governments in the region see Islamic political movements as a threat to their own rule.

Full article much longer and includes video.

[~Jackie~ 30]

Interesting.

[Nagishkaw 510]

The article was already posted here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110900

[Alex+R 0]

The article was already posted here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110900

Yes, and she makes some statements there that I avoided making!

Either way, I wanted the off topic crowd to have at it and maybe have a different take on it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Religion is often a draw to the hopeless and despondent.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Religion is often a draw to the hopeless and despondent.

Being in a hopeless situation in noway gives the right to kill and mame.Perhaps you like to find an excuse and a reason to do so.Of course there always is an excuse and justification and reasoning to do so. They are fkin psychopathic fkin tools that should be dealt with in the manner that they deal with us.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Religion is often a draw to the hopeless and despondent.

Being in a hopeless situation in noway gives the right to kill and mame. Perhaps you like to find an excuse and a reason to do so. Of course there always is an excuse and justification and reasoning to do so. They are fkin psychopathic fkin tools that should be dealt with in the manner that they deal with us.

Not sure where that was suggested. Perhaps you didn't read the article properly.... Or my post...

[peejay 327]

As with a lot of the Third World, they are breeding themselves deeper into the poor house year in and year out. Look at where they are going:

http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=205

[Carolyn 1]

This situation is very similar in Morocco.

It may be that education is the key to upward mobility here in the US, but in many poor countries including Morocco, if young people graduate from high school and even those who graduate from college, there simply are no jobs. If families have money, then they can pay bribes to get a job, or buy themselves a business. Poor families are screwed.

I disagree that "people are breeding themselves into the poor house." Sure, the % of young people in the Middle East/North Africa is high, but family sizes are going down dramatically this generation (check out the Population Reference Bureau website if interested: www.prb.org). Birth control is more readily available, and people simply are not able to get married, so they have less kids. Sure, plenty of people in the villages get married. and get married young, but in the cities, prospects are slim.

A sad state of affairs--one can understand why people turn to religion when there is little hope.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The courts in Egypt say you you can't convert from Islam. Sorta like Hotel California.

'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules

Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=59985

Edited February 17, 2008 by LuckyStrike

[mawilson 2,133]

The courts in Egypt say you you can't convert from Islam. Sorta like Hotel California.

'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules

Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=59985

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

The courts in Egypt say you you can't convert from Islam. Sorta like Hotel California.

'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules

Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=59985

hotel california

[Scott & Lai 12]

The courts in Egypt say you you can't convert from Islam. Sorta like Hotel California.

'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules

Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=59985

And Egypt is considered a moderate, rational Muslim country...

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The courts in Egypt say you you can't convert from Islam. Sorta like Hotel California.

'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules

Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=59985

And Egypt is considered a moderate, rational Muslim country...

Scary.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

The courts in Egypt say you you can't convert from Islam. Sorta like Hotel California.

'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules

Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=59985

And Egypt is considered a moderate, rational Muslim country...

Scary.