Qiyada Forum Stresses Role Of Islamic Tenets In Shaping Youth

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The importance of human-centred, values-driven leadership that is focused on improving lives and societies has been emphasised to young people from across Qatar, as the inaugural Qiyada conference by Qatar Foundation (QF) came to a close Saturday.
The two-day event at Education City brought together leading scholars, thinkers, influencers, and role models from around the world to engage and support the nation's youth in becoming leaders and drivers of positive social change while strengthening their Islamic identity.
Over 1,000 students from Qatar's schools and universities attended the conference, joining discussions exploring solutions to the challenges of the modern world that have their grounding in faith and knowledge.
On the second day of the conference, HE Sheikha Dr Hessa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson and founder of the Wellbeing and Career Development Training Centre in Doha and an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Sciences at Qatar University, presented a model of leadership from the perspective of wellbeing, based on five fundamental pillars that shape the character of Muslim leaders: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical, and social wellbeing.
“In Islam, and the teachings of Allah, leadership has a wider and a deeper significance, and a sense of being guided by what is right and following the path of truth and righteousness,” she explained.
She urged the young people attending the Qiyada conference to be nothing but good and give nothing but good while emphasising the importance of combining knowledge and action:“Knowledge calls for action, so either you respond to it, or it departs from you,” she said.
Dr Mutlaq Aljasser, preacher and scholar at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of Kuwait, spoke of how, in the modern world, materialism has assumed dominance over moral values.
“We must correct our view of success in life and adopt it as our compass. Once that is achieved, leadership and progress will follow,” he added.
In the conference's closing session, Sheikh Salem al-Ahbabi, director of Ibn Al-Zubair Scientific Centre, spoke about three fundamental pillars that shape identity and to which young people should return: religion, language and history.
"Through our meetings with young people, both in the Gulf region and abroad, we have noticed a significant lack of basic information related to Islamic culture. However, filling this gap does not require great effort or a long period of study,” he said.
“When non-Arabs convert to Islam, they eagerly embrace learning Arabic, experiencing its beauty because it is the language of the Holy Qur'an, even if native Arabic speakers themselves abandon it. Today's advanced nations take pride in their history. However, we possess a great, extended history, and we must treat history fairly: benefiting from its positive aspects, and learning from its mistakes," he added.
Dr Omar Suleiman, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, said:“Excellence is a lifestyle – good deeds are never isolated; each good action has other good deeds that flow from it, just as every bad deed points to others like it."
“When you see someone striving for excellence in one area of life, know that they carry a mindset of excellence that extends to other areas as well. Excellence requires balance, and it also demands discipline – approaching every aspect of life with the same mindset of precision and commitment,” he added conference

MENAFN20092025000067011011ID1110088848