Nuh

In the name of Allah the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. Thanks be to Allah (SWT), Creator of all creatures, prayers and peace be upon Allah’s Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWS).[1]

Welcome to a new episode of Life Makers. In fact, this episode has a special taste, and a special feeling; yet, at the same time it is of high importance. It might form a tuning point in the history of Life Makers. I have a word for you that might be a real push for you, carrying rays of hope regarding the future. Dear youths, you have the whole future before you; the future is there, opening its arms for all Life Makers. Believe me; what proves my words is that the whole world is paying attention to youths in the Arab region. The whole world is observing you attentively, yet with different views. Do you know why the whole world is observing you? Because you represent the largest number of youth in all regions throughout the whole world. Not only that, but also because this region is currently the most turbulent in the world, which grasps the attention of the whole world.

These are not my words. Nowadays, there is a science taught across the whole world that studies and analyses the future. This is the science of prospects, according to which the coming generation of Arab and Muslim youth in this region will make the rebirth. I myself believe in this too, and this is the main view of Life Makers.

Dear youths, let me tell you something that I told you before. Every hundred years the whole world faces a complete change. The concepts and ideologies that formed the world in the past hundred years, when people never thought there could be a different way of thinking, are already changing. At this very moment, a new page is being turned and a new history document is being set.

You have to note that the four categories of people mentioned before (those viewing youths in different ways) really do hope that all youths would move, be productive, and become life makers. Even those who fear you want this to happen, because if you do not move and get an outlet for your energy through productivity, the region will explode like a huge volcano that destroys the whole world. Hence, everyone wishes that you would move towards tangible productivity.

You have to know that there are harbingers that could be realized by those who understand, but cannot be realized by those who do not know or do not understand. Do you know this harbinger? It is the following Surah where Allah says what can be translated as, “When comes the victory of Allah, and the Conquest, And you see mankind entering the Religion of Allah in troops, So extol with the praise of your Lord, and ask Him forgiveness; surely He has (always) been Superbly Relenting” (TMQ, 110:1)[2]. When this Surah was revealed, people understood it in different ways, and each person perceived one aspect of it. On the one hand, some people understood the short term sign that a significant victory from Allah (SWT) would occur. On the other hand, Abu-Bakr As-Siddiq (RA) understood that it indicated the end of Muhammad’s mission and that he would soon die. “When comes the victory of Allah, and the Conquest” (TMQ, 110:1), indicates that a new generation of the Prophet’s followers will shoulder the responsibility after the Prophet (SAWS). Because Abu-Bakr (RA) understood this sign, he cried out of love for the Prophet (SAWS) and in fear of the responsibility after the Prophet’s death.

What I want to say is that nowadays there are similar signs that reflect that a coming generation will carry the responsibility. Are you ready for it?

It is not the issue of an episode, or just a few words that I say. It is the case of a whole nation. It can be a national project for the Arab nation. What is this project? We talked about it before, yet without enough elaboration. Hence, today we will tackle this issue with far more concentration. It is the case of unemployment that is a real disaster. It is like the tsunami that hit Asia. Did you see what this flood did to people? Do you see how a real flood happens in a few seconds?

The flood of unemployment started five or ten years ago, and it will swallow all those youths affected by it. Despite the hope I told you about, this unemployment disaster is coming forth.

Define unemployment! It means that a young man or woman, who is capable of working, is searching for work but cannot find it. Imagine how many people to whom this definition applies! Sixteen million out of 280 million people in the Arab countries cannot find jobs. Besides, more than 16 million are subject to ‘masked’ unemployment. They are hired but they have no work to do. Can you imagine this?

In 2003, unemployment reached 12% worldwide, and at the same time it was 26.5% in the Arab nation. This means that for every 1000 persons, 265 Arab youths are unemployed.

How many will be unemployed by 2015? The number of unemployed youth will reach 80 million by 2015. This is not my opinion; this was declared in the al-Ahram newspaper two days ago, and it is known by all governments and bodies across the Arab world. This means that we are not approaching a rebirth, but a disaster. The Davos Conference stated this fact, and the United Nations issued a report with these figures.

Do you know what 80 million means? Do you know what the current 16 million means? It means a way towards drugs, spreading crime, directing hatred toward society, which in turn means that your house and family are threatened because more than 16 million cannot earn their bread. Those 16 million direct their hatred toward you, toward anyone who lives well, or even works. Drugs will be spread among your children; violence and terrorism will also find a way into society; behavioral and mental deviation will also spread; lack of marriage will increase, which will lead to customary marriage and adultery, which means the spreading of moral deviation. Eventually, all this will lead to the loss of religion. Do you know why? A thousand religious lessons can have no impact on a 30 year old unemployed youth who is still taking his allowance from his father. Do you not see that it is a flood far more dangerous than that of Asia! It is truly an affair on the scale of the whole Arab nation.

Do you know the most important statement released monthly in developed countries and published in newspapers? It is the monthly unemployment rate. Such a statement reveals whether the percentage has fallen or risen. According to this statement, the stock exchange of the country is determined. The value of the Euro may increase if the unemployment rate falls in Europe, while the value of the US Dollar might fall if the United States fails to reduce the unemployment rate. Throughout the whole world this issue affects the flow of events. In elections, governments lose or win according to their ability to control the unemployment rate.

We are referring to this because we need to know who is responsible for this crisis. Neither the youths nor life makers are responsible; it is the governments who are responsible for this. This has been the case since the days of Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA). One night Omar (RA) was walking and he heard a baby crying, so he asked the baby’s mother to see what was wrong with him. The woman agreed, but did nothing, which infuriated Omar (RA). He asked her why she acted like this, and she replied that she was trying to wean the baby because Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) used to pay benefit for mothers or families only after they wean their children. Hence, she was trying to wean her baby as soon as possible in order to receive the benefit she needed. Omar (RA) cried when he heard this and ordered that she and other mothers receive benefit even before weaning.

Well, unemployment will only be solved through a huge national project, where all categories of people participate and help the governments. We are not fighting with the governments; we want all our youths to work.

If you contemplate Islamic history you will really wonder. You must be proud because the problem of unemployment did not exist in the Islamic World. Muslim leaders in Andalusia set this problem as a priority and resolved it. Abdullah Ibn Omar said, “The most evil thing in the world is unemployment.” When people wondered how sin was not the most evil thing, he replied, “Because unemployment is the source of all sins, and because Allah (SWT) created us in order to improve the earth.”

Why has the unemployment rate increased in this way? The reason is that we have no controlling authority that keeps annual track of the requirements of the work place. Work market requirements are never tackled in universities or schools, and I do not know whether anybody makes an annual report about them, directing such a report to universities in order to prepare students according to those requirements. The result is that graduates find no place in the market, while the market requires people of other qualifications, and eventually both sides do not meet. Thus, the gap continues to grow between the graduates and the market. This is why I consider it the responsibility of governments to link both sides.

Unemployment also increased because we have no large national projects where everyone can participate. There are no projects like the Aswan Dam in Egypt or Ali’s Mountain in the Emirates. We had some projects that failed, and the money that could be used to help solve the problem of youth unemployment was lost. The result will be the unemployment of 80 million people!

History never forgives. Among the most prominent governments in Islam was that of the Mamluks. Among them was Qutuz, who defeated the Mongols, yet his government collapsed because of unemployment. They never cared for employing youths or making them profitable by benefiting from their capabilities. They concentrated only on easy incomes earned from land and sea routes through which trade passed. Thus, when the journey around the Cape of Good Hope was successfully completed, the government and the country collapsed, because there was no other source of income or revenue.

There is something we must agree upon that we can all do, but will move onto that after a specific sequence. Unemployment is a terrible problem, and it is the responsibility of our governments. However, there must be a solution and we must interfere.

To all those who are hearing me: the only solution for this problem, after reaching such a state, lies within the small projects. I shall not say small industries so as not to limit the scope only to industry. Small projects can be any project: industrial, commercial, service, etc. You can start with two of your friends and initiate a small project, and hire two or three persons with you. You can start making products, offer services, or make a commercial project. There is no way out but this. If you observe the employment hierarchy in any developed country, you will find that the government sector and the international companies occupy 30% of the employees, while 70% are occupied by small projects. You see! The whole world is moving that way.

1- Determining the products that carry a relative profit for us. You might make, for example, the products that China makes, but they sell it cheaper. You will end up losing your money, as your products will not be sold. Does anybody know the products that carry a relative profit in Egypt? We have to know, it is a huge responsibility.

Do you think that it is complicated? We need ideas and funding. Training youths is important to teach them how to make the intended products and how to carry out a feasibility study. Youths should know how to market their products, in addition to the assisting administrative incentive.

I want to simplify this to you and show you that it is not as difficult as you think. It just needs people who can shoulder the responsibility. I will narrate to you three experiences from Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and from Life Makers around the world. I want to show you how people can move forward. The three experiences are among the biggest attempts worldwide to save people from unemployment.

The first experience is from Bangladesh; even though it is a small developing country we will learn a lesson from it. Long ago Japan sent a mission of intellectuals and scientists to Muhammad Ali in Egypt, asking him to teach them how to make a renaissance and products. Where is Japan now and where are we?

A university professor in Bangladesh called Muhammad Yunus used to teach in the faculty of Economics and Political Sciences. He taught them the most advanced theories in economics, the origin of economics, and how people succeed and countries grow.

He said that while walking in the streets he used to find people dying of hunger, people who were barefooted and very poor. He said that he felt ashamed to teach theories that resembled American movies. He left his work and went to villages to see the reality and what people needed. He wanted to know how the people could succeed and how he could help them. He found a woman who made chairs from bamboo, and asked her for how much she made that chair. She told him for 5 tekkas, so he asked her for how much she sold it, and she replied for 5.50. He was amazed because it was sold in the market for 30. She told him that she did not have any money, so the 5 tekkas belonged to the trader, who made her sell it to him for 5.50. Thus her profit was only 0.50. Dr. Muhammad told her he would give her the 5 tekkas for free, and that he would share the 30 tekkas with her. She agreed and he gave her the money. She succeeded and owned a small project, and so he repeated this with a family. He wanted to do this with the whole village, and so he went to the bank and asked it to give money to the people, using his own property as a guarantee. They thought he was insane, but they agreed to give the people the money to make small projects. His wife demanded a divorce because she refused to accept his new approach.

Do you know what happened? The village succeeded, and the poor people earned their living. Muhammad Yunus understood the simple equation, and he went to the bank to widen his experience. He wanted to take a branch of the bank through which he could handle a whole area. After two years of rejection, the bank agreed and his experience succeeded. He also opened a large bank named Grameen Bank, which is one of the biggest banks in Bangladesh. The bank’s customers are 2.5 million poor people. The United States took the help and knowledge of Muhammad Yunus after the spread of poverty in some areas. Muhammad Yunus’ experience is now applied in 50 countries, yet not a single Arab country is included.

The second experience is that of a company. Long ago a corporation meant money and profit. A new type of corporation has appeared, known as ethical corporations. What does this mean? Corporations that have feelings. Imagine when such corporations set a noble target besides that of their profit. The two targets are valuable, and as time passes we find its management focusing on the noble target as well as on its profits, even though it owns millions.

Does such a corporation exist? Yes it does. Today we have a model for such a corporation. We used to hear that Japan was the first to establish such corporations, but today we have a corporation that is Toyota’s agent in Saudi Arabia, it is the corporation of Abdul-Latif al-Jameel. They established an organization named ‘Abdul-Latif al-Jameel Institution for Small and Charitable Projects.’ They started to help youths, teach them and train them. We have with us Mr. Ibrahim Badawud, the person responsible for the corporation for projects. We will listen to Ibrahim and be proud of such an ethical corporation. We want to ask businessmen and university professors, “Have you seen Muhammad Yunus?” Let us see the Abdul-Latif al-Jameel Institution. Welcome Ibrahim, we are honored to have you here.

“I thank you so much for receiving me so kindly. Our experience was very similar to Muhammad Yunus’. Our story started with 10 young men who we chose to work in our Taxi Program. Now, with the help of Allah, we have 500 youth who have been working in this particular area for the past two years, in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam. This was what prompted us forwards to establish a department that we named ‘Abdul-Latif al-Jameel Programs for Serving the Society.’ Such a program, as you mentioned beforehand, stemmed from our sense of duty towards our country and our citizens. We try to present an example that could be copied and even improved by others. All these projects are non-profiting, they only seek to allocate small projects through providing the needed training and mentoring. We established three main funds: The first fund is Abdul-Latif al-Jameel Fund for Vocational and Crafts Training; the second fund is for sponsoring the small projects; the third fund is for managerial and administrative advancement, in addition to other social and health-related programs.

Through the first fund we aim to provide job opportunities for the youth who enroll for training and for learning a vocation or a craft. These youth will never be able to start their own projects unless they get the required training, as you said in the beginning. If they lack the needed funding, we provide it for them through the second fund; so first he gets the necessary training on the vocation or the craft he wants to learn, and then he starts working in his project. The areas covered by the fund are varied; construction, electricity, utilities (blacksmithing, sewing, plumbing, repairs, cars, etc., for the ladies; sewing, cosmetics, decoration, catering, etc). We also have an institution that we named ‘Nafeesa Shams Women’s Institution for Vocations and Crafts Training.’ In this institution, we train the ladies to do various activities like; sewing, photography, cosmetics, cooking, etc. All of this is meant to help them start their own small businesses, and then we help them by providing the necessary financing through our second fund. We also provide them with the required marketing through our company. We expect the vocational and crafts training fund to provide for 20,700 job opportunities by the year 2009. The second fund ‘Abdul-Latif al-Jameel Fund for Sponsoring Small Projects’ provides the youth with the needed ideas, financing, training and marketing needed to start a small project. We give him/her all of these in addition to the required booklets, the ideas that suit his/her abilities and qualifications, the financing and the feasibility study. We also have a program in cooperation with Grameen Bank (in Bangladesh) through which we provide a special system for the poor families whereby they can receive collective loans, then repay them. We have more than 1500 families in this program right now.

This was a quick briefing about the programs of Abdul-Latif al-Jameel for serving the society. You can also get our address and contact details, so far in Saudi Arabia. We still have faith that, with the help of Allah, we will open other branches in many other countries like; Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco and others.

Thanks a great deal Mr. Ibrahim and may Allah (SWT) reward you and bless you greatly for your efforts.

The third model is Life Makers. Remember in our first episodes about unemployment when we said that we would have a consulting office on our website? We told you then that this consulting office would mainly help the youth and that we would get some experts to help us on www.amrkhaled.net. The experts registered their names and details, and then the youth came to consult with them about their projects. We tried to help them in all four areas as much as possible within our capacity. Up until now we have received requests from about 12,000 youths. When was this episode aired? It was aired a little more than one month ago. These youth sent us their ideas and suggestions. From the 12,000 youth that we heard from, 600 of them have already started. We connected them to our consultants and we connected them with each other. Some of them started working together and some of them have already started producing. Let us together hear about the third experience. We have with us today one of our consultants, as a matter of fact he was among the first consultants to register his name. He worked with us around the clock while at the very same time, he is a very successful man in the company where he works. Our guest is an expert in marketing and feasibility studies. Mr. Haytham Diab, we are pleased to have you with us, please step forward and explain what you have achieved to our guests.

Welcome ladies and gentlemen. I am Haytham Diab. I am one of the consultants who registered their names for the consulting office and I was very much honored by that. I received some requests about the products that I will show you now. The youth had many ideas and what we did was that we changed the dreams and ideas into reality. At first I will show you this book support. It was very easy to make and in fact we use it in all our libraries starting from the library of the Congress down to the libraries in our homes. This book support is made from the iron sheet remains that are found in many places. After we obtain these remains we cut them to get a flat piece. Then we get this manual piston that I shall show you right now.

This piston does not need electricity or any special requirements, and by the way its cost ranges between LE 300 and LE 500 (about $100). Of course the piston used in making the book support is a little larger than this one. Then, the piece of sheet iron is put on the piston. By means of manual rotation, the holder is cut, bent and shaped this way, and then the holder is painted. What is even better is that this piece has already been made and sold, and it has been profitable.

The second story of success is that of the leftovers of the foam extracted from foam slippers of different colors. Making use of cutters used by housewives in making pasta, a friend of ours started to cut this substance and make these shapes. He started to put the pieces of blue foam on those of the red foam and vice versa, so that he could make this simple educational toy, which has also been sold and has achieved a profit.

The third story of success was achieved by some students of the Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, who made children’s toys (teddy bears) which Mr. Amr Khaled mentioned once in the episodes. This is the first model made by those youths who collected cloth leftovers from factories, made patterns, and stuffed the cloth. It is coming into the market soon inshaa' Allah (if Allah (SWT) wills).

The fourth product I will tell you about is wax. Our sister Ghada Sultan, one of the Life Makers in Tanta University, started by making primitive kinds of wax, which were colorless and odorless, until she could make this model which is colored and aromatic. As we all know, European and American markets need this product, and we import it for millions of dollars. Thus, there is a chance to succeed together. Finally, I would like to say something to my fellow experts everywhere, “You can deduct an hour or two at most from your time, and you can sacrifice and exert effort, as Allah says in the Qur'an what can be translated as, “By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love.” (TMQ, 3:92). These youths are going to stand on the Day of Judgment supported by these products, and the experts are going to stand on the Day of Judgment supported by helping those youths. Thank you.

Now that we have spoken about everything which concerns unemployment, I would like to say that all this is not enough to produce the required leap to find the 80 million job opportunities needed. All the examples we have shown you are for youths who have taken the initiative, but the silent majority still says, “What can I do?” We want them to wake up and take action. What is required of us exactly? The previous part of the episode was said as an introduction for what I am going to say now.

We want the entire world to hear your voice; we want to rock the world; we want to unite in one voice, instead of everyone talking alone. How is that? We are going to make a survey through which we can ask the entire Arab world, whether youths, parents, ladies or gentlemen, certain questions in the form of a survey. We want to rock the entire world; we want many associations like that of Abdul-Latif al-Jameel and Muhammad Yunus, as these alone are not enough. There is a flood coming this way, this flood is represented by the 80 million unemployed persons. There must be large, non-profitable associations to provide training, marketing, financing and ideas. We want large associations to help by asking the governments to change the taxation system in favor of the youth. Such associations cannot be established except by co-operation between everybody, which, in turn, cannot be established unless our voice reaches them. We have already prepared the survey, in which professors specialized in statistics and economy have participated in order to make. The survey consists of fifteen questions, which are considered the gate through which we can reach the entire world. We want millions of people to participate in this survey, and I am going to carry your voice myself to the whole world; international associations, states, governments, people and business men.

I know that this matter is considered an affair on the scale of nations, and I have already taken up this responsibility. In one month, I visited more than ten countries and I met many businessmen and associations; for instance I went to Abdul-Latif Al-Jameel Association and I met Muhammad Yunus. All these are ready to help, but they do not trust youths, as a business man told me, “Are youths ready to work? They only want to have fun.” However, I assured them that the youth have the desire to work and to be productive, but they do not find a chance. Even the lazy ones are going to work when they find a chance. I promised them that I would let them hear the voice of the youths; so would you help me to fill in this survey and make the world listen to you?

Do you remember the story of the Coptic man who went to Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) in order to complain to him about the son of Amr Ibnul-'As? When he and the son of Amr Ibnul-'As were in a horse race, he won, so the son of Amr Ibnul-'As whipped him and told him, “How dare you beat me, I am the son of the noble people!” Do you remember this story? What did the Coptic man do? He set off from Egypt to Madinah in order to claim his right. When he complained to Omar (RA), the latter gave him the whip and told him to whip the son of Amr Ibnul-'As, and then he asked him, “When did you consider people your slaves, although they were born free?” We have always told this anecdote in order to have pride in Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA), but today I am narrating it in order to have pride in the Coptic man, who had dignity and was positive, and he was determined to claim his rights, to the extent that he went on a journey from Egypt to Madinah only for this purpose. This survey is a similar cry. If it were not for the proactiveness of this Coptic man, Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) would not have said those famous words, which later became an example even for the United Nations.

Come on, guys. I am giving you this chance to help me to make the world listen to you. If we have 5 million answered surveys, surely the entire world will hear us; we can rock the world, and we shall tell them, “Do you not believe in the figures? Have a look at the figures, and then make large institutions to help those youths.”

Take care, the more answers we have, the more our catastrophe will unveil itself. This survey is not only for youths but also for businessmen, fathers and mothers. We want millions of people to participate. We want you to collect the answers of as many millions as you can. What do you think of this survey? We want it to be everywhere, in universities, schools, mosques, clubs, churches, etc. You should work and exert effort to deliver it to people, and do not say that you have exams. I am sure that you can deliver it to people. Guys, this is not a joke. This issue is a problem on the scale of nations and not only journalese stuff. Even if you are going to answer only one question and the rest is not of your concern, collect more than one and enter the data on www.amrkhaled.net , or you can call on the phone number of the program or fax it, or even post it by mail. This is difficult but it is not impossible. You have all the means. You can collect answers from people quickly before the exams begin, so that students can participate with us. The survey is posted on the website. Answer it and then print copies to distribute amongst your colleagues. I am asking all employers, “Life Makers” clubs and even housewives to do this. Insha’ Allah we are going to succeed, and I promise to make the whole world hear your voice.

[1] Sala-llahu Alaihi Wa-Sallam = All Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him.

[2] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

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Episode 42: An important survey to solve the problem of unemployment