Unbecoming to be civilised?

I remember the days of my childhood, when, as children, we played in our neighbourhood; running around, from street to street and alleyway to alleyway, in our school breaks. Some of us were naughty and behaved very badly, but others would admonish and show us how to behave properly. Most children then were governed by their own good conscience and sense of self morality. Those were the good days, when, as children, we took pride in our ‘manhood’, valour, and good manners.

This consciousness of the difference between right and wrong is extremely important, especially when children enter their teenage years, and even more important when they become adults, and enter university. Are we not still taught that children are the future guardians of the next generations of our community?

When we see the appalling behaviour of some people, many of them teenagers, and many of them university students, in the streets and in private, it disgusts and embarrasses many of us.

For example, I have noticed, more than once, young adults, often late at night, urinating on the outer doors of people’s property, through railings into people’s front basements, into their gardens, in phone booths, in shop doorways and indeed sometimes openly in the streets. With the urine still running in the street, some of these degenerates, embarrassed only at being observed, offer a feeble ‘sorry mate’.

I have even been told about cases in which individuals urinated through people’s letter boxes.

What is even worse, in my opinion, is that sometimes, when these individuals are part of a group, and urinate in public, they are screened by their colleagues, like some potentate being surrounded by bodyguards. No doubt their imbibing of excessive amounts of alcohol is partially to blame.

Many will still remember that, few years back, a group of young adults entered the building of the Islamic Society, and while the congregation were at prayers, they sprayed their urine on the shoes, jackets and the lobby area. This act was caught on camera, with clear pictures, but despite all the attendant publicity, the culprits were never discovered. Perhaps they too were screened by ‘bodyguards’ - people who would not deem such a degenerate act worth bothering to report.

The other day, having finished late night prayer around 11.30PM, I exited the Mosque and encountered a couple of very young children, perhaps in their early teens, one of them barely able to stand on his feet. All the time supported by his friend, also seemingly heavily drunk, he was trying to unzip his trousers and pass urine through the railings in front of the Mosque.

He saw me and tried to move away towards another property, no doubt desperate to relieve his self. Obviously, I could not stop him from what he was doing. But I asked myself what were they doing out at this time of night? Why were they in this drunken condition? Had such behaviour become a habit? Where are the guidance, care and love of their parents?


For me the ethical guidance offered in the Islamic teaching, not only tells me that alcohol is forbidden because of its potential to cause social, physical and moral harm and economic damage, but its use clouds people’s judgement, is a source of indecent acts, and removes a person’s ability to judge between right and wrong. In short, it leads to public acts of a disgusting and immoral nature. Late night noise, vomit on the pavements, streets and in private property, the fighting, the damage done to people or property, and immoral sexual acts, are there for us all to see.

Good citizenship brings a sense of social responsibility and keeps people’s consciences alive. It is better to have a social and moral hangover the morning after, than the physical hangover resulting from a late night rowdy alcoholic binge.

I do believe that if the morality of conduct is redundant, at least the morality of freedom should be self governing. Let us safeguard a collective mindset of decency which is the ultimate treasure of any civilised society and the bulwark of people’s freedom.