I was reflecting on why young people lose faith (īmān). Perhaps if we can identify the contributing factors, we would know where best to focus our efforts — on an individual and community level.

In my own locality (a small town in England), there is provision for young people to learn the religion but most drop out before they are 14. They fly under the radar, grow up, move away to university, and find themselves holding onto their faith by a thread.

A pattern is observable through speaking to young people who have come away from faith.

Many of them did not have a strong relationship with the Qur’ān.

When I say relationship, I do not mean to mouth the words. Rather, I am referring to detailed understanding and knowledge of its contents. A detailed understanding of their Lord, the Almighty, the Lord of Mercy (معرفة بالله تعالى).

We learn about our Lord through the Qur’ān.

There were many young women in the local area who had extremely low confidence in reciting the Qur’ān.

Many had a bad experience in the past. Perhaps someone defeated their confidence, or they just didn’t have a teacher they felt comfortable with. Some girls have been in tears recalling their experiences and how alienated they feel.

This experience continues to impact them in the future.

Nobody wants to feel miserable about themselves! If someone is not confident to recite the Qur’ān and it evokes negative emotions, this is necessarily going to reduce their likelihood of reading it.

If a person does not read the Qur’ān, they are less likely to ponder over it, and may later struggle to hold onto their faith.

In my locality, very few teenagers access Islamic learning. In particular, our young women were nowhere to be seen. There were no circles, no classes, no regular educational activities. I'd see them in the shopping centre, in the coffee shops, but never in circles.

We do not have regular educational programmes for women. Many masajid in my area do not provide facilities for women to pray. This is only recently beginning to change.