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 in an open, non-judgmental space, 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 parrot 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.

I particularly work with young women who 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. It is well understood in psychology that if an activity provokes negative emotions, you are more likely to avoid that activity 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…

Harmful teaching methods and communication styles include: condescension; belittlement; criticism; lack of respect; shouting; physical violence; favouritism; comparison; manipulation; exploitation; negative judgement, and more.

We know that anxiety is becoming more prevalent in young people. We must shape our religious spaces with this in mind, and put the young people at the centre of what we do.

Reading comprehension is our ability to read something and understand it. Early research suggests the more anxious a young person is, the less likely they are to comprehend a simple paragraph in front of them. That’s my academic background.

If the environment young women associate with the Qur’an and studying the din fills them with anxiety, they are less likely to comprehend what is being taught, and less likely to return to similar spaces.

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.

The following description was provided to the local area at the time:

If you’re a young woman who hasn’t recited the Qur’ān in a while, perhaps had a bad experience, and you’re not quite sure how to get back into it, this class is for you.

This would be suitable for, for example, a 16 year old who struggles to recite Sūrat an-Nās or read words fluently, has previously been told her recitation is poor, and lacks confidence in recitation.

The objective of these sessions is to boost the student's confidence so that they can go on to enrol with a formal Qur'an teacher.

It is intended as a short-term measure to break that ice for those who have had bad experiences and may feel defeated or uncomfortable.

There is a lot of encouragement, praise and rapport-building. The class is continuously adjusted until the student feels comfortable with the pace, work and the way feedback is given.

Students have included: young people with SEN; converts to Islam.

Note: It is not possible to register for these 1-1 classes.

We create these negative, humiliating spaces for young people in which the Qur’an is recited, and then act surprised when those same women reach their early 20s and are reluctant to recite, or we berate them for allowing their Qur’an to “gather dust”.