(Ismael Mukhtar) Mentorship: Mentorship of the youth is critical for their healthy growth and development. Youth need to be given opportunities to lead, to participate, to take greater roles; however, this must be accompanied with adequate mentorship and training. Mentorship isn’t censorship nor is it killing the creative and innovative intuition in the youth. Mentorship is a process of training young people to take greater roles by way of equipping them with the essential skills, the proper ethical framework and the tools necessary for unleashing their potentials. As noted by Dr. Qaradawi, lack of mentorship not only deprives the youth from the rich experiences and wisdoms of the elders, but makes them, potentially, easy prey for extremists of all kinds. The Prophet had keen interest in the youth. He took time to mentor them, to guide and teach them. Among many of the young he mentored was Abdullah Ibn Abbass who was a recipient of the Prophet’s advice, companionship, blessings and dua. The following selected narrations highlight some aspect of that mentorship.

• Abdullah related the following incident about himself: "Once the Prophet, peace be upon him, was on the point of performing wudu. I hurried to get water ready for him. He was pleased with what I was doing. As he was about to begin Salat, he indicated that I should stand at his side. However, I stood behind him. When the Salat was finished, he turned to me and said: 'What prevented you from being at my side, O Abdullah?' 'You are too illustrious and too great in my eyes for me to stand side by side with you,' I replied. Raising his hands to the heavens, the Prophet then prayed: “O Lord, grant him wisdom”.


• Abdullah bin Abbas also narrates: one day I was behind the Prophet and he said to me: "Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." (reported by Imam Termizi)


• Abdullah Ibn Abbass is also a beneficiary and narrator of the famous hadith, where the Prophet says: "Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death." (reported in Musnad of Imam Ahmad)