Poverty, Wealth, and Social Responsibility: Empowering Youth for Change

Abstract

The paper highlights the Islamic worldview on poverty, wealth, and the concept of social responsibility, relating to how all these can aid the empowerment of youth, using qualitative method. The paper relies on the Qur'an, Hadith, and other literatures to discuss the Islamic worldview on poverty and wealth, which reveals how Islam frowns at fear of poverty, the essence of youth empowerment, and the view of Islam on social responsibility as religious obligation. It proposes practical ways of motivating the youth towards fulfilling both individual and societal obligations as outlined by Islam, borrowing leaves from NASFAT's various initiatives for youth training, education, and skills acquisition. The paper recommends that various religious organizations should endeavor to productively engage their youths, as the aphorism goes that “the idle hands are the devils’ workshops.”.