For Muslim youth living in Western society or a society which imitates Western culture, it can be difficult to remain strong and avoid being led astray by the temptations that the society bombards them with. The temptations are of many types, including drugs, alcohol, crime and dating. Time-wasting has become the favourite pursuit where music, computer games, movies and ‘chilling' have become the normal pastimes. However one of the main areas of temptation is undoubtedly the haram relationships between men and women. 

Boyfriend-girlfriend relationships have become the norm. The Muslim youth living in Western societies learn how to think and act in a way alien to Islam as they are continuously bombarded with Western culture via the television, school and society at large. Society promotes free mixing and illicit relationships between the sexes. Sex is promoted everywhere, from billboards, advertising commercials, magazines, and songs to television programmes. 

Through primary, secondary education and beyond, boyfriend-girlfriend relationships are normalised to the extent that it is seen as strange if someone isn't dating or ''going out'' a member of the opposite sex. Sex education in schools promotes this by explaining to the students about contraception and safe sex instead of giving them the correct values and thoughts.

Walk through Liverpool city centre tonight and you will see that Western society has become similar to a herd of wild animals unable and unwilling to control their desires. The West promotes notions of ''finding true love'' or ''following your heart''; in reality what people in Western society follow is their lust. 

Even though Muslims feel guilty when committing overtly haram actions like drinking alcohol, taking drugs or engaging in haram relationships with the opposite sex, eventually the guilt wears off and they begin to justify these actions to themselves.

We must realise that self-justifying an action will not make it halal and doesn't remove the inevitable reality of standing in front of Allah (swt) on the Day of Judgement, with nothing except our deeds. It is the Western concept of freedom and individualism that breeds the mentality of pure greed and selfishness where people even steal and backstab their own families to achieve some material pleasure or benefit. Some of the most common types of self-justifications that people hold are the following:
''At least I'm better than others'' ... ''I will change in the future'' ... ''I am not ready for it yet, its too difficult to change'' ... ''As long as I am pure inside, Allah will forgive me''

Imam Ahmed reports that a youth approached the Prophet (saas) and asked him to permit him to commit zina (fornication). Such a request is not too different from the requests of many Muslims today, ''please give me a fatwa to allow me to go with my mates to do drugs'' … ''please find me a fatwa to allow me to miss  prayer'' ... ''I want to buy a house on a mortgage. I know it's haraam, but can't you find me a fatwa from some Sheikh?'' or ''I want to go out with one of the girls on my course, to discuss our studies and our coursework - can you fix me up with a quick fatwa?''. 
But at least this man still sought the permission of Rasool-ullah (saas) before carrying out any action. Needless to say, the Sahaba were outraged, and rebuked him, but the Prophet (saas) asked him to draw closer and sit before him. He asked him, ''would you accept this for your mother?'', to which the man replied ''certainly not, who could accept this for his mother?''. The Prophet (saas) went on to ask him, ''would you accept this for your daughter, your sister, or your aunt?'', to which the man repeated the same answer ''certainly not, who could accept this?''. So the Prophet (saas) put his hand on his chest and said ''Oh Allah, forgive his sins, purify his heart, and safeguard his chastity''.

The Shari'ah prevents all actions that lead to haram. So free mixing, socialisation and khulwa (seclusion) between men and women are all forbidden. The reality of khulwa is that it increases sexual agitation and by prohibiting this solitary privacy a cause of corruption is eliminated, because the khulwa is one of the direct means to corruption.
The Prophet (saas) said, ''Whosoever believes in Allah and the Last Day (Al-Yawm al-Akhir) let him not be alone with a woman who has not a Mahram (male relative who she cannot marry) with her. Indeed, the third (person) is al-Shaytan!'' [Ahmad]

Maintaining a correct atmosphere is vital for a Muslim to be able to avoid the temptations. The type of atmosphere that exists amongst some of the youth is very corrupt, where the topic of discussion revolves around the opposite sex and ‘showing off' to each other. This type of atmosphere only serves to agitate the instincts of people and potentially leads them further away from Islam. 

It is important to stay away from watching movies, TV programmes, listening to music and reading magazines that encourage fornication and the actions that lead to it, as these are haram according to the Shari'ah principle, ''The means to haram is itself haram''. These activities build corrupt inclinations within people to the extent that a woman is seen as an object rather than a person whose honour must be maintained. How can our feelings be more attached to corrupt films and TV programmes than to the Qur'an, which is the source of guidance for the whole of humankind? Don't people feel ashamed whilst they watch explicit scenes or listen to lewd songs whilst Allah swt, the Creator of the universe is watching them? On the Day of Judgement even the limbs of our bodies will bear testimony to the actions that we performed.

'' That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to Us and their feet bear witness to all that they did'' [ Ya-Sin:65].
Remaining in a correct atmosphere is vital for a Muslim to be able to avoid the temptations that the Shaytan puts forward. The type of atmosphere that exists amongst some of the youth today is very corrupt and is dominated by drugs, alcohol, lewd music and free mixing with the opposite sex. Often what is discussed is related to the opposite sex, music, television, movies, computer games and the like. It is very rare that serious discussions about life take place.
Abu Musa narrated that the Prophet (saas) said, 

''The example of a good companion in comparison with a bad one, is like that of the musk seller and the blacksmith's bellows (or furnace); from the first you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell while the bellows would either burn your clothes or your house, or you get a bad nasty smell thereof'' [Bukhari].

We must appreciate that it is natural for men and women to want to be together, and Islam does not deny our natural instincts nor does it suppress them. Rather, Islam regulates and channels them according to the rules of Allah (swt) who created us and knows what is best for us. Allah (swt) encourages us to satisfy our needs through the instition of marriage by encouraging encouraging those who are able to marry: the Prophet (saas) said: 

'' Oh you who are young. Whoever amongst you can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and guard his modesty (i.e. private parts from unlawful sex). And whoever is not able to marry he should fast because it will protect him'' [Muslim].
The recommendation to fast is not to suppress the procreation instinct but to build a reminder as to man's objective in life, which is to worship Allah. Notice the contrast between the Islamic and non-Islamic viewpoint even towards marriage. Whereas the kuffar look towards marriage as a competition between husband and wife, with the focus on sexual gratification and material pleasures, in Islam the objective is the Pleasure of Allah (swt), by fulfilling one of the commands of Allah (swt) by carrying out our responsibilities towards our wives. 
''You will receive the reward for sadaqa even when you have sexual intercourse with your wives.'' This puzzled and alarmed the sahaba who said, ''Will we really be rewarded for satisfying our physical desires?'' He replied, ''If one were to satisfy them in a haraam fashion, would one not be committing a sin/ similarly, if one have halal intercourse, you will be rewarded.''

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