THE IMPACT OF WESTERN GENDER IDEOLOGIES ON MUSLIM YOUTH IDENTITY: An Islamic Educational and Civilizational Assessment

Abstract

The accelerating penetration of Western gender ideologies — encompassing the performative gender theory of Judith Butler, queer theory's dissolution of sexual binaries, the transgender rights movement's claim that gender identity supersedes biological sex, and the broader framework of secular liberal individualism — into the consciousness of Muslim youth worldwide represents one of the most consequential civilizational challenges confronting the Islamic community (ummah) in the twenty-first century. This article offers a comprehensive Islamic educational and civilizational assessment of this challenge, examining its vectors of transmission, its theological and anthropological dimensions, its psychological and social consequences for Muslim youth, and the educational and institutional responses it demands. Drawing on the Islamic theological concepts of fiṭrah (primordial human nature), ʿaql (intellect), karāmah insāniyyah (human dignity), and tarbiyah (Islamic moral formation), alongside Ibn Khaldūn's civilizational theory, the maqāṣid al-sharīʿah framework, and contemporary scholarship on identity, education, and digital culture, the article argues that the crisis of Muslim youth identity produced by Western gender ideology is not merely a social phenomenon but a civilizational event — an assault upon the epistemological, anthropological, and normative foundations of Islamic civilization itself. The article further argues that the Islamic educational tradition, properly understood and rigorously applied, possesses the comprehensive resources to equip Muslim youth with an identity grounded in tawḥīd, anchored in fiṭrah, organized by the prophetic model, and strong enough to withstand the civilizational pressures of the current moment. The article concludes with a framework for Islamic educational reform designed to address this challenge at the levels of curriculum, pedagogy, family, and institutional structure.