“I LIVED in Pakistan for 18 years, but have been in the UK for four years to acquire education. Am I a western or an eastern Muslim?” The question was followed by a chuckle from the audience. Even the speaker, Dr Tariq Ramadan, to whom the question was raised, smiled, before finally replying, “it depends how you feel”. The questioner replied, “I feel like a Muslim.”
The conversation took place at the annual conference of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), a body bringing together Islamic societies from universities all over the United Kingdom. The conference (more like a camp), held at the University of Nottingham, was attended by some 800 students across the country, who come looking for solutions to problems faced by the Muslims in the West today. Even Dr Tariq Ramadan, who has to some extent successfully addressed the issue of identity crisis among the Muslims in the West, found himself cornered by the question posed to him after he had delivered a talk on his new book Western Muslims and the future of Islam.
Contrary to what we Muslims living in Muslim countries think, the issue of religious racism and violence is not the primary issue faced by the Muslims living in the West. In fact, the area of chief concern for them is creating an identity for themselves, which can fulfil both individual and collective needs and is in compliance with the true spirit of Islam. For us, however, the issues are different. And yes, there are issues which need to be addressed.
Being some one who was born and brought up in Pakistan with a silver spoon in his mouth, a life in London without the luxuries of attached baths and chauffeur-driven cars took some getting-used-to. But the realization that I had to spend the next four years of my university life in this fashion made it easier. Even though while pursuing my degree I visited Pakistan at least twice every year, the change and the rate of change always hit me and the process of getting-used-to soon reversed.
In a clash of generations and ideas, the culture of any country or region is the first to suffer. It happened with Europe about 50 years ago and seems to be happening with Pakistan now. I am not an advocate of holding strong cultural values, plainly because these values were developed and enforced by people at some point in history to preserve human values as they saw it. But as it happens with everything man-made, it had its goods and bads with the latter tending to have a longer life and lasting impression, before a generation comes which finds it too outdated and decides it’s time to bin it. Unfortunately, with the effect the cause is also forgotten, and so with a culture, its origin.
There was a time when every mother of a young girl instructed her to cover her head with a dupatta. Of course, these were the times when television sets ran on vacuum tubes and on an average, one in five households owned them. The viewers had a choice of PTV or no PTV. Every woman that appeared on the screen had a dupatta on her head and so every women in the neighbourhood had one too leaving no choice for the young girl but to adopt the practice as well. If the girl was an inquisitive sort, she may have wondered “why do I have to?” before answering her own question, “because it’s our culture.”
Times are slightly different now. TV sets do not run on vacuum tubes and they can now be found in every room with an eye-watering ‘a la carte’ of 70 channels. The dupatta is rarely found on the head, if at all. Needless to say, the change must have resulted from a clash of generations and ideas, with the younger finally deciding it was time to ‘move on’ and get ‘modernized’ to prevent ‘backwardness’ in our country. The question is, did anyone ever honestly answer to the young girl’s question “why do I have to?”
The example of the dupatta on the head is only one of the many changes our society has seen recently, unfortunately, all in the name of progress and moderation. The cultural values which can be classified as good often have their base in some faith or religion, which is often forgotten, and so with changing times and places, people do not find adherence to these values necessary. On the other hand, unhealthy cultural values are often misinterpretations or distortions of a certain religious conviction, which people discard, seldom taking up the trouble of seeking its origin. Whatever the case, it can be concluded that instead of rejecting a culture only to adopt a new one which fits in more with the modern times, one should look for a permanent solution which constitutes a set of values that are timeless and created by someone with human nature and the changing times in mind. For a man-made culture, that is best suited for today is temporary, as it would have seemed unacceptable yesterday and will prove outdated tomorrow.
The Muslims living in the West have been facing problems for the past decade, the likes of which we are only beginning to face now. These problems include relationship issues such as a high divorce and separation rate and a large number of parents being left alone by their children at old age. All these problems seem to have a common source, that is, an ideological gap, a direct outcome of a non-singular source of information and instruction. After spending some significant time in the West recently, it was pleasing to not that many have realized the basis of the problems, and are starting to revert not to the cultural values they held while they lived in their respective countries, but to the moral and ethics of th faith which were long forgotten — even though they are timeless.
An English saying goes, better late than never. It’s time we stopped blindly following our instincts and inclinations. Will not the ideological gap that separates the young from the old and a man from a woman that exists today only widen in the future? Is it not time to close this gap and find a common ground to base our thoughts and actions on?
When Omer Mukhtar was fighting against the Italians, his companions captured a few from the enemy and wanted to kill them. Viewing the situation, Omer Mukhtar asked them, “Why?” His companions replied, “Because they kill our soldiers too.” Omer Mukhtar said, “But we have a better teacher.” And indeed we do.
“I LIVED in Pakistan for 18 years, but have been in the UK for four years to acquire education. Am I a western or an eastern Muslim?” The question was followed by a chuckle from the audience. Even the speaker, Dr Tariq Ramadan, to whom the question was raised, smiled, before finally replying, “it depends how you feel”. The questioner replied, “I feel like a Muslim.”
