Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Pearl of Life

In high school I read a novel called "The Pearl" by the famous American novelist -- John Steinbeck. In it, a poor South American fisherman found a pearl. It was the largest, most beautiful pearl in the world. Once in his possession, he faced a series of difficulties due to envy, jealously, malice, etc of the society around him. Nothing in his life was normal after that time. All blessings in his life disappeared. His problems got so bad that in the end he went out to sea and threw the pearl back in it.

From 10 years of experience in US, I have found Western countries to be like this pearl for a Muslim migrant. It is attractive, enticing, promising a better material future, etc. But once you reach out to it and hold it in your palm, a whole series of problems and difficulties start. Some are short-term, some are long-term. The end result is that you lose the meaning of life and those irreplaceable things in life that one cherishes most - e.g. faith, peace of mind, self-identity, community identity, deep bonds with immediate and extended family, certainty in thought, order in life, free time, spiritual pursuits, spousal fidelity, positive influences on your children, caring for and helping the less fortunate. In return, you get a nice car and house which really does not belong to you and join a continuous lonesome routine for self perpetuation.

Social theories in the West are based on Darwinian concepts of animal survival, social struggle theories of Weber, Marx and sexual motivation theories like that of Freud. These are the tenets of belief of the secular religion of the West. Once a Muslim becomes part of that society, he is reduced from the divinely ordained position of Khalifatullah Fil Ardh and the Insaan Al Kamil - exemplified by the Prophet (SWAS) to little more than an animal with animal desires and animal wants. At work, he is a human "resource" to be used and discarded like toilet paper.

I am not against going to the West. What I am not advocating is to live there without specific goals and a well thought out exit strategy. Wisdom is the lost article of the Muslim to be picked where ever he finds it. Time spent in the West should be used productively to take the good things offered by that experience. Concentrate on intangible things that will never leave you - good education, good work experience, Islamic education opportunities in English, getting to know Muslims from others parts of the Ummah, how to give Dawah to non-Muslims in English, understanding the present world and the times in which we live, replacing the nationalistic jingoistic concepts that you were brought up with with the universal message of Islam, cultivating good manners and habits like keeping promises and speaking the truth, becoming physically fit, learning time management, multi-tasking and organization skills, etc.

Many Muslims migrate to the West in mature years when they have become stable and grown spiritually and professionally. They deride such warnings. It is foolhardy to assume that they will be fine. Being immersed in that environment will affect them if not in the short term, then in the long term. If not them, It will surely affect their kids.

The greatest mistake people make is not to have an exit plan. Having one becomes difficult if the person did not develop himself to survive anywhere and has become addicted to the life there. Having loans and mortgages also means that you deny yourself the financial liberty to return. Also, waiting till your children have grown up means that when you do decide to return, your children will refuse as they are used to the life there.

Go to the West and take advantages of the opportunities that it offers, but when you sense that your goals have been achieved and you do not have any significant self-development goals left to achieve, by all means leave.

I moved to the US when I was 18. I did my BS and MS in Engineering from good universities. I learnt a plethora of things there that I can't even begin to count. I got the opportunity to work in a good position in the most respected company in my field. I got the chance to learn from Islamic scholars and make sense of the world. But when I realized that there would not be many more milestones that offered personal growth, I had the courage to throw back the pearl back in the deep ocean. I was 28 then, at the ripe age when I was supposed to start reaping the benefits of my hard work. I have never regretted my decision.

Insha Allah, when you return to your Muslim country of choice, you will have learnt all about the difficulties you experienced in the belly of the Western beast. So when the same social phenomena eventually creeps into your new country of residence through Globalization, you will know how to take care of yourself and your family. You will not fall for the its false charms. You will become a discerning, thinking individual able to do the right thing even when it means opposing the majority trends in your country.

At a macro level, what can be said about the life in the West applies to the life in this World. As Muslims we must take advantages of the opportunities it offers us by cultivating what will eventually benefit us later -- i.e. in the Hereafter; never being afraid to throw back the pearl of this life back into the ocean of the spiritual realm where it really belongs. Only then can we enjoy everlasting pleasures...

6 comments:

  1. "Social theories in the West are based on Darwinian concepts of animal survival, social struggle theories of Weber, Marx and sexual motivation theories like that of Freud. "

    This might all be true. But perhaps such were the social mores needed to evolve a society that took man to the moon, discovered cures for so many illnesses around the world, invented electricity and the internet which I use as I type this to talk to you from thousands of miles. While I agree with the spirit of your macro level argument, I think muslim immigrants should not use West from a purely selfish perspective ("take advantages of the opportunities it offers us") but we should actually try to become part of the societies we live in the west. Otherwise we risk becoming marginalized and ghetto-ized.

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    1. Our goal should not be to succeed in the model of success offered by the West, but rather to expose the flaws in the Western paradigm of success, by offering them something better. This methodology was followed by the Prophet (SWAS) is dealing with Makkan/Roman/Persian societies of that time.

      Please read "Man and the Nature of the Scientific Quest" http://oak-gis.blogspot.ae/2012/07/man-and-nature-of-scientific-quest.html as well as "The Best and Worst of Times" http://oak-gis.blogspot.ae/2012/10/the-best-and-worst-of-times.html on the same blog.

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  2. [Our goal should not be to succeed in the model of success offered by the West, but rather to expose the flaws in the Western paradigm of success, by offering them something better. ]

    I am sorry but I don't understand your argument. It appears to me that you are suggesting that your model of success is superior, and lacks "flaws" that are inherent in Western model.

    How could your model be superior when it has not invented ANYthing to help the suffering humanity? Name me one medicine that was invented in the Islamic world that helped relieve the suffering of a person with painful illness. Just look around where you are sitting right now in your comfortable abode as you expose "faults" in western paradigm of success and tell me ONE invention that came from Muslim world. The computer you are working on, the electricity you are using, the phone in your room, the air conditioning, even your toilet with running water came from the West!

    I understand the point at a philosophical level that "the only real journey is the journey to the grave", but don't you think this journey has been made so much pleasant thanks to all these inventions of a society that you find "faults" in? In fact, they enabled you to learn so much about them, and about you, through this medium of internet alone that you should not feel alienated from them, rather befriend them. Yes, life after death is important, but I am sure you are a better human being in this world today because you took the western built airplane to fly to a western university and used western invented internet to search the meanings of life. Let us give them some due, and while we are at it, let us all do some introspection and ask ourselves "what has gone wrong with us that we have not produced any original thought in more than 1000 years?". This world, and the Creator of this world, loves those who find cures for the illnesses of sick children, who give us new inventions to unearth the secrets of the Creator, who explore frontiers of space and learn how we are not even a speck of dust in the grand scheme of universes.

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    1. Scientific inventions are neither Western or Eastern but are a combined inheritance of the whole of mankind. At one stage the Muslims were more vigorous in science. In the last couple of centuries it is the West who built on basic science of the Muslims. By using these inventions we are benefiting from the combined work of mankind. Please read http://oak-gis.blogspot.ae/2012/07/man-and-nature-of-scientific-quest.html

      Western atheism, economic system, lifestyle and globalization is causing a lot more harm to "suffering humanity" globally, than their inventions are alleviating.

      The benchmark for being the best of people, according to Allah (SWT), is not scientific inventions -- it is true belief followed by righteous actions. Please read http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=503&Itemid=46

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  3. So when it is time to give credit to West for their unbelievable contributions to this world, then we are quick to distribute credit to the entire humanity. But when it comes to their "faults", then it is their faults alone. How convenient! :)

    [Western atheism, economic system, lifestyle and globalization is causing a lot more harm to "suffering humanity" globally, than their inventions are alleviating.]

    I have more of a proof that Muslims have had close to zero contributions to this world in the last 1000 years than you have to back up your above stated argument. What more proof you need of West's magnanimity that you can use the tools developed by them (internet, electricity, fiber optic cables, routers, switches etc) to find faults in the West and the West yet continues to put more tools at your disposal so you can find even bigger faults in them!

    [The benchmark for being the best of people, according to Allah (SWT), is not scientific inventions ]

    This is a rather strange comment! The first word, FIRST word, that was revealed to the Prophet was "Iqra". And it wasnt just meant to be "read", but read and learn and teach and discover so you can see and appreciate the universes that your Creator has created and marvel at it.

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    1. For Islamic perspective of education and learning read "The Essence of Education"(http://oak-gis.blogspot.ae/2012/05/essence-of-education.html) and "Lessons in Learning" (http://oak-gis.blogspot.ae/2013/01/lessons-in-learning.html) on the same blog.

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