Does America make you more religious?

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
1

My cousins were born in the States. They got their education here and visited Pakistan maybe twice in their lives. They have full Sharai beards, and knowing them, they weren’t into any ‘stuff’…Not that they were poor or wanting anything, (My mamoo was the dean of faculty of UCLA), even my mamoo and mumani are not that religious, but somehow these guys just turned out to be..well…Great Muslims…They are very educated, one’s a doctor the other’s a lawyer, they run an LA based Muslim newspaper called The Muslim, and top of it all, were raised in LA of all places…

A friend of mine who just moved for good to Pakistan, born here of an American mother, raised here, and rich…The guy drove a souped up Mistubishi 3000 GT, cell phones and gadgets galore, and very good looking too…Into nothing…No drinking, no girls and has a two foot long beard to boot…No ABCDs there…These guys knew what they were and showed it…

Then there’s me…Raised in Pakistan, an Islamic country, parents religious, surrounded by Muslims…Nothing…Got my ear pierced, made a band (Very famous but won’t tell), did everything my heart desired, until I came to the States…Everything changed…My faith became very dear to me…I started reading books, reading the Quran, even grew a beard…In other words, I became what I never expected to be…A wannabe Muslim…

Here’s the Paradox: How come someone born here, raised here, in the land of the infidels, become so religious while someone who was raised in a Muslim country become so devoid of religion? Is it the lack of compare and contrast or being in a Muslim country makes one want to take their faith for granted?

And what about those that come here for the first time? Man, I have seen cases…Either they simply go nuts, diving into the American culture headlong so deep, one can’t see where the Paki begins and the Indian ends and turn into mod-Muslims, or they are jolted into a realisation of what they left behind preserve and stick to it…

There is no pattern, no motif which you can put your finger on, it just happens…What could it be? Nurturing? Genetics? A divine guidance? I have never really understood this phenomena…Your thoughts…

2

I noticed the same thing amongst a very large number of Muslims in the UK... in fact, when I go to Pakistan and meet my parents' friends' children (the kind of people who I probably would have socialised with a lot if I had not left Pakistan), I begin to often suspect that growing up in the West has made me much more conservative and religious than if I had grown up back Home.

The simple answer to your question, "How come someone born here, raised here, in the land of the infidels, become so religious while someone who was raised in a Muslim country become so devoid of religion", that I can come up with, is that living in the west many of us see first-hand the consequences and emptiness of a society without religious morals, and many of us get apalled by it (though many also get enthralled by it). Living Muslim countries, you never really get to truly to see first hand what happens when society completely rejects religious values.

3

We have become bereft of feelings…Of sensing what is right and what is wrong and acting upon it…That’s what makes us Allah :swt:'s supreme creation…The ability of choice…The Lion has been the Lion for hundreds of thousands of years, so has the dog, cat, any animal…They have remained the same…It is only man that has moved forward…Changing adapting to the better to bring peace to one’s life and also to the others around him…

Dr. Ali Shariati writes, :“Man is made of the most of basest materials. Clay. Into which is breathed the most Highest of things. The very breath of Allah :swt: himself. And will always remain torn between the two.”…

4

In Americka many peapul no relygon. even no relygon ok but many peapul no old peapul tell "do this, no do that". so what happen? take money and do all things. slowly or fastly no morality and life emptie! But other peapul Christan Muslim Hindu or Jewce - when old peapul or parent peapul at home teling "do this, no do that" etc are good.

so I think difrence not relygon but dady mummy or uncle etc guide for young peapul.

5

I think mad Scientist is right :) to some extent

I too have noticed it , though its not about america but europe......
i'm from a religious family ...but was a bit careless about religion ......
but when i came here .....i started being more n more n more careful .....then i realised how important it is for me to follow Islam coz otherwise my kids will have no role model to follow ....i can recall everything my mother tried to teach me ...n i admit i'm not that good ut now i'm trying my best ...rest is on the will of Allah

n in my opinion ...to some extent it depends on the parents too ....
but i think in more cases there is no set reason of being someone religious or not ....as i have a few relatives in canada n i can see them on both extremes

then there r some cousins in Pakistan ...n they are really really great examples .....

i just pray to Allah to make me us (me n my husband) a living charity for our parents n our children for us ...ameen !

6

I agree 100% with lajawab!

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I disagree... To maintain a sensible comparison, it is only wise to compare the middle class kids in Pakistan to those that have grown up in the UK. These kids in Pakistan may not pray five times a day, but when it comes to all the moral aspects of Islam, they are far better. The ones living abroad, either they let go of Islam completely, or they become fanatics. I myself have cousins in the UK, who have become fanatics, and no one had a problem with them. They married girls from Pakistan, and when these girls went to the UK, they made their lives miserable with the pro-taliban crap. Now these girls were brought up in a modern Pakistani atmosphere in Karachi, and their hubbies wanted them to wear hijab and remain inside the house like servents. I would say this is part of the confusion that is associated with being a BBCD. We also have plenty of misguiders, particularly the HT with their hate mongering to spread the word round. Surprisingly, no one even pays attention to these HT people in Pakistan, for they have a greater knowledge of the world to fall for such traps. Again, not all these kids growing up in the west adopt to such stern views, but those that pretend to be so religious and all, thats where I am pointing at.

8

I think its also bout takin things for granted.. pakistan is a muslim state... its ure culture ure religion... u dont havta fight to maintain either of those things..... but in a non muslim country.. u havta fight to maintain ure culture/religion... let it go... no one will remind u what u are or where u came from...... try lettin go of ure culture/religion in Pakistan ..... wont be that easy as you are surrounded by ure own culture and religion (not that they all pray 5 times a day etc)... but still.

9

Allah guides whom He choses. Its the Will of Allah(swt). I prey to Allah(swt) to guide all of us to the path of Siraat-al-mustaqeem - Ameen. Our only purpose in life is to worship Allah(swt) - may Allah(swt) make it easy on all of us - Ameen

10

Agree with Zman. Its Allah swt who guides the one, not culture, not parents, not society. A very good follower landing in America goes straight to a bar, or a American born kids never sees/visits a bar is not because of "America" or "Pakistan" etc.

In Pakistan, people do take religion for granted and since are living in "Islamic" world everything done is not studied if it is Islamic or not. But then you will find who really follow Islam. You will find all sorts of people everywhere.

In a country/place where your fellows in "nationality", "faith" happen to be "minority" you kinda stick together some go much farther to stick together some only casually stick together. This is one factor for keeping people on a path which we consider as "Right" path.

Its hard to say what worldly factors really count/effect.

11

Of course it makes you more religious. You finlly thank god for creating a nation where people can pray in any willy nilly way, whether five gods or one. They are deemed equal. God is no dummy…she had a plan in place when America was created. she said and I qoute…"jews, hindus, Muslims, christians, parsis, whatever…I don’t give a rat’s butt if you think you are the cat’s meow..but you ar no better than the fellow man in my eyes. " So “In god we trust” And that makes every supposedly pious immigant either get in shape or get out. :k:

12

According to one of the documentaries done by NPR suggested that the Muslim youth in US & UK turn to their faith due to exclusion from the main stream society. The focus of their documentary was to analyze the growing immigrant Muslim population in Europe & US & it's effect.

In one of the interviews with a few Muslim girls when asked about how they view the West & UK in particular, their reply was mostly negative. So the interviewer asked if they consider themselves British, they replied "we are only Muslims" .. then asked if they chose some other nationality, like Pakistani, Bangladeshi, they replied again "We just consider ourselves Muslims".

They concluded that these second generation kids find themselves in the middle of two cultures. They don't consider themselves truly westerners as they (or their families) don't share the same values as a western society around but they also can't be truly Desi or Arabs etc. as they haven't been brought up in those respective countries. So, they chose to be neither of the two and consider themselves as Muslims, as a nationality. The documentary also concluded that education and lack of opportunity also has an influence.

13

leave it for the good Ol NPR...

Ahmadjee : Waisey does it not seem to you that NPR is saying that its the confusion of these kids is what makes them cling to their faiths or come together, thereby negatively showing muslim youths who are trying to follow their deen.

I've never put any stock in the likes of NPR, NBC, CNN, FOX.....especially when it has to do anything with Islam or Muslims.

14

zman,

Actually NPR is a public based radio, which is run on tax dollars as oppose to commercial revenue. So, most of their documentaries are least biased, but biased none the less.

First of all, they didn't argue that most "Muslim" living in the west are isolationists. Actually NPR have earlier documentaries where they showed good mosque going Muslims, observing the so-called symbolisms like taking hijab, growing beards but still contributing to the society in positive & constructive way.

Their primary focus was on the growing population of second & first generation immigrants who cling to their "Deen" as an 'ethnicity' rather than a religious doctrine. The same who call where they live "land of the infidel" and hate it too, but yet still chose to live there. What drives them to this hatred, and why they still chose to live there. It was an interesting piece of work.