January 13, 2022

The High Life in the West - Part 2

In the first installment of this series, I gave an example of how moving to the West can be the reason for the breakdown of Muslim families. I argue that the hype for materialism and individualism is a main culprit. In the previous post, it was the wife who sought luxuries that the husband was not willing and/or was not able to pay for or afford.

Now imagine a scenario in which this luxury is sought with the cooperation of both husband and wife. This time, both the husband and the wife work fulltime in order to afford that mortgage and those two or three cars. They become preoccupied in a bid for financial security and a prosperous future for themselves and their children.

However, the children, as a result, are not really cared for. At best, they are put in Islamic schools. School systems, even if administered by Muslims, have more or less the same vices as public schools. Bullying, fornication, substance abuse, even same-sex relationships, are practiced. The youth who go to these schools are placed by their parents who do not pay much attention to them at home in the first place.

This time, both the husband and the wife work fulltime in order to afford that mortgage and those two or three cars. They become preoccupied in a bid for financial security and a prosperous future for themselves and their children.

Think about it, how much energy or time can the father and the mother, both who work fulltime, give their children during the week? They come home from work exhausted, needing their own space, yet, somehow dinner has to be made, if not bought, and everything has to quickly get wrapped up. Then each parent and child go their way on their computers or whatever other devices in order to blow off steam.

Such families, although not broken in form, are actually broken in substance. There is no real connection between parents and children. Parents are under the impression that Islamic schools for their children are the solution, and maybe some weekend school as well. Instead of the children getting cared for by the parents, and most importantly, taught Islām by them properly before going to any school, they learn the vices and wrong from other children in their classes, who also lack the care and education from their own parents.

You might be wondering about this now, does this not also happen in Muslim societies? It certainly does, but the drive for materialism is stronger in the West, nobody should doubt that. The challenges to one's Islām are much greater in the West, that should be obvious. So when you take the problem noted here and combine it with the huge tide of challenges that come from living in the West, you can see the point.

This is a prelude to the next post, in which I will focus on children.

More to come in Part 3, إن شاء الله.