January 14, 2022

The High Life in the West - Part 3

In Part 1, I pointed out the magnified possibility of an outcome of a broken family unit due to a Muslim family unpreparedly moving to the West. The West is based on individualism and materialism, there is no real concern for the societal wellbeing, let alone that of the family. Women may get tricked into thinking that they have more freedom to demand a more luxurious life from their husbands that is beyond ability and practicality. Financial disputes are one of the main culprits of divorce. Western liberalism and the "empowerment" of women could very well give more ammunition for a breakdown, or at least, add more fuel to the fire.

In Part 2, I offered the other scenario in which the family unit is still there in form, but is actually broken in substance. Both husband and wife work, in order to afford the high luxuries, at the expense of caring for and educating their children.

In both scenarios above, the children suffer. First off, a child who lived in a Muslim country will face a major culture shock in the West. It begins in school. All of a sudden, there are mixed classes of males and females, and illicit relationships are portrayed as completely normal. The children get exposed to challenges and to ideologies which are diametrically opposed to Islām even at the foundational level of belief. Religion is marginalized as myth and something personal not having anything to do with one's public life.

The parents usually do not give their children much Islamic education at home. As noted in the previous post, they think that Islamic schools will solve these issues. A child grows up with an identity crisis, and with time, starts to doubt Islām due to a major inferiority complex.

Everyone else is doing TikTok, playing games, going out and having fun, drinking and smoking intoxicants. So the child has to somehow fit in. Many will end up with a dual personality, one at school and out with their friends, and one at home.

With the family either broken or with the parents being too busy, the children are left at the mercy of what they learn at school, what they are able to access on their phones, and whatever their friends share with them. Yes, even Muslim friends and even Islamic schools, and that is because many Muslims are in the same dilemma, and thus, their children are all facing similar challenges. It is just a matter of who pollutes who first.

Everyone else is doing TikTok, playing games, going out and having fun, drinking and smoking intoxicants. So the child has to somehow fit in. Many will end up with a dual personality, one at school and out with their friends, and one at home.

Daughters, in particular, are the ones that get it the worst. Let me be frank about this. The father figure is missing. In a broken family, most likely he is alienated due to the fights between him and the mother and the sour past they had. Children look at him with contempt. In an intact family, he is also absent because both he and the mother are both busy working fulltime to afford the high lifestyle.

So the daughters are missing the male figure, the protector, the guardian. Their siblings, that is, their brothers, are most likely having their own issues, so they will not fill the void that is missing due to the absence and lack of attention from the father.

So where do they go, where will they find love and care? You guessed it, the story goes like this. The girl meets a very cute and nice boy at school, at her part-time job, or wherever else. Imagine, she finally found the love of her life, a "man" (a male predator actually) that "cares" (he just wants sex) for her where both her father and brothers failed.

It is a free society, she can do whatever she wants and her male guardians have no say on what she does. Eventually, her parents find out, and her brothers as well. Things get ugly because the sense of honour finally comes out, but too little too late. She moves out with the help of the police and settles with her boyfriend, all is lost.

The other children, be it daughters or sons, leave Islām altogether, and are open about it, and their parents can do nothing about it.

Do I need to get into the extra-marital affairs that take place as well? The man is out working in a mixed environment with women. His wife is also busy working fulltime with strange men. They both come home tired and barely having any patience for each other. The man needs his wife but she doesn't have the energy to spend time with him, let alone cook a decent meal so that the whole family can sit together and spend quality time.

The void in the marriage is filled up with the husband having his mistress(es) and the wife having her boy toys, all at work, why? Because that is where each spouse spends most of his/her time. They end up developing deeper relationships with their coworkers than their own spouses and children. And all for what?

To afford that luxurious life in the West.

Many of these issues are much less likely to happen for those who live in Muslim societies. There is no issue with the so-called nuclear family which is a norm in the West. In traditional Muslims societies, the entire "village" raises the children. Muslim women are busy being mothers and wives, nurturing and caring. Men are out working and earning. The family is truly a family.

So before thinking that it is all rosy and beautiful to migrate to the West, think again, and be grateful to Allāh for where you are and what you have. Having financial challenges is a problem that pales as compared with losing one's children and religion.