The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

It’s that same old Song and Dance. Muslims asking Muslims if they can establish an “Islamic” lifestyle here in the West. It’s like a bad commercial radio station. You only hear the same crappy three songs over and over again. I was reading a review on DeenPort, where they were asking this guy if, “Western Muslims can create spaces of ’spiritual blessing’ in their own lands?” Boy, do I get tired of that one. Why do they keep asking these kinds of questions? Do they think that it’s not possible? Or that it’s not happening? I’d say, yes, that’s probably what they are thinking. The interview goes on to ask about this person’s visit to Damascus and he states how wonderful it is (I don’t doubt the man’s experience). But always are the Muslims looking longingly off to the Eastern Horizon, to this imagined utopia, where everyone’s Muslim and the rivers flow with honey or some B.S. like this. The sad commentary is that the person who has gone overseas is a Westerner. There is so much anti-Western sentiment coming from converted Western Muslims. They (or I should say we) have been taught to hate our heritage. That there is something inherently anti-Islamic/Muslim in our condition as Westerners and that there is something more innately Islamic or Muslim for those who hail from the East. This has fostered a sense of self-hate and loathing for Muslims who are born, bred and raised in the West. It has also created a caste system of the pious, in where the Western Muslim can convert but never really attain the levels of piety or enlightenment that his Eastern counterpart can simply do to the fact that we are Westerners. This is not to say that there aren’t things wrong with our culture here in the West but the East is not some perfect La-La land where everyone’s happy. The second part is to disconnect from this concept that the West is some gigantic, monolithic entity where it’s all the same. There are many different experiences in the West. There are liberals and conservatives. Religious people and atheists. Educated and ignorant. We run the gamut here just as it is run in other parts of the world.

So finally, I guess I’d like to stop the whining about how we must establish Islam here and blah, blah, blah. Look, just try to act out your lives as better Muslims. Try being a better son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, or wife. A better neighbor. A better friend. A better you. Secure the Inner and the Outer will fall in line, bi idthni’llah.