Assalamu Alaikum, In highschool I read a novel called "The Pearl" by the fameous 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 pocession, 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 dissappeared. 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 continous 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 Frued. 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 spirtually 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… Wasalam, —
Ozair khan-Pakistan