When the Eastern and Western culture clash

By Wasi Siddiqui

(Member of the Canadian Authors Association)

It is often been said that when there is a hurricane in the sea, no matter how big the boat is, it will sink because the culture of the sea does not compromise with it's furry whoever tries to come in it's path, this is exactly what happened at the calm neighborhood of Mississauga, where a teenager was strangled to death by her father apparently for not wearing scarf or following Islamic culture.

When an immigrant family comes to Canada, there are lots of challenges to be face starting from not getting a job in their respectable fields, an engineer working as a security guard, a doctor working as cab driver, and then waiting for 3 months before applying for health card because getting sick during these 3 months might cost a fortune since medicines are so expensive to buy, any way this is just a start in getting accustomed to the tradition life of Canada then comes the most difficult part , when their children future when they seek  admissions in schools and colleges in order to give their children a new life in totally a different environment.

As soon as the immigrants start to settle down in Canada , their biggest fear becomes a reality when their children adopts something new in schools which is called " the western culture" the culture which is totally different from their homeland specially in a Muslim society where mingling with boys of girls are often regarded as bad and not allowed. All the religion has their limitation so does the Islam, where it is prohibited for a Muslim woman to frankly talking with a strangers or making boyfriends.

Although the wearing of scarf is compulsory, and it is always advisable for a Muslim woman to wear it as it avoid a stranger getting their attention, while the western culture called it veils are a sign of radicalization, a move to Islamism "” the most extreme interpretation of Islam. The veil is often considered an obstacle to integration."  And sometimes the headline read as "The Muslim woman needed to be liberated from veil".  

The Quran says "  Tell the faithful women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not display their beauty except what is apparent of it, and to extend their scarf to cover their bosom
- Source: Quran, 24:31 (English translation)

It is time that immigrant families should know that when they have decided to come to Canada or any other western country they should sit down with their children to talk about the things which they like and what are those things which they will not tolerate, instead of starting a culture clash that reach to a boiling point when their parents decided to take the law into their hands.

The biggest concern for the Muslim families is that why in schools sex education are being taught in the name of education, this give their teenagers a freedom to engaging in sex with their partners even thought sexuality is a part of all human nature but this freedom is just more than necessary and thus come in contact with AIDS/HIV, or even left their own face with disgrace in the society. This is where the culture clash starts, they began to speak English only and forget their mother-tongue and wearing jeans and with  chewing gum in their mouth, with I-Pod in their pockets always listening to music, shaking their heads like monkey and speaking western style common word like "F" words, while they considered themselves above all and even above the law, as they adopt this new culture , their own culture becomes a joke where Muslims are required to pray five times a day , read Quran , lead a simple life , give charity , Hajj concept completely  forgotten and thus name of Islam became a history for them.

There are many Muslim families living in Canada who have made compromise with their children, in one of the case a Muslim woman marries to a Hindu man and then before their marriage, a celebration was held where strippers were hired to entertain the guests and Muslim parents were also present as a part of celebration. How shameful is this?

 In other such incident, in a Muslim family, a man who was sponsored by his wife to come to Canada was wrongly blamed as "sexual impotent" and then she gave him divorce and left to humiliation, now the same person married and living with his wife and 2 children.

 The clash of the eastern and western culture has now entered into a danger level, where anyone, anytime can become a victim of this new culture clash, a clash which will continue to happen unless today's youth understand and return to their faith and culture because once they leave their home, it is not their parents watching them, but only Allah, whom they should be fearing all the time.