‘Change’ is a word that often carries positive connotations. People view it as a move on or away from antequated practices or beliefs. And sometimes it is that and it is welcome.
However, I’ve been feeling that there are some changes I’ve been witnessing that don’t sit well with me. I’ve observed how my own sons and I might be at loggerheads with different perspectives on things. Sometimes, I will firmly maintain I am right because I see the longer view on a matter and not simply what is seemingly apparent. That’s because I have the benefit of having lived longer on this earth and have learnt through life experiences. My sons have then conceded I have been right whether it has been immediately or much later.
However, there are other times where we don’t see eye to eye and I have had to accept that the way I see the world will permanently be at odds with my sons or younger people for that matter. That’s a difficult fact to absorb especially when the shift in opinion from one generation to the next seems seismic. The positive cultural values I was raised with, I realise, won’t necessarily be inherited by them. Whilst I lament that, I realise I can’t manipulate their minds or coerce them into thinking like me. The world in which they are growing up in is very different to the one I was raised in. We come from two different value systems and cultural contexts.
I admit it can be frustrating when I can’t convince those closest to me of my view especially when I know it is well within Islamic teachings. However, that’s not to say their views aren’t also within Islamic principles. It just seems it’s at the other diluted end of acceptable. Perhaps I need to be more understanding of the times and context and challenges that these young people face? Perhaps I am too narrow in my interpretations of things? I ask myself these questions and more. However, I find I can’t shift from what I believe to be true and as long as my opinions don’t fly in the face of Islam, I will stubbornly refuse to budge. We already live in an age where everything about our Islamic identity is being peeled back until only the core remains, if that. It’s a scary time and the cultural tidal wave that comes in and out is greatly eroding the very essence of who Muslims are.
I’m only glad that I won’t be around to see what plays out in the next 50 – 100 years.
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