12/07/2024
# # # Effects on Faith and Religion While Living in Non-Muslim Countries
(Author has earned a PhD and post-doctorate degree in Artificial Intelligence from Canada. Previously, he taught at a university in Pakistan.)
Note: This post is related to spirituality and heart ailments. Therefore, those not interested in this topic may ignore this post.
1. A person who does not connect with any religious organization here is left alone in matters of faith.
2. The environment during Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, and Eid-ul-Adha is not the same. Ordinary people miss out on Taraweeh and Friday prayers.
3. People generally miss their daily prayers. There are three types: those who miss prayers when away from home, those who pray in hiding at places where they can change clothes, and those who pray openly in Tim Hortons. However, finding a mosque or congregation is rare when you are away from home or office, or when you are in the market or out for a stroll.
4. Your children encounter blasphemous beliefs and terms from a young age. For instance, a child living in Pakistan is unfamiliar with terms like girlfriend, gay rights, and such obscenities. In contrast, children from religious households here are familiar with these terms even at the age of four, as these discussions are common everywhere.
5. The misfortune of having a non-praying neighbor is present, so imagine the extent of misfortune when irreligious people who openly deny Allah and His Messenger (PBUH) surround you.
6. The sound of the call to prayer (Adhan) is not heard, which leaves weak individuals without a reminder of the prayer times or calls to other important activities.
7. Eid prayers are calculated based on mathematical calculations, while mosques that observe Eid after sighting the moon are very few. Personally, I had to travel 400 kilometers for Eid prayers this time. Can everyone travel such a distance?
8. On Eid-ul-Adha, children remain completely unaware of the Sunnah of Ibrahim (AS). Animals cannot be brought, nor shown. If one wants to have an animal slaughtered, it is done after stunning, and only a few people do it.
9. Here, salvation lies only in maintaining a very close relationship with scholars, which people generally fail to do because they were not trained before coming here, resulting in a barrier between them and the scholars.
10. Public schools completely destroy religious values and spirituality, but even children who are homeschooled encounter people with animal tails, ears, and men dressed in women's clothes.
11. If you are fortunate, you may be caught by Tablighi brothers or find a house near a mosque. Otherwise, people generally remain completely isolated in religious terms.
12. People consider going to the mosque, praying, and holding Eid parties as the completion of their faith because they didn't even do this in Pakistan. However, those who were actively involved in religious work in Pakistan cannot fill the void in their hearts here because the necessary resources are not available.
13. Good company is rarely available, and even if one wants to seek it, often the Sheikh doesn't have much time to give. The Sheikh has to go to the market to buy his own supplies, pick up and drop off his children from school, etc.
14. Materialism is such that after doing religious work, you can bring a person to pray, but as soon as they graduate from university, they get lost in this jungle of materialism.
15. As time passes here, the lack of good company, madrasas, and a conducive environment is felt less and less, as if a lock is being placed on the heart.
16. Generally, it has been observed that people initially prefer to live near a mosque, but as soon as they get a job, they move far from the mosque by taking a house on interest.
17. Evil does not seem bad in an evil environment. Also, the acts that are done secretly in a land of faith are done openly here.
18. Children learn the Quran online at home instead of from a Qari or in a mosque environment, leading to lifelong mistakes in pronunciation and Tajweed.
19. The human brain is a complex machine. When issues of electricity, water, and gas are resolved, it starts including buying an iPhone, a personal boat, camping, expensive clothes, etc., as essential needs. That is why you often hear people here say that money doesn't grow on trees and that they can't save money.
20. There is an abundance of dogs here. This means dog hair will be present everywhere: in the washing machine, in the store, in the hallway of the apartment. You are aware of the harms of bringing this hair into the house.
*Dr.Abdul Ali Bangash*,
Residing in Canada, June 23, 2024.
