The Social Bomb - Destruction of the Traditional Family
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Human civilization has gone off on a tangent and has created not one but multiple threats to its own survival. Of these, the nuclearization of the family has by far the greatest potential for destruction. Global warming, ecological destruction, and excessive consumerism are other well-known threats.
The family is the first building block composed of individuals. The structure and stability of the family determines the strength and stability of the social edifice that it erects and ultimately the stability and survival of the civilization that it seeks to build. When the family is strong, a civilization endures. When the family comes apart, a civilization unravels.
Families emerge from a multitude of reasons. Some are no more than a matter of convenience. They are like froth on the ocean and disappear just as the wave that generates them withdraws into the womb of the ocean. Their stability is uncertain as is the outcome of a cast of dice in gambling casino in Las Vegas.
Then there are marriages that are built on contract. On the global scene, by far the largest number of marriages that take place, and the families they generate, are based on contract. A large number of Muslims have also come to accept marriage as a contract between a man and a woman.
However, marriage in Islam is more than a mere contract. The Quran describes men and women as garments of each other, meaning the two are intertwined like two bundles of light sustaining and reinforcing each other in their march towards divine presence.
A contract cannot be a substitute for spiritual bonds. How can a contract capture the love between a parent and child, or the bonds between a brother and sister? Contracts may be nullified but love endures.
The family in Islam is based on marriage between a man and a woman. It is a covenant before God in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet. It has the elements both of a contract and a spiritual union. It is sanctified by Law, ratified by contract and sustained by the goodwill of the extended family and the community.
Even the rituals that are observed by a family and the community serve to reinforce familial bonds. They serve as occasions when the individual reinforces existing social bonds and develops new ones so that when the family comes under pressure, these bonds sustain the marriage and the family.
Rituals and customs give life to a culture. The diffusion of Islamic spirituality into local traditional cultures have knit them together into a global Islamic labyrinth so that there is a recognizable taste, feel and aroma to Muslim culture whether it is observed in Malaysia or Nigeria. A Pakistani can marry a Moroccan and maintain a family within the rhythm of an Islamic life. This is so because regional cultures have absorbed and internalized the transcendental values that have knit the Islamic civilization together.
It is unfortunate that under the double hammer of Western culture and internal extremist pressures may of the traditional social customs and ancient rituals are disappearing among Muslims. Stripped of the multiplicity of support systems that customs and rituals help nurture and sustain, the individual is thrown back to his own wits to weather the storms of life. He is like a tree that stands on a single root. A single waft of turbulence from a strong wind knocks it down. Marriages come apart and the family disintegrates.
The weakening and disappearance of traditional support systems for the family is one of the greatest threats to human civilization. Muslim societies are no exception to this. Broken marriages, disintegrated families and single parent families are no longer rare among Muslims.
The shock waves produced by the intrusion of technology in modern life have destroyed the traditional family and have given birth to the nuclear family. Economic pressures stifle social interactions. Mass media have invaded the space that was once the exclusive preserve of the family. Working men and women cannot take care of their aged parents and send them off to old age homes. Children return from schools to empty homes. The television takes the space that was once occupied by the grand parents. Mobility destroys the social bonds that once sustained community life in towns and villages. Where there once were a thousand hands sustaining a family, there are now just those of the nuclear family, of the husband the wife or those of a single parent.
Islam offers a balanced spiritual, social and cultural framework wherein the family may yet escape the destruction that is wrought by modern centrifugal forces.
A civilization is held together by a transcendental idea which acts as its cement. Ibn Khaldun postulated that this cement was none other than Asabiyah, the racial and ethnic cohesion born of blood relationships. The nomads of the desert possess this characteristic in abundance which fosters in them the virtues that moves a civilization forward. As the nomads settle down in cities, they lose these virtues and are ultimately overcome by a fresh wave of nomads.
While Ibn Khaldun’s theory may explain the formation and disintegration of tribal societies, it fails to explain the rise and fall of global civilizations. Islam, for one, condemns Asabiyah. “I evolved you into tribes”, extols the Quran, “so that you may know one another”. What has welded Islamic civilization is its innate spirituality which is based on the continual consciousness of Divine presence. This innate spirituality has provided the reservoir for internal renewal when the community has faced global challenges.
Spirituality molds the Islamic personality. On the one hand Islamic spirituality accepts and extols the individual worth and the individual responsibility to himself and to divine creation. On the other, it captures the individual ego within an infinitely elastic shell of divine presence. Man was created to know, serve and worship the divine. For the execution of this grand design man has been provided guidance and has been anointed the khalifa over all creation. The resultant personality represents a just balance between the spiritual and the physical, between the internal and the external, between the self and the selfless.
The Islamic community is a composition of such individuals who derive their sustenance from a consciousness of divine presence and observe divine commandments based on justice and balance to create divine patterns on earth. Each individual is like a brick that becomes a part of a grand edifice fulfilling the divine plan.
In the global village, where civilizations interact and learn from each other, Muslims have a unique opportunity to make a contribution towards the preservation and sustenance of human civilization.
Whereas the basis of marriage and family in the West is contractual, and exclusively spiritual in the East, in Islam it is both contractual and spiritual. The stability and permanence of the family will be the ultimate barometer of the survival of our civilization. In this struggle, custom and ritual have an important role to play. Let us not discard what is traditional under the pressures of modernity. If we do, both tradition and modernity will be the losers
Well, let me tell you that there are two things that change conservative societies in biggest way. First is allowing women to study and work. The second are american films.
This country is dying because of a lack of men, not a lack of programs.
Well, let me tell you that there are two things that change conservative societies in biggest way. First is allowing women to study and work. The second are american films.
Those pesky women, thinking they are equal to men!kay:
Right. This is why millions of Americans, Canadians and Europeans are desperately emigrating to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan to escape our war-torn societies and poor economies.
Well okay, maybe America is in decline. Coincidentally, this is happening alongside the rise of the religious right who elected Bush.
Right. This is why millions of Americans, Canadians and Europeans are desperately emigrating to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan to escape our war-torn societies and poor economies.
Well okay, maybe America is in decline. Coincidentally, this is happening alongside the rise of the religious right who elected Bush.
I mean that secular western societies are dying out. I mean people. :rolleyes:
This country is dying because of a lack of men, not a lack of programs.
If one looks at the history of the world's great empires, primarily the Greeks and Romans, it is a good indication of what actually causes social decay. The collapse of family bonds, the collapse of community bonds, and the collapse of traditional virtues.
These problems are mentioned repeatedly in Plato, Socrates, and Plutarch. They saw the decline of their civilization, and ironically the same thing is happening to the U.S.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
If one looks at the history of the world's great empires, primarily the Greeks and Romans, it is a good indication of what actually causes social decay. The collapse of family bonds, the collapse of community bonds, and the collapse of traditional virtues.
These problems are mentioned repeatedly in Plato, Socrates, and Plutarch. They saw the decline of their civilization, and ironically the same thing is happening to the U.S.
Id say the fall of alot of the great empires is actually the fault of the population become more and more dogmatic. Wasting your resources to chase and kill others because they dont agree with your imaginary friend is a good way to plummet your economy and make the society divisive.
Id say the fall of alot of the great empires is actually the fault of the population become more and more dogmatic. Wasting your resources to chase and kill others because they dont agree with your imaginary friend is a good way to plummet your economy and make the society divisive.
See America under Bush
No offense, but the Greek and Roman populations were anything but dogmatic. Those societies crumbled from the inside due to the decay of the citizenry. That decay had to do with the loss of community and social values. The average Roman or Greek citizen was free of "dogmatic" or religious law. In fact, the Romans were so "liberal" in their adoption of foreign gods and festivals, that the whole concept of a national religion was thrown out the window.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
No offense, but the Greek and Roman populations were anything but dogmatic. Those societies crumbled from the inside due to the decay of the citizenry. That decay had to do with the loss of community and social values. The average Roman or Greek citizen was free of "dogmatic" or religious law. In fact, the Romans were so "liberal" in their adoption of foreign gods and festivals, that the whole concept of a national religion was thrown out the window.
My Roman history is a bit fuzzy, but didnt Rome go all christian, implement christianity as a state religion, then slaughtered more christians (those that disagreed) then the Roman state of old ever did?
My Roman history is a bit fuzzy, but didnt Rome go all christian, implement christianity as a state religion, then slaughtered more christians (those that disagreed) then the Roman state of old ever did?
Rome eventually adopted Christianity, but the empire was in decline for many generations before that. As for slaughtering Christians...no, I'm not aware of the Christian Roman Empire slaughtering other Christians. The empire did split between the West and East, with the Byzantines embracing Orthodoxy. However, it never came to war between them.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
If one looks at the history of the world's great empires, primarily the Greeks and Romans, it is a good indication of what actually causes social decay. The collapse of family bonds, the collapse of community bonds, and the collapse of traditional virtues.
Really? Do you have any sort of evidence for this? I don't see any correlation to weakening family bonds and Roman or Greek decline (nor do I see any way to actually measure "weakening family bonds").
I do see a correlation between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity though.
These problems are mentioned repeatedly in Plato, Socrates, and Plutarch.
Socrates and Plato were writing during the golden age of Greece. Shortly after they wrote, the Greeks conquered most of the known world, and scientific knowledge was at a high point in history.
I also fail to see any correlation between Plutarch's writings and Roman decline.
How on earth is this evidence of anything?
They saw the decline of their civilization, and ironically the same thing is happening to the U.S.
The U.S. is a more religious nation than Canada, Japan, and much of Europe—none of which are declining. The most religious nations—Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan—tend to be the poorest and least stable.
If anything, the U.S. is declining because of the domestic and foreign policies of religious lunatics.
But of course, you can blame the homosexuals for fueling our oil addiction, declaring unjust wars and racking up a multitrillion dollar national debt. I'm sure gay sex caused these things.
Meh, It went all Byzantine, and Christianity kinda went all catholic, and we had a few big wars, and the Cathys tromped through constantinople, and then The Turks tromped through Constantinople the other way....then Rome died.
We did fight the byzants mate...loads of times. We slaughtered entire freaking citys of Orthadoxes....3rd or fourth crusade...I was reading it last night.
Sucks to be them.
Occupation: The term of control of a territory by foreign military forces: Iraq 2003-2005 Liberation:when something or someone is freed: Operation Telic 2003
Meh, It went all Byzantine, and Christianity kinda went all catholic, and we had a few big wars, and the Cathys tromped through constantinople, and then The Turks tromped through Constantinople the other way....then Rome died.
We did fight the byzants mate...loads of times. We slaughtered entire freaking citys of Orthadoxes....3rd or fourth crusade...I was reading it last night.
Sucks to be them.
Truly, Christendom was the height of civilization. If only ancient Rome or Greece were as religious as dark ages Europe! (Or as Afghanistan under the Taliban!)
Really there wasnt much of a gap between west and east until the 1600's.
If anything Arab civilisation had some advantages over the west in Technology and medicine and maths etc, etc. we were treating leg ulcers by axeing off the leg, and the Saracens were pouring vinigar over the wounds.
The burning at the stake and head-loppy-off-ness was about the same till the 1700's.
Occupation: The term of control of a territory by foreign military forces: Iraq 2003-2005 Liberation:when something or someone is freed: Operation Telic 2003
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The Social Bomb
Well, let me tell you that there are two things that change conservative societies in biggest way. First is allowing women to study and work. The second are american films.kay:
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