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by Dr. Mohamad AlGhamki ZURICH, Switzerland (Islam Online) - Muslims in Switzerland discussed threats to their families presented by living in the West in their 10th annual Switzerland Muslim Society meeting. Participants discussed the impact of the social and educational environment on European Muslims, as well as the impact of the media. Dr. Mohamad Karmos, President of the Society, discussed issues concerning losing Islamic identity in non-Muslim civilizations. Dr. Wahba AlZeheely, Head of the Islamic Fiqh Department at Damuscus University in Syria, said that Islamic values and family ties endure enormous pressures under the new ideas of deconstruction and modernity. Dr. Soad AlFateh AlBadawi, Consultant to the Sudanese government on women's and children issues, said that globalization trends pose an immediate threat to Muslim women. AlBadawi stated that these trends are introducing a culture based on power hegemony, resulting in the de-regulation of human instincts and desire. Fear of a dissolving identity saturated by European culture, and the exchange of civil laws for Shariah in deciding what is lawful or legal for life practices is a major concern to Muslims in Europe, said Sheikh Youssef Ibram, president of the Islamic Center in Zurich. There is a growing need for more Islamic educational institutions and family counselors within Islamic European communities to look after the social needs of Muslims, especially when divorce rates have risen to a 46%, said AlZeheely, adding that the American Muslim experience can be of some guidance to them. Dr. Maimon AlMebiad, M.D., a psychologist from Ireland, spoke of the importance of emotional and psychological well being of Muslim children in Western societies. Mentioning the possibility of mishandling children and adolescents psychologically, he argued that it is equally important to organize future parental workshops to discuss aspects and problems of Muslim youth growing up in Europe. Dr. Hamid AlAnsari, General Manager of IslamOnline, attended the meeting and illustrated the IOL project and how it works as a medium to serve Muslim communities and to connect them together. During the event, outstanding Muslim students received awards for their achievements. The Society also held a group wedding ceremony of Muslim couples in Switzerland, in order to encourage marriage practices within the community. The Muslim population in the U.S. ranges somewhere between 6 to 8 million - still a minority, although there are well-established communities that are strong within some cities. Nevertheless, these communities are challenged everyday with practices that conflict with the moral values and teachings of Islam. Education, civil rights and acceptance within the society, are some of the major issues that American Muslims face. First generation immigrant Muslims are prone to face two kinds of stress pertaining to separation and adaptation, says Dr. Amin Daghestani, M.D., a psychologist. Less-regulated social relations in Western culture, compared against the highly regulated ones within Islam, pose a threat to the role and function of family values. Daghestani commentated that problems emerge as a result of challenging new social patterns like loss of support of the extended family, adolescent dating, domestic violence, and parent-teen communication problems. Parents fear losing their children to the religiously unacceptable set of values found in the West. Whereas children experiencing peer pressure face challenges of acceptance within the larger non-Islamic community, desiring not to be cast out socially. More challenges arise due to mixing of religious and cultural traditions, and the inability, in some cases, to differentiate between religious rules and strong cultural social rules that may govern social relations. Muslims in such cases desire to transfer traditional social patterns to situations in their new societies, making it a part of their religion. They expect their children to act, think, and behave according to a set of values mainly set by their original culture, even if some of the new society's patterns contradict religious values. |
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