So, get this: a nurse just complained to me about "a Muslim family" that recently lost a loved one in our ER... & she was implying how inconsiderate it was that an "army" of family was in the room, with even more coming as time progressed... 1/
She then complained about how they stayed with the body for the entire day until the deceased was taken to the funeral home, as if this is some peculiar "Islamic custom." Of course, this differs from what I witness day in & day out: Elderly patients who live & die alone... 2/
...living far away from family or loved ones. Sometimes nobody even knows the patient has died before they are brought to the ER. When family are notified, the nonchalance of their response never ceases to amaze me, or the "well, they are in a better place now," despite... 3/
...the fact that they usually don't believe in any such place to begin with. Often the children do not even bother to come to the ER to see their parents. Imagine that this nurse thinks that there is something wrong with "the Muslim family." 4/
Unlike her, I of course do not see this as a civilizational difference, but rather, a result of the social isolation & atomization of our irreligious, unthinkingly liberal, secular, modern world--the end result that my co-religionists rightfully fear for us. 5/
In my mind, we cannot but embrace some of the core values of modernity... but to think that we in the East have nothing right is pure ignorance & arrogance. When a Western convert to Islam was incredulously asked, "What could Islam possibly offer the West??"... 6/
...he responded (paraphrased), "Commitment to God, religion, & family/community." I told the nurse that in Pakistan entire streets would be filled as the funeral procession moves forward. Sadly, she did not get what I was trying to convey to her & she simply shook her head. 7/
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