Reflection 9 – On How Living Abroad Influenced my Thoughts and Why It Was Wrong to be Religious More than the Religion Itself!

It is commonly known that our ideas and thoughts change as we (hopefully) mature in life, and especially when we travel abroad and interact with other cultures and people. I am blessed to have lived in different continents altogether, but my main turning point was my PhD years at UCI (2010-2014). This, I believe, has to do with the context itself. First, I had begun to be more concerned with my religious application some years before. My religious knowledge was extremely limited although I thought of myself as a well-educated scholar . My understanding was very flawed, judgmental, and unwelcoming to new ideas. I can safely say that it was my generation problem. Lack of proper knowledge sources along with a sense of hastiness to change the world around me according to my views. A terrible mix to say the least! Anyhow, these ideas began to be shattered the more I dealt with reality around me.
First, the academic setting at UCI was diverse, welcoming, and encouraging. My interactions with colleagues and professors were fruitful and smooth. I began to see wide variations across cultures and people but at the same time great commonalities as humans. We are different yet simultaneously alike! I learned to interact with a much broader audience; it was Chinese (a lot of them), Indians, Brazilians, and yes some Americans! These differences broadened my perspective and enriched my experience. Most importantly, I think I began to be more understanding and accommodating with time.
However, I believe the more radical change in my thought occurred as a result of interacting with Muslims from all over. My understanding of Islam before traveling was relatively narrow – minded and didn’t recognize natural differences amongst people. It was also quite judgmental and didn‘t take into account the bigger context. I should have better known whether the person in front of me was a recent revert to Islam or whether he/she spent most of their lives in the US or recently arrived from Arab or Desi cultures. The more I dealt with Muslims, I realized how wrong I was. This in turn meant a dire need to broaden my perspective without necessarily compromising my beliefs. Both can go in tandem if properly understood and applied. When I used to fly back to Egypt in summer throughout my PhD, I could easily spot those differences compared to others. Not wanting to display an arrogant attitude, I would keep to myself but deep down I was sure that any proper application of Islam in different political, economic, social, as well as environmental matters needed to be preceded by a balanced yet radical and welcoming understanding of Islam.
Back to my second half of my title; I was trying to be more religious than the religion itself! I was demanding from myself unrealistic goals and expected the same from others. I couldn‘t see that change takes time and that patience-even if tough-is forever needed. Understanding differences in people and trying to accommodate them soft heartedly resonates more with people. Simple yet genuine actions last forever while lecturing fades away quickly. This entire failure is not unique to myself but rather to a whole generation. Although we can discuss the different factors behind it, my explanation goes as follows. Since European colonization of Muslim lands, there was a gradual (yet intentional) but still intense disassociation from the Arabic language and subsequently Quranic studies. Our main source of knowledge along with the Sunnah have been sidelined, and therefore our understanding of Islam remains to be short-sighted and unrepresentative of the true nature of Islam.