Summer time healing
Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah’s Apostle (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “The world is a prison-house for a believer and Paradise for a non-believer” [Muslim, 7058].
Year upon year, summertime in western Europe witnesses a mass migration with millions setting off for holiday destinations around the globe. Holiday resorts as far apart as Australia and Mexico are likely to witness thousands of holidaymakers touching down on their shores in a ritual that is deeply ingrained in Western tradition. As with all traditions, the origin is a thought that society holds or once held. When these thoughts decay and become obscure, the tradition tends to decay and disappear. When the thoughts from which the tradition originates are prevalent and deep rooted within the society, the tradition strengthens year by year. The holiday boom that occurs each summer, over the long term, increases in its intensity and dominance. This is because the founding thoughts of this tradition are from the core belief of Western civilisation: the objective of life is happiness and that happiness is found in the satisfaction of personal desires.
Daily life in Western Europe is characterised by perpetual pressures and problems. For individuals to obtain the things they need to live life, they need money that they can exchange for goods and services. This forces them to expend their daily efforts on making money, which naturally becomes the daily priority. This leaves little time for the actual enjoyment of the products of their effort. Most occupations limit the annual leave of their employees to four or six weeks. So, for most people, at least forty six weeks a year are occupied working nine to five Monday to Friday, coping with the pressures, problems and costs associated with life in modern Western society. This is the true reality of their lives.
However, this is not the life promised by the Western ideology of Capitalism. The promise and objective, is a life of pleasure, wealth and the satisfaction of whatever an individual may desire, whether that is family life or all night raves. The dilemma that thus arises has no answer in the way of life that dominates the West. Rather, summer holidays, along with many other mechanisms of escapism, have become an outlet for the obvious contradiction that the Western ideology embodies. “Get Away from it all”
It is not surprising that those who follow the intellectual doctrines of the West are desperate to get away from their real lives. While the lives they live are grey and forlorn, the media and travel companies paint a picture of pleasure and enjoyment in holiday resorts, tailor made to fulfil the tastes of a hedonistic population.
It is in fact very sad that many of the youth in the Western world, growing up according to such ideas, reach adulthood craving intoxicants and encounters with the opposite sex. This is catered for at destinations such as Ibiza and Ianappa. The young are herded there in their thousands, where they proceed to intoxicate themselves to the point that they forget the reality of life, indulging in the euphoria of the atmosphere. As an encore, they fornicate with as many people as they can, driven by the capitalistic principle that happiness is derived from sensual gratification and the fulfilment of desires.
As they reach middle age, the characteristic travel destination changes to one of relaxation and luxury. As life goes on, pleasure and hence happiness is derived from a release of pressure. While alcohol remains a major part of their escape, it is simply detachment from the lives they live, which satisfies their desires. As they sip their Martini in Monaco, they lament the days of their youth, when they were really able to have fun.
Seeing the invisible
“But the Unbelievers, their deeds are like a mirage in sandy deserts, which the man parched with thirst mistakes for water; until when he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing: But he finds Allah (ever) with him, and Allah will pay him his account: and Allah is swift in taking account” [TMQ An-Nur: 39].
The summer holiday season is a time in which the adherents of Capitalism pursue whatever desires they are unable to obtain from their real lives. From the sunny party islands of Spain and the Caribbean, the theme parks of Florida, the casinos of Las Vegas, the ancient relics of Egypt to child prostitution in the Far East, all desires are catered for by the traditional summer vacation. Although the pleasure sought is obtained, happiness is rarely found and these occasional adventures cannot change the true reality of the lives that are lived.
As always, where there is a demand, there are thousands of entrepreneurs ready to cash in on the opportunities. This year, internet based sales during the holiday season are expected to jump 75 per cent between June and August, with ‘dot com’ company share prices reflecting the confidence in this sector of the market. “We’re moving into the holidays,” said Volpe Brown Whelan analyst Andrea Williams. “There’s going to be a lot of talk about commerce on the Web. It’s going to be huge.”
Meanwhile in Western capitals such as London, murders are spiralling upwards with 46 killings in January and February alone, gun and knife associated assaults are rising, child abuse and elder abuse are rife and crack cocaine abuse is growing in the inner cities. This is not to mention the upward trend in racially motivated violence, rape and the forced prostitution of Eastern European and Russian girls in Western Europe. It is not surprising the population in the West want to ‘get away’.
Those who cannot afford or are not inclined to go abroad will indulge themselves in the weekly pleasures that Western society has to offer such as night-clubs, summer festivals, alcohol and the entertainment services. The summer holiday ritual highlights the fundamental incoherency in the doctrine of Capitalism; the pursuit of pleasure whilst it is absent from daily life, and increased separation between “haves” and “have-nots” while the deterioration of society accelerates.
“‘Such as took their way of life to be mere amusement and play, and were deceived by the life of the world.’ That day shall We forget them as they forgot the meeting of this day of theirs, and as they were wont to reject Our signs” [TMQ Al-A’raf: 51].
The Islamic viewpoint
It is natural that human beings want to be happy; this is not specific to a particular way of life. However, the perceived location of happiness varies according to the viewpoint on life. While those who adhere to Capitalism seek happiness in the satisfaction of their desires, the Muslim seeks his happiness in the pleasure of Allah (Subhanhu Wa Ta’aala)) and so the most important thing for the Muslim is that he or she abides by the rules that the Creator (Subhanhu Wa Ta’aala)) laid down for mankind. When a Muslim does that, knowing the truth of the life of this world and that which will come after it, the heart and mind become tranquil in the realisation that the purpose of his or her life is being fulfilled, regardless of the situations or problems surrounding life. Hence, the believer is not characterised by worry and misery, rather he or she lives in contentment and tranquillity in every action undertaken, be it prayer, Da’wa or work. The only fear that should exist for the believer, is fear of Allah (Subhanhu Wa Ta’aala)) and hence, the life of the Muslim is one of tranquillity, confidence and happiness in all actions, regardless of the problems and obstacles faced in life, because happiness is not derived from the satisfaction of the desires but rather from the knowledge of the truth.
“Say: ‘No reward do I ask of you: it is (all) in your interests: my reward is only due from Allah: and He is Witness to all things.’
Say: ‘Verily my Lord doth cast the (mantle of) Truth (over His servants) He that has full knowledge of (all) that is hidden.’
Say: ‘The Truth has arrived and Falsehood neither creates anything new nor restores anything.’
Say: ‘If I am astray I only stray to the loss of my own soul: but if I receive guidance it is because of the inspiration of my Lord to me: it is He Who hears all things and is (ever) near.’
If thou couldst but see when they will quake with terror: but then there will be no escape (for them) and they will be seized from a position (quite) near. And they will say ‘We do believe (now) in the (truth)’: but how could they receive (faith) from a position (so) far off Seeing that they did reject faith (entirely) before and that they (continually) cast (slanders) on the Unseen from a position far off? And between them and their desires is placed a barrier as was done in the past with their partisans: for they were indeed in suspicious (disquieting) doubt” [TMQ Saba’: 47-54].
