Culture-less Religiosity


Dr. Manzur Ejaz has raised a pertinent issue. I wonder if this "culture-less" religioisty is the prime reason that makes Paksitanis, especially Punjabis and Urdu-speaking, more susceptible to radical Islam, compared to Muslims to other nationalities.


Umar

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\18\story_18-10-2006_pg3_3

The question of one’s heritage becomes much more complex when one rears children on an alien land. That is why the entire graying generation of Pakistani expatriates worries about the future of their next generation on a foreign land, in an alien culture. They dread that the future generations will become strangers to their culture and their heritage.

While this agony is shared by all expatriates whether they come from Germany or Timbuktu, I wonder about Pakistanis, particularly Punjabi Muslims and even the Urdu-speaking: what culture would they want their children to imbibe? Is culture merely a function of practicing religious rituals or these groups mistakenly consider these rituals as manifesting culture; do they have anything additional?

When I look at the Arabs or the Indians, even Europeans, I know what kind of a culture they want to transfer to their new generations. They have peculiar musical, artistic and other cultural expressions. However, when I see Pakistanis I don’t see anything else but religious rituals. Their cultural expression begins and ends with Milad Sharifs. And, if religious rituals are all that matters, fundamentalists are doing a good job on the US campuses to enhance the number of breaded young men and hijab-wrapped women. The coming generations of immigrants, who are not willing to accept religious rituals in the name of culture, have nowhere to go but get lost in the American culture. The older generation is clueless and empty of any culture; it has nothing to share with them.