Opening Up When the Heat is On

In a traditional Muslim culture, people will leave their homes in warm weather to sleep on porches or to gather at the mosque to sit and read in the cool of the tall tiled halls, or around the fountain. But in this capitalist, materialist culture, we see our families, friends and neighbors isolated in air-conditioned rooms, and instead of the fountain, they are watching the lies and seductions flickering from television—a very different vibration.

Heat is also a form of energy. Some of us find it uncomfortable. And in this material world air conditioning has become one of the biggest consumers of energy. One fifth of the energy we use goes to cooling buildings, and the refrigerants used also contribute to global warming. With six percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 40 percent of the world’s refrigerants. Some of us think we must have air-conditioning. But most of the world is too poor, and goes without air-conditioning all the time.

Fully opening our beings to the energy of the invisible, we human beings can become much more than our little minds and desires. But through habits and distraction, we waste energy, and you and I fail to become what we might both materially and spiritually.

Some of us waste energy thoughtlessly and some of us thoughtfully. Energy is lost when our being is in disharmony. Energy is lost when we are stressed, tense or caught in negative emotions. As Muslims we know we must work for inner unity if we are to be able to work collectively for a wiser, more truly Islamic community. It is a struggle, not a walk in the park. How can it be done? And do our leaders’ khotbas help us in this struggle and to help the family transmit the spirit—the spiritual energy-- of religion to the next generation?

Family life, important as it is, can become a vehicle of materialism as much as Islamic spirituality. A family can transmit authoritarian and unthinking behavior as much as wisdom and sharing and forgiveness. The energies vary-- while younger Muslims are napping with Napster, which they prefer to actual experience.

Some young people will look scornfully at someone who does not have “nice things”. How have they grown up with such materialist thinking? Materialism is often confused with success, and not only in immigrant families. In this context, it is of course not a bad thing that young people are motivated to succeed, but on what level—and will they ever be satisfied? And when inevitably it is time to face human limitations, how shining faces shrivel into sour humiliation! Better for them, for us all, is the peace of humility, if we can find and stay with it.

It is worth discussing materialism with our friends and families. It is important to consider our collective spiritual energies. It is also worth considering the family’s “carbon footprint”—how much energy our life requires.

For example, as a city resident, I do not drive, and I also have no television reception, no air conditioning and I keep electric bills to 40 dollars a month. While comfortable in global terms, that is probably well below the American average. But how can I do better? One choice can reduce my footprint; not buying fruit and food that is shipped across country, requiring trucks and fuel. One can try to buy from local farmers to cut back on cross-country traffic’s impact on the environment.

Another choice is to spend more time talking to neighbors or at the mosque. Let’s overcome the urge to go underground into our cells like radicals. Yes, Presidential Candidate Guiliani is courting the fear vote by invoking the recent, half-baked “terror plots’ among a few Albanians, Trinidadians and Guyanese. It is almost like law enforcement is trying to de-link the “threat” from ethnic identity and specific interest groups and instead stick it to the religion itself. But Muslims can and should know better. Let’s reach out to engage with fellow Americans now that there are some movements for positive response, beyond law enforcement and the politics of fear.

On May 28, Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times that, “the nightmare of the Bush years won't really be over until politicians are convinced that voters will punish, not reward, Bush-style fear-mongering. And that hasn't happened yet. Here's the way it ought to be: When Rudy Giuliani says that Iran, which had nothing to do with 9/11, is part of a "movement" that "has already displayed more aggressive tendencies by coming here and killing us," he should be treated as a lunatic. When Mitt Romney says that a coalition of "Shia and Sunni and Hezbollah and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda" wants to "bring down the West," he should be ridiculed for his ignorance.”

Though that has not happened yet, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said last week that President Bush’s “terror doctrine” had proved counterproductive. Mr. Edwards presented a plan last week — which he dubbed "A Strategy to Shut Down Terrorists and Stop Terrorism Before It Starts" calling for a 10,000-person "Marshall Corps," like the Peace Corps, to stabilize weak nations though health and development programs and micro-lending and help ensure that terrorism does not take root.

There are "thousands committed to violence," Edwards said, and "We have to offer them a hand to our side instead of a shove to the other side of that fence." Mr. Edwards has also called for withdrawing troops from Iraq and has called on Congress to cut off funding for the war.

Insha’Allah, Muslims can also offer a hand. You and I can stop wasting energy, and can spend more time in community space. Let go of fear. We can be both secure in faith and more transparent. Isn’t it time to open up? Positive change starts with a peaceful relationship with a very un-peaceful world.