One cannot but encounter the fact that the bulk of teenagers tend to conceive of their parents’ religious beliefs somewhat thoughtlessly, which in turn alludes to a little desire to come to understanding the reason why religion plays a central role in many people’s lives. Yes, it becomes apparent that theological beliefs may often seem to be extremely complicated. The focus here lies in arguing that a vast amount of rituals can be characterized by merely interfering with preferred trends among children, which purely contributes to their unwillingness to deepen knowledge in regard to why religion actually matters. Although the majority of children are more prone to simply ignoring a truly unique message that commitment to living in the light of God conveys, there are still remarkable exceptions. To be precise, Ali Eteraz in his prose work “Children of Dust” appeals to readers, inviting them to access the human brain – namely, a child’s psyche that basically rests on deeply-seated religious experience. Obviously, the author makes an emphasis on the Islamic religion as an integral part of his daily reality. Throughout the book, Eteraz puts a lot of effort into claiming that it is to a great extent that Islam occupies the first place in his mind; to put it another way, the idea of this story centres around the fact that Eteraz’s parents were constantly aimed at making him “a true servant of Islam” (2009, p. 7).
As Eteraz’s rip-roaring story unfolds, it endows readers with an opportunity to make sure a child’s parents did their best to cultivate Islamic values, which would implicate the main lesson that can be learnt throughout life. Surely, one can assume that Eteraz’s “Children in Dust” serves as a wake-up call for readers to see one’s own life from another perspective; and, in particular, this award-winning memoir gives the chance to grasp a true nature of spiritual writings, which consists in encapsulating journey as a common motif. As the story progresses, one cannot help but become aware that Eteraz’s journey from childhood to adulthood and from Pakistan to the United States comes to constitute both dominant and unifying idea. Significantly, Eteraz’s profoundly-complex journey emerges to contribute positively to spiritual maturation and a deeper understanding of Islam; to make it clear, numerous challenges that he passes through enable him to see a dire need for strictly sticking to Allah’s commands as the only way to live a righteous and full life. Since the very childhood, Eteraz became familiarized with his parents’ religion, and adopting Islam with all its rigid principles and social compulsions impacted a little child dramatically, making him rely predominantly on what Quran dictates; and it is not an exaggeration to say that a thorny road that Abir travels while being exposed to poor living conditions plagued with hardships and distress in Pakistan teaches him to take religious beliefs first even though sometimes they can hardly change the situation for the better. And, more importantly, Abir’s entrance into the U.S. society should be viewed as a crucial event that, indeed, unravels the depth of his religious belief. Despite the fact that the United States can be recognized as an entirely distinct society founded on other traditional practices, Abir manages to keep religious beliefs to his own private space. Yes, interacting with American youth poses threats to Islamic religion that a young boy had been adhering to since the very childhood. However, going through the series of cultural shock stages within the United States seems to mainly raise Abir’s awareness of all the complexities of life circumstances, rather than accelerate the disruption of religion. Overall, one should know that it is owing to Eteraz’s journey as a common motif in spiritual writings that the evolution of self-awareness occurs.
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Contemplating upon Eteraz’s and his family’s experience of Islamic ethos during their residency in both Pakistan and America, one has to take into consideration the fact that its role should not be underestimated from the perspective of constituting a methodically-designed perspective on life. The thing is that Abir’s parents paid special attention to cultivating Muslim core beliefs and religious practices in their family, which in turn resulted in a little child having embraced spirituality since the early years. Inevitably, being a part of Pakistani society and sharing common ground with its national identity played a vital role in enhancing a freer understanding of the religion of Islam. Surely, the family’s residency in Pakistan can be identified as marking the optimal conditions for deepening the understanding of Islam. On the other hand, moving to the United States has a strong connection to giving a more precise definition to what Islam stands for in fact. In other words, both Arbir and his parents confronted with a challenging task of crystallizing their set of beliefs into a much more radical religious value system. Arbir’s mother Ammi, for instance, can be characterized by taking a zero tolerance towards the signs of Western secularism; and the bulk of America’s ordinary daily activities, including watching TV, listening to music, and going dancing are considered as those attributes of Western life style that may potentially undermine the fundamentals of religion. Nonetheless, Ammi will soon get adapted to things like “watching Youtube videos” and “listening to old Pubjabi love songs” (Eteraz, 2009, p. 336). Speaking about Abir, one cannot but give him credit for exceptionally increasing his faith in Allah. And although the residency within the U.S. society was a huge ordeal for him due to evoking the extremeness of religious views, he managed to predominantly improve self-awareness in general and rationalize actions in an attempt to work out life path in particular.
Speculating upon Eteraz’s “Children in Dust”, one has to know that the author here reflects upon the extent to which Islam/the Islamic ethos is expressed in contemporary Pakistani culture; and, arguably, Pakistani strong spiritual background is hard to exaggerate. One of Eteraz’s major assertions consists in persuading readers to differentiate between religion and religious fanatics. The author makes it certain that bombings in Pakistan cannot be justified even though they are expected to put an end to massive tyranny. Indisputably, Eteraz’s memoir should be thoroughly addressed by both believers and nonbelievers as it is likely to boost collective conversation in respect of the major functions of religion. Since the book itself intends readers to sharpen their focus on fading faith challenges, it, therefore, makes an appeal to the public’s geopolitical aims. Overall, one can conclude that the leading theme of Eteraz’s writing centres on Islam issues; yet, apart from describing Abir as constantly deepening his knowledge of the philosophy of Islam, the author emphasizes a two-fold nature of the Muslim world. What it means is that a young man’s bitter experience that he gains at Muslim school (madrassa) will lead to catharsis later in life. To put the matter differently, the perils of being engaged in seeking to understand the true nature of religion eventually endows Abir with an opportunity “to become innocent again” (Eteraz, 2009, p. 337).
It is imperative to understand that Eteraz’s entrance to the United States has much to do with his reconsideration of what religious faith of Muslims means. Many forms of America’s behaviour definitely contradict the basic principles of Islam. In addition, the bulk of Americans show their reluctance to tolerate the Islamic religion strongly associated with violence, inhuman treatment, and tyranny. Evidently, America’s society perceives Islam as a threat, and it in turn models a wholly inadequate attitude towards those proving commitment in upholding Muslim religion. Yet, the biggest problem facing Abir seems to be atrocities that Islamic fundamentalists commit in the name of Allah. Of course, a peculiar thing is that a young man cannot come to terms with an absolutely distorted thinking of Islamic fundametalists; and, in fact, the unwillingness to disregard an egregious act of misinterpreting the principles of Islam can be noted with shaping Abir’s journey into the heart of what Islam means to him. Certainly, Eteraz’s viewpoint lies in teaching the international community to never draw conclusions based on the arguments and actions of religious fanatics. Undoubtedly, September 11 attacks should be viewed as a bright example of a situation when committing evil in the name Allah comes to directly blaspheme the Quran itself. Supposedly, Abir’s residency in contemporary America has made the greatest contribution to understanding of his faith/religion. Yes, it is about the United States, rather than Pakistani society with its poverty- stricken conditions, that resulted in Abir’s true religious awakening that set an entirely distinct course for his life. In any way, Ammi’s precept to talk to angels and make mention of “...only good things, because they have little notebooks and they write down everything you do.”(Eteraz, 2009, p. 10) remained forever etched in Abir’s memory.
On the whole, one has to be conscious that Eteraz’s vital experiences can teach some of the most important life lessons. However, of all the lessons that the story teaches, the one that shades the light on that “you can never be alone” (Eteraz, 2009, p. 335) raises the most significant questions in life. “Children of the Dust” provides a truly edifying view on the role of religion in both personal and social development. And, in sum, the author indicates that the more heavy burdens life poses, the more chances to become personally reconciled with oneself a person gets. Since Eteraz’s major purpose seems to be ascertaining all the difficulties in being in tune with the flow of reality, rather than purely promoting Islam, the book can definitely contribute positively to growing into an independent individual who would never be under the influence of bad people.
References
Eteraz, A. (2009). Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan . New York: HarperOne.
