Western Cultural Showing Off and the Responsibility of the Muslims

By: Ayatullah al-Uzma Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlullah
The dazzling display of advance in civilization, and Western technological advances have undoubtedly greatly affected social life. What are the effects of this-negative or positive-in your eminence's view?
The impressive picture of material life, with all its forms, colors, and vastness, encourages display-especially to the weak who live without the slightest power; nor do they sense any internal power, but dwell on their weak points. This is what makes the weak submit to the strong, and the oppressed submit to the tyrants.
As such, we must understand the issue according to the Quran, which focuses on the weak points of the strong, and on the negative elements we now find in Western civilization. Every negative aspect which this civilization has must be compared to the elements of strength found in Islam and the positive elements of the Islamic way of life. By doing this, we will be able to rescue our people, our boys and girls from Western pomp and display; especially since display signifies the degradation of Islamic society and the oppressed. We may use politics to reject the subjugation to Western culture, since it appears savage and wild, and to negate every display of pomp which people have taken from other milieux.
We may understand this from the meaningful words of Imam Ali when he spoke of the world: "Whoever perceives it understands, and it blinds whoever looks at it." The world blinds whoever looks at it in its forms. But whoever looks at the world for reflection, perceives its reality in his analysis. When we see things thus, we can recognize that Western civilization is equal to this one (i.e., ours).

Imitation and Copycat Behaviour
Imitation and copycat behavior have a great influence on the life of youth. There are those who imitate heroes, stars, famous, and outstanding people. What are the negative and positive limits in imitation?
Imitation may have negative effects, since it does not stem from any intellectual premise relating to the merits of the action itself, or of the position imitated. This causes one to follow others and lose charge of himself or his ideas; and this can have an effect on his mental, emotional, functional, and future development. He may thus always look to others rather than rely on his own assessment, which may be gained by having his own mental, emotional, and functional perspectives.
This is what Islam establishes in the approach to taking the parents' example. The sentiments which children have for their parents make them lose confidence in themselves as separate thinking beings, or when questioning other ideas. Therefore, they belittle other ideas, perceptions, or spirituality and stick to their parents' position. This freezes the intellect of the parents and grandparents, and makes the coming generations idolize and sanctify their parents' ideas without allowing themselves or others to question them, let alone reject them.

Imitating Actors
What we see now is the coming generation of boys and girls imitating the actors, singers, and other public figures which, in one form or another, attracts youths. This is occurring to the point where, just to imitate their idols, they go against ethical and social values, etc. They do not care about the positive or negative effects of their behavior on their lives; they see no difference between attractive and contradictory points; their sole value is to do the same as their close friends do.
Consequently, we find that many of those who oversee the conditioning of children direct generations in this direction, since these children have lost their strength of character which connects them to their roots and which opens their minds to new horizons.

The Best Example
We may find some good points about imitation when the issue concerns role models that foster good moral, spiritual, political, or jihad ideals. This is true when eliciting the admiration of someone also encourages admirers to be like that person-to behave similarly in order to attain positive ideals. On another level, the model incites them to defend certain values by accepting the ideals upon which they are based, or by considering the milieu in which they are expressed etc.
This is what is termed to as 'the best example' or 'the best role-model', and what is referred to in God's words: "Certainly in the Messenger of God is the best example for you" (al Ahzab, 33:21). A good example attracts a person who then emulates it, after which it becomes ingrained in his being. As the poet has said:
Emulate them, if like they you are not,
Certainly, emulating the honorable will take you to the top.
A hadith from Imam Ali states: "If you are not patient, then follow those who are, for it is easier for one to follow a group; if not, it is difficult to be one of them." Positive imitation-even if it does not stem from intellectual contemplation-will become a natural trait of the person, as it is said: "The copy may sometimes outdo the original." The important point to remember, however, is that a person must be accustomed to being himself, to think, to believe, and to write; so that his positive or negative image he sends forth is from himself, not the result of imitating another person.
Imitation remains the method on which we rely, in positive situations, to make people realize the beneficial value connected with it-from the outset-and accept the examples relevant to it. If we do this, we should be able to protect our children from the negative qualities and eventually inculcate high moral values to spiritual and mental beings.

On Emulation and Attraction
When imitation, however, assumes a negative dimension, we must work towards rescuing youth from its grasp. This may be done by focusing on its negative points and their results. When imitation is positive, we must encourage it; and then, when such behavior is acceptable to youth, to work towards inculcating it, speaking of its good points and benefits: that we respect such and such a person because he conducts himself in a particular way, and that we do not accept any conduct simply because such and such a person behaves that way.
We may need to encourage emulation of living, exemplary models as a mode of nurturing. This may save us a much time and effort. We must, however, be quite meticulous and cautious in implementing this method, so that the matter does not become one of encouraging blind imitation, but rather the emulation of specific traits which we are unable, at first, to foster except by this means.

An Intellectual Attack against Imitation
In today's society, the youthful urge to imitate is not spontaneous. There is much attention on films, clubs, and competitive sport. Are there, in the face of this focus, alternatives for Islamic workers to direct youth to the proper role models and imitation?
We must undertake an intellectual revolution against imitation as a principle and in its various forms. This means we must show its negative adverse points which the rising generation have adopted through imitation. Then, we must attempt at the same time to create specific means which grab the interest of our youth in their daily lives and in a positive manner-so that, if there must be imitation, then we will direct them to the proper role models.
The problem of many in the field of education is that they reject a specific form of alternative. When we reject wanton dress, we must not create problems for boys and girls who adopt new wear. We must seek to present alternative clothing that could grab the attention of the men and women, but in a way that agrees with Islamic moral values in this area of human life.
And when we ban pornographic movies, we must not close the doors of production of films altogether, but rather produce films of social, moral, or political value that attracts youths to the fine arts; so that these films do not have less quality than other comparable films and so that youths do not feel a void in this area of interest.

Should imitation of the West be limited to certain conditions only?
It is normal that when we study other peoples' practices, whether academically, intellectually, or in the workplace, we must separate between these practices and Islamic guidelines. If we see something in the West which does accord with the general Islamic outlook, we must benefit from it-on the basis that it represents the positive values once practiced by our predecessors, but which we do not find in our Islamic world today, the conditions having become too far different. If, however, these practices corrupt our fundamental Islamic understanding-for example, with respect to the absolute freedom present in the West, or some similar trend-then we must study the factors which distinguish Islamic from Western values. We cannot completely reject the West or the world.
We believe that the world contains things to learn from; we have things the world can learn from us. The world offers many good things for us, and we have many good things for the world. Our Islamic tenet is that we must learn from everyone or from every place: "Seek knowledge, even in China." "Wisdom is the cherished goal of a believer." But we must choose what we learn, in order not to abandon that in which we place our faith.