Living
in Algeria
Bismillah
I
came to Algeria to make Hijra. Hijra is an Islamic journey,
undertaken for the sake of Allah, where the person intentionally
moves for the sake of Allah and the Rasul (salallahu alayhe wa
salaam). This moving can be just emotionally and may need to be
(conditionally) for those who cannot for one reason or another
physically move to a location that is more acceptable to Allah (a
place where the rules of Allah are applied and (at least) where the
Muslims live in majority and Allah is worshiped publicly as well as
privately).
Ever
since I understood and accepted with all of myself that I will one
day meet Allah and have to give account for every bit of my life, I
had decided to make Hijra to a place where Allah is worshiped
publicly, where His supremacy and sovereign is acknowledged (and
better yet implemented in the rule of law, at least partially), where
Islam is a way of life for the majority, and where opposition of
Allah is minimal or better yet, non existing.
There
is no such place in existence today from what I know but Algeria has
at least some of what I am looking for, and is an acknowledged Muslim
country (as it were!).
I
have been blessed to move here and I'm doing my best to make it a
move of the heart and not just a change of address, something I have
experienced before several times mashallah.
I
have been here now for nearly 1.5 and I officially have a love hate
relationship with the country. My disappointments are of course my
own fault as the country never promised me anything, nor did the
people, nor did reality of the current Muslim Ummah.
The
people here are like the people everywhere else. Some are great and
they are the fewest of course. Some are really hateful and
thankfully, they are also very few comparatively speaking. The
majority are just living their lives, doing their best, sometimes
able to show kindness and sometimes facing disappointments and
difficulties, which affect their hopefully great general nature.
The
country has some good things and has made some great progress
mashallah but it still lags behind as compared to where I was coming
from. Further, it is disappointing to see the nature of the
inhabitants of what I believe could be a really great and progressive
country. People are complacent, the government is mismanaged, and the
youth are all lost in the miasma of the fantasy world created by
world media. In short, there is great potential and very little
realization of it and that is the most disappointing part of all for
me, especially because I expect great things from people who profess
to worship Allah. How can they allow themselves to stagnate thusly? I
really dont know and that part just irks me.
Anyway...
In
the beginning, I wasnt able to tell the difference between my own
failed expectations and the disappointment I was feeling, especially
in light of having invested all I had into making my move.
Then
I realized that I was letting the Shaytan win with his waswasa. I was
being influenced by external and ultimately irrelevant factors
regarding people, the country, building codes, material availability,
etc. I came here with a focus on improving my akhira and here I was
being blindsided with matters of the dunia and letting them get me
down.
Thanks
to some amazing sisters (fellow lovers and worshippers of Allah), I,
alhamdulillah, I'm no longer feeling so blinded. Moving here has
broadened my whole horizon in a way that living in no other country
ever did. The experiences I have so far had and the things I have so
far had to face and deal with are in magnitude probably equal to what
I went through when we first moved to the US.
The
culture of the people, the way they conduct their private vs public
lives, their prejudices and views of the world outside of Algeria,
their expectations of me as a foreigner and a westerner, as a
Muslimah with a somewhat different understanding and practice of
Islam from them... it is all very different and somewhat unexpected
for me.
So
the first year has been difficult, spent questioning my initial
decision to move here, my sanity if I remain here, the strength of my
principles and values against the tidal wave of the prevalent
cultural norms here in Algiers, etc.
I
have to admit that for a time there things were shaky but Allahu
Musta'an and He has helped us to adjust, and to find the needed
strength to keep digging our roots here, and He nourishes us from
sources unexpected and deeply valued.
My
conviction for my move here has been strengthened after experiencing
a period of shakiness. I know why I moved here. It wasnt to live with
Algerians because they are particularly special people. It wasnt to
find Islam embeded in the soil and manners of the people of this
country. It wasnt to expose my children to amazing role models who
can be found only in Algeria or only from the Algerian culture.
Not
in the least.
I
came to a Muslim majority country, where I can practice my Islam
openly and without fear, or a shadow of persecution, where my
children will have access to a rich Islamic culture and an Islamic
environment (diluted as it is), as well as exposure to the Arabic
language.
The
bonuses were that my husband's family is here and the blessings of
family cannot be understated or under estimated, no matter the
differences of opinions in various things. I want my children to grow
up with family and since mine is scattered in the world, and his is
all in one place, it makes me happy and thankful to take advantage of
such a blessing alhamdulillah. Other bonuses are exposure to several
languages like French and Kabyl (a Berber language), a more central
location world travel wise, offering easy access to Europe, to
Tanzania/Zanzibar (a place we hope to travel to often, to the Middle
East proper for Hajj/Umra and general visiting, and not an unbearable
journey to the US to visit family & friends there:)
With
this kind of outlook, living here becomes worship and the struggles
faced a means to learn patience and earn hasanat inshallah. No one is
promised a life of ease, no matter where they live, nor complete
fulfillment, no matter what their provisions are. The rich struggle
as much as the poor, just differently, and the healthy struggle as
much as the sick,again just differently. Living is struggling, from
the simple to the most complicated. If I keep in mind what my
ultimate goal is and strive for it, facing forward, keeping my feet
moving, never giving up, and doing my measly (absolute is beyond me
for the moment, maybe forever) best at every chance, then I will
arrive at my chosen destination inshallah...
