I’ve always been a fan of trying something new and making new friends along the way.  Moving to Manchester, I did my fair share of networking, and fair play, met some great friends who are always up for a Nando’s.  But as things fell into a routine, work, gym, and the odd bit of socialising, I felt that I needed something more. And so I stumbled across Mecca via Wall Street, an event that promised to present solutions to life’s journey, answering questions that puzzle all of us in times of self-doubt:

1. Who am I?
2. What is the purpose of my life?
3. Does my career weaken my religious identity?
4. Am I pretending to be someone that I am not?
5. Does being religious mean the end of having fun?
6. Can I be religious without being labelled an extremist?
7. Why don’t my elders understand me?

Ok, the first two questions were a little too deep for me to find the answers to in one evening, but the rest addressed issues that I toyed with on more than one occasion.

Never mind being a British Muslim, being a British Asian can sometimes be hard work.  Growing up, I was practically the ‘only brown in the village’, and it was often tough going when you were one of the few not downing cider at the age of 14 in the park. Unfortunately, the speaker, a fantastically powerful and eloquent Shaykh Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi - founder of the Hijaz Group, which organised the event - couldn’t draw upon this issue in great detail, as many of the audience, first generation Asians themselves, couldn’t relate to such a futile predicament.  Instead Shaykh Siddiqi focussed on the subject of integration and balance between Islamic faith and corporate greed.  He referred to how we are constantly working, working, working, for little return.  Shaykh Siddiqi talked of how our parents, work so hard to build houses we hardly live in, and crucially, how our parents slave away to build a house in the homeland, that they can only really enjoy in death.  The murmuring of agreement in the hall proved that most guests, myself included, echoed his sentiments.

Shaykh Siddiqi, a strong advocate of community cohesion, talked of how we needed to do more for our neighbours, not just our Asian friends.  He mentioned how he now only works two days a week, and spends the rest working in the community and spending time with family (an example I couldn’t follow on my current salary).  Shaykh Siddiqi’s words did bring a few home truths to however.  After all, far too many of us (and our elders are guilty of instilling this virtue) think that if we pray, fast when necessary, and hold down a successful job, our work here is done.  Yet we pay little attention to the homeless in the street, or look the other way when someone looks lost or in distress.  Society doesn’t actively encourage cohesion, so we keep ourselves to ourselves.  Somehow it’s better that way, safer.   But perhaps if we didn’t turn the other cheek, there’d be less antisocial behaviour, less Islam-phobia, and an all round nicer environment.

Mecca via Wall Street is currently being held at venues across the country.  For further information, please visit http://www.meccaviawallst.com/

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