A comparative study of Western and Islamic lifestyles

RNA – “Lifestyle” is one of the concepts of social sciences that has received a lot of ‎attention recently. This concept reflects individual or social tendencies and values. In fact, ‎‎the lifestyle of each individual and influential society is of the type of beliefs (worldview) and ‎values (ideology) that govern that individual and society. Material worldviews and hedonistic ‎and profit-oriented values naturally create a particular lifestyle, just as the divine worldview ‎and perfectionist and blissful values shape a particular way of life. In other words, the ‎lifestyle of each person is influenced by his goals or the ultimate goal.

In this regard, all the divine and human schools claim to offer a superior lifestyle, and ‎modern human beings, in parallel with the growth of technology, are in a state of turmoil of ‎this school of thought. At the same time, Islam, as the most perfect heavenly religion, ‎offers a new way of life according to the precious verses of the Holy Quran, the tradition of ‎the Prophet and the Imams, so that human beings can achieve eternal growth and ‎excellence in the light of this way of life. The importance of this issue in Islam is such that it ‎works even for the smallest behaviours, but unfortunately, despite the conscious resistance ‎of the clergy and some religious people, Iranian society is saying goodbye to many of its ‎religious traditions and preparing the ground for Westernization. It must be noted that ‎adhering to the Western way of life is in fact a departure from Islamic law. This is happening ‎easily and to some extent without sensitivity in our society. Since the enemies use every ‎trick in this direction to impose their lifestyle and make it universal, we must be vigilant and ‎redouble our efforts to promote the Islamic lifestyle. Therefore, deep knowledge of the ‎types of life and selection and promotion of the best of these (Islamic lifestyle) that are in ‎accordance with human nature is one of the necessities facing any human society.‎

A variety of lifestyles

Lifestyle is the result of one’s inner values. A set of values is internalized in the person and ‎forces the person to live that way. Therefore, due to the fact that the intellectual coordinates ‎and internalized values of individuals are different, there are different lifestyles. In other ‎words, individuals do not follow the same beliefs and cultural principles, and due to diversity ‎in the modern world, many subcultures can be seen within each cultural system. These ‎subcultures and patterns of behaviour in the past varied depending on racial, religious, ‎ethnic, and class groups, but today the scope of this plurality and diversity is much wider, ‎and human society have been transformed into groups that each, in terms of beliefs, values, ‎attitudes, ideals and needs are different and distinct. These distinctions are manifested in ‎lifestyle and this is how we face different types of lifestyle.‎

The Western lifestyle

The discussion on lifestyle took place in a situation in the Western world where society was ‎socially and structurally stable. In other words, to a large extent, the fields of thought, ‎political action and economic behaviour were ultimately scientific and the belief in stability ‎was clearly defined. In fact, the lifestyle was introduced at the end of the path of Western ‎civilization and the result was Western civilization and late modernity. On this basis, the ‎formation of modern society, the class system, the pattern of consumption and the like in ‎the West is the starting point for the subject and concept of a Western lifestyle. In other ‎words, what is meant by lifestyle in the West is the last stage of its social evolution after ‎going through several stages in the evolution of social ideas, the formation of social ‎structures and systems, the adaptation of different cultural practices and currents and ‎sometimes internal conflicts in the West. The end of modernity comes in the form of the ‎American liberal-capitalist social system at the end of the twentieth century. It is in these ‎special circumstances that lifestyle is defined and used as a special concept to explain the ‎new cultural situation of the people of the West.‎

As mentioned, the lifestyle of each individual and influential society is of the type of beliefs ‎‎(worldview) and values that govern that individual and society and certainly the Western ‎lifestyle is not separate from this category. Material and non-divine worldviews are so ‎prevalent in the West that they are dominated by the behaviour of individuals under the ‎supervision of this worldview. The worldview is based on the attitude of denying God and the ‎resurrection from the universe. In this worldview, the whole universe is summed up in the ‎material and natural worlds. There is no creator with consciousness and perception outside ‎the material world and everything is in this material world and something called nature and ‎God and the other world (resurrection) does not make sense. Man’s existence is summed up ‎in his material existence, which disappears with death or becomes other material ‎components.‎

In the context of the Western way of life, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, ‎Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, said, “Western culture is an aggressive culture, wherever it ‎enters, it destroys the identity of nations. Western culture materializes and nurtures minds ‎and thoughts. The goal of life is money and wealth. Lofty ideals, spiritual ideals and spiritual ‎excellence are removed from the minds, this is the characteristic of Western culture. Another ‎feature of Western culture is the normalization of sin and sexual sins have been normalized. ‎Today, this situation has been scandalized in the West itself, first in the United Kingdom, ‎then in some other countries and the United States, this great sin of homosexuality has been ‎valued! They protest to a politician why he is against homosexuality or against homosexuals! ‎This is Western culture. It is also the collapse of the family, the spread of alcohol and the ‎spread of drugs etc.‎

The Islamic lifestyle

In order to find the best kind of lifestyle, it is necessary to have a model that considers all ‎the cognitive and behavioural components of human beings in the best way and on the ‎other hand, does not disagree with certain scientific findings and sees the world and the ‎hereafter together. The material and spiritual dimensions of humankind must not be ‎neglected. It can be claimed that this is the Islamic way of life.‎

Islam is a religion that covers all aspects of life. It is a religion that has a plan for all stages ‎of life and in all circumstances. In such a way that in the first step, by presenting a special ‎worldview and ideology, it forms the basis of the formation of a religious life and in the next ‎stage, by presenting etiquette, it has special agendas for all aspects of human life. In fact, it ‎seeks to shape a particular type of human life. The moral, legal and jurisprudential guidelines ‎of religion are, in fact, intended to provide a model of a religious and Godly life. The style ‎that has been proposed in the field of clothing, food, makeup, family, neighbours, fellow ‎believers and the followers of other religions, and interdenominational and interfaith ‎interactions and connections in religion, are all to build a religious lifestyle. Since Islam has ‎provided instructions in all areas of human life, if humankind has always considered these ‎instructions in his life and based all aspects of his life on them, in fact, he has acted in ‎accordance with the Islamic way of life.‎

Monotheism is the main basis of the Islamic way of life, under which all other principles, ‎including prophethood, imamate and resurrection take on meaning. When the monotheistic ‎vision overshadows the individual life, all aspects of his life from prayer and worship to ‎business, education, leisure, socializing, health, food, architecture, the art of speaking, ‎production, consumption, physical beauty and the like in this direction are put on this path ‎and gives a divine characteristic to all the details of life. ‎

That is the reason that the Supreme Leader said, “Monotheism is not only a philosophical ‎and intellectual theory but also a way of life for human beings in order for God to rule in ‎your life and to cut off the hands of various powers. ‘La ilaha illa Allah’ [There is no deity but ‎God], which is the main message of our Prophet Muhammad and all the prophets, means ‎that in the life and path of humankind and in the choice of ways of life, the powers of the ‎tyrants and the devils must not interfere. If monotheism is realized in the life of the society ‎of humankind, the world of humankind will also be settled, a world in the service of the true ‎evolution and transcendence of humankind.‎

Comparison of the Islamic and Western lifestyles

Rasa News Agency