On a collision course

The sight of two Somalian women crossing a street yesterday sparked zillion thoughts in my mind. They were both pushing their prams, which contained their tiny infants in them. Huddled around them were at least eight small children. Their own, I’m sure, as pairs of four each were sticking close to their mothers, and through their heights and facial structures, you could make out the siblings were born after at least a gap of one year.

The women couldn’t have been more than thirty, and yet, they were already burdened with five children. How many more were in the pipeline?

Both the women were wearing Hijabs, scarves that cover their heads, in keeping with their Islamic tradition. The tradition or its laws also bar them from using any kind of contraceptives, and in fact encourages them to produce as many children as they can, so that one day, the world will be filled with the children of Allah.

This certainly will not help the rising population rate of Britain.

Also, this is in sharp contrast with the current trend in the white British society – wanton plunge into debauchery, but a sharp decline in the birth rate. In fact, as I walked away from them, turning back to see if the Somalians had crossed the street safely, my mind delved ever deeper into thoughts of how different the Islamic society were from the mainstream British society. The recent arrest of terrorists also accentuated my thought process.

These Somalians are all immigrants, like many Pakistanis, or Arabs, who’ve come here. After many years, they’ve all acquired British citizens. Yet, only in papers they are British. In reality, they and their children, who are born here, put more effort into preserving their own Somalian identity than learning to be British. Ask them, and they will openly confess. They are Muslims first and foremost, then only other things. I wonder where in their list being a British will appear.

I’m a human being first. A citizen of the world.

Everybody knows a true Muslim doesn’t drink, adultery is a crime, which can be punishable by death in Kuran. In mainstream British society, every event is bibulous. With inebriation, salacity is the natural course.

Also, the British society stands for human rights, freedom of speech, equality for all race, religion and sex. In Islamic society, a book that is over two thousand years old dictates their freedom of speech. We all know what happened to the Danish cartoons.

The more you analyse, the more you’ll see just how opposing the two societies are. No wonder they can’t co-exist together. Ghettos of migrant community, sprinkling in urban areas, shouldn’t surprise anybody. But the economic boom Britain is experiencing, is keep the simmering tension from exploding. A down spiral of the financial fortune will undoubtedly see riots and the divide widen.

So just what is the solution? I don’t know. Maybe survival of the fittest. You talk to British Muslims and they’ll confidently say Islam is here to say. They want to turn Britain into an Islamic state, by mass conversion. You show them interest in their religion when you’re conversing with them and every Muslims will fire volleys upon volleys of preaching. They give examples of converts, boxers like Mike Tyson, Danny Williams, singers like Cat Stevens. Neil Armstrong.

The British society meanwhile hopes for greater understanding. Co-existence. Multiculturalism. Equal opportunity.

I hope it happens. But I’m a doubter.