Nationality, Culture, Religion: Time and Place

By Shwan Dizayee:

As night falls on this side of the world, tomorrow begins on the other. Going into the usual deep thought before bed, I realise that the only difference between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ is Time and Place. With time often comes different intensities of growth, wisdom, maturity, understanding and progression. With place comes environmental conditioning, social norms, taboos and different moral codes.

It is abundantly clear that some countries and societies are far more advanced than others, in time. Consequently a different mind-set and way of life is noticeable, in place.

Time and Place are the reasons for culture clashes and political/religious debates. What seems ‘weird’ and ‘abnormal’ to some is everyday routine to others.

The importance of all this comes to surface when asked the question: ‘How can you be a British, Kurdish Muslim?’

At face value, Time and Place would reply that these three attributes are contradictory to each other and therefore cannot exist in harmony within a totality.

I am a British, Kurdish Muslim. I have a British citizenship. I never formally gave my Oath of Allegiance, Affirmed my Allegiance, or gave my Pledge; it was a birth right for me. I was brought to life by a couple from Iraqi-Kurdistan (of Iranic descent), who happened to be followers of one of the oldest Abrahamic Religions: Islam. This gave life to a timeline of clashes and complications, which haven’t been fully encountered yet, one of these being the way you judged the writer of this article before even reading it.

‘Nationality, Culture, Religion’: insisting that a hierarchical set-up was intentional in order to state the importance of one, compared to the other two. Take it as ‘Culture, Nationality, Religion’ or ‘Religion, Nationality, Culture’ or feel free even to put ‘Nationality’ last. It does not deviate from the fact that, without these three, working differently but towards a common goal – me: I wouldn’t be who I am today.

I am not boasting about who I am, nor am I underrating this. It can be taken merely as a statement deriving from the basis of Plato’s(427-347 BC) ‘Cause and Effect’ theory. I am somewhat of a clown, trying to juggle these three attributes wherever I go and in everything I do. I feel that it is so easy to slip out of one and conform to another unconsciously throughout my daily ventures. One way I personally have come to terms with the differences and contradictions in my life is to see the best in each attribute, and incorporate this into my life in a compartmentalizing way.

As examples: from my nationality, I have taken the importance of time management and meeting appointments ‘on the dot’; from my culture, I have taken the importance of family and caring for them; and from my religion I have taken the importance of being a good, obedient person and being content with what I have.

These three examples don’t seem to clash unless deeply looked into. They have been ‘compartmentalized’ whereby each factor works separately, but towards a common goal. I believe that for a multi-national, cultural and religious society, this is the best way to approach the synchronisation of Nationality, Culture and Religion.

Shwan Dizayee is a 20 year old student currently studying Chemical Engineering in the United Kingdom where he resides with his family. He hopes to return to Kurdistan one day, where he feels most at home, in order to help provide for his people whose culture and tradition have helped shape who he is today.