Family matters are extremely important. The functional family is a chief pillar of society, functioning as major cells that make up a society. This notion does not mean that if a cell [family] is healthy other parts of society will also become healthy, or if it is unhealthy other parts of society will become unhealthy. Rather, healthy cells mean a healthy body. Our body is nothing but a collection of small cells. Any functioning organ is made up of a collection of cells. If we manage to keep healthy the cells that make up an organ, we will ensure the vitality of that organ: this metaphor reveals how important the family is.
It is impossible for an Islamic society to progress in the absence of healthy, lively and dynamic families. In particular, it is impossible to make progress in the absence of ideal families when it comes to cultural matters, and certain other matters, that are not cultural in nature. Therefore, the family is an essential building block in any society. It may be argued that there is progress in the West in spite of the breaking up of families. The breakup of family units in the West, whose manifestations increase on a daily basis, will take its toll on Western societies. We must not expect to see the consequences too soon. The effects of global and historical events do not reveal themselves instantly: they appear gradually; already some of their effects have been revealed.
At a time when the West achieved several advancements, the family unit was intact. Moral principles were once observed in men-women relationships: of course, not Islamic like. Someone who is more familiar with the West can confirm this account both about Europe and America. Observing moral principles within man-woman relationships, modesty, and avoiding slander: these principles used to be observed once in the West. Immoral actions appeared gradually in the West. The ground was prepared, and things began to deteriorate arriving at the present day situation. The current situation in the West will bring about a very bitter and hard future for Westerners.
Today, one of the main issues in Western countries, which brought about an extremely adverse situation for people, concerns family. Thus, a man who advocates for family appears an ideal and chaste man, in the eyes of the Western populations, in particular women in the West. Why? Because they suffer from instability in the foundation of the family; this is because, in the West, family --a source for men and women, especially women, which provides a safe and assuring environment-- is gone. Many families are dysfunctional. Many women live alone until the end of their lives. Men cannot find their "ideal" or desired woman, and many marriages are broken only after a few years.
The deep roots and bases of a family, as they exist in Iranian society, are found on a much smaller scale in the West. It is very rare, in the West today big families, where grandparents, grandchildren, cousins and all relatives are connected: even spouses are not close enough. This is a calamity that has been brought about before a human society by transgressions and extreme movements that were meant to counter the other extremes: the most common victim, of this decline, is the Western woman.
October 22, 1997
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