Aftab 1

Family history reflection paper

Everyone has their own unique characteristics and personalities, yet we all are unified
and under one identity as humans. But we have still yet managed to differentiate ourselves
into religion, races, caste, and whatnot. In Pakistan, there is a strong emphasis on the caste
system and many people hold on dearly to their caste identity. This may be due to the fact
that caste system is relatively one of the smaller divisions systems and thus a lesser
population is of one caste as compared to race or religion; which I think helps a person feels
unique in a manner.

My family belongs to the Shaikh caste. Contrary to popular belief, the Sheikh is not
an Arab caste, rather it is just the word where it originates from. The Arabic word Sheikh was
used to refer to leaders or a respected elder and as such, it is usually confused with the shaikh
caste, which is a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. My
grandfather was amoung those who migrated from India to Pakistan. However, my father
spent most of his time growing up in Peshawar with Pathaans, so much so that he learned
Pashto and adopted the Khan surname. However, in my generation, we no longer have strong
bonds to our ethnic and ancestral identities and thus chose to drop our caste names and
willingly have our father's name as our surname. It is much preferred to us that we be
identified as Muslims rather than our cast. Growing up in Saudi Arabia all my life, which is
considered an ideal Muslim country in this era. I was much more embued to my religion than
anything else as in a country like Saudi Arabia, it was much more than a religion. It is
integrated into the lifestyle, culture, and studies there. So my family had built an attachment
to our religious identity as Muslims.

My Identity as a Pakistani is one I'm close too as well. Even tho I never lived in
Pakistan and coming over here for University is the first time I'm doing so, I still have a
strong longing for Pakistan. We always visited Pakistan every summer vacation and were
there every 14th August and celebrated every Independence day with patriotism. I always felt
so proud, whenever we would wake up early and go watch Pakistan march off against India
at the Wagha border. It was also my decision to come study in Pakistan rather than abroad
even though I had the opportunity to do so. However, over the years, especially with the
current economical and environmental status of the country, I have noticed that my passion
has been fading and that is the case not only for me but for many others too; with much fewer
houses being decorated with every Independence Day and I just can't feel the same energy on
 Aftab 2

this day anymore. I feel as if the older I am growing the further I drift away from my identity
as a Pakistani but at the same time my bond to religion strengthens; thus I find myself more
comfortable identifying with my religion. Also as I mentioned before I believe in unity and
it's wonderful that as Muslims, we practice Islam which is all about peace and unity. I love
that it opposes the feeling of uniqueness provoked by the caste system which can lead to
things like segregation of people and the subconscious hierarchy which further divides us
more. As opposed to that being Muslims tells us we are all the same and brings us all together
and is much more of a vast group of 1.9 billion people brought under the same umbrella
under the name of religion as opposed to 221 million people brought together in the name of
Pakistan.

In the end, religion unifies people much more than nationalism does. Furthermore, I
see Islam as the path to a perfect life. Also, religion has not been as such the reason behind
any huge wars unless like nationalism which has caused world wars. The feeling of unity
obviously drives me closer towards being a Muslim, but that is not to disregard my identity
with Pakistan. My patriotism is still very much alive and I would be ready to give my life for
Pakistan any day, but this goes without saying that I will give my life for Islam any second
and so I would prefer to be identified as a Muslim over being a Pakistani and I would think if
someone were to know me he would feel about me the same.