American Muslim

Luxury vs. Necessity

Asalaam Alaikum (Peace be with you),

In the last year, I have conducted a social experiment of sorts on the nature of luxuries vs. necessities. This has partly been inspired by wanting to live a lifestyle more congruent with nature - rather than wholly dependent on duniya or material positions - and partly because I want to really see what I need in my life to be happy. So, although I have a car now, I did not have one from July 2008 to March 2009. And even now, I still walk a lot and use the car as sparingly as possible. Also, I still do not have a t.v., a laptop (it was stolen) or Internet access at home and I am happy about giving those things up.

But, where I am possibly going in a more extreme direction is seeing how long I can go this summer without turning on the A/C in my apartment. It will be June 1st in about 20 minutes and till now, wallahi (I swear) I have yet to use the airconditioning at my place. I will admit that I am trying to keep my electricity bill low - it really spiked in the winter due to heating - but I am also curious: can I live without A/C? Today I almost caved in when my thobe (long shirt from the Middle East) was literally stuck to my body while praying dhuhr and asr (second and third daily prayers). But decided to duke it out and see if I can do it.

If anything, this whole experience has actually made me homesick for India and the frequent powercuts of my youth in Chennai (Madras). I hope to be there in early August so maybe I should continue to spend the summer without A/C at home and just prepare myself physically for India. We shall see ...

I am off to Daytona Beach tomorrow for the Advanced Placement (AP) Reading and I hear it is 88'. Should be more practice for India ...