Who Are We, Really?
The deepest question of the last 200 years: Why did the East stop being itself?
A Story of Imitation: What We Lost in the Name of Modernity
In the 19th century, the Western wind swept across the East not as an idea, but as an ultimatum. Under the banner of modernization, societies that once held rich traditions were alienated from their own history, culture, and faith.
They didn’t choose to imitate the West — they were made to feel they had no choice.
This imitation brought neither development nor peace. It only deepened the identity crisis that still haunts the East today.
Between Faith and Ideology
Religion, once the spiritual compass of Eastern societies, was either turned into a tool of political control or discarded as a relic of the past.
And when faith collapses, values collapse with it.
Justice, compassion, loyalty — these became hollow words, buried in outdated sermons or nostalgic poems.
Nation? Ummah? Individual?
The people of the East were torn between clashing identities.
Are you Sunni or Shia? Arab or Kurd? Laic or conservative? A nation-state or a global community?
No one could say, “I am simply a human being,” because the question was never allowed to be that simple.
Maps Drawn, Spirits Erased
The new borders were not just lines on a map — they were invisible walls in people’s minds.
New countries were not formed by the will of the people, but by Western interests.
Whoever had oil, ports, or strategic value became a “priority region” for colonizers.
And the most painful question of all began to echo:
Where do I belong? To this country? This passport? This language? This bloodline?
The Youth Are Not Blind
Today, a new wave of questioning is rising. Young generations are not buying into the false promises of Western freedom, nor are they blindly loyal to rigid traditional systems.
They are searching — in faith, in art, in activism, in silence.
And maybe, just maybe, that search holds the seed of the East’s true awakening.
Identity is Not a Document, It’s an Echo in the Soul
The last 200 years brought the East many things — but not clarity.
We still cannot answer the most basic question: Who are we?
And that answer will never be found in a Western model, a foreign policy paper, or a passport.
Identity is not what’s written on paper.
It’s what echoes when you’re finally quiet enough to hear yourself.
Fragmented Maps, Stolen Identities
The West's first real move in the East wasn’t made with bombs — it was made with maps.
The fall of the Ottoman Empire wasn’t just the end of a state; it was the collapse of a civilizational memory.
And the West knew exactly what it was doing.
They didn’t attack the core first.
They struck the arteries:
Baghdad, Hejaz, Cairo: Severing the Veins
Baghdad — the spine of civilization.
Hejaz — the heart of Islam.
Cairo — the brain of scholarship.
Each of these centers was torn from the Ottoman domain. The British backed the Saudis in seizing Hejaz, Cairo fell to French and then British influence, and Baghdad became a base for British oil interests.
These weren’t just cities. They were symbols.
But instead of sanctity, they were redefined by strategy and extraction.
Balkans and Yemen: The War Within
The Balkans were first separated, then provoked, then turned into a war zone of identities.
Muslim, Christian, Slavic, Albanian, Turkish — people who once lived in harmony became blood enemies through Western manipulation.
Yemen, too, was dissected. The British and French split it north and south. Tribes were pitted against each other. What we now call a “civil war” was seeded a century ago.
Africa: Maps Without Meaning, Borders Without Mercy
In Africa, colonizers drew borders with a ruler and a red pen — slicing through tribes, languages, and ancient cultures.
Enemies were locked in together; brothers were torn apart.
Today, many African children speak the language of their colonizer, not their ancestors.
Language, faith, culture, memory — all were repressed.
In their place came a borrowed identity, enforced by foreign schools, flags, and currencies.
Sovereignty on Paper, Dependency in Practice
The new countries created by colonialism had flags, anthems, and seats at the UN.
But their borders weren’t drawn by dreams — they were drawn by oil routes.
Their laws weren’t written by their thinkers — they were copied from Europe.
As a result, identity became tangled in a web of contradictions:
“Am I loyal to my nation, my tribe, my sect, my language, my class… or my colonizer’s system?”
Internal Fragmentation: Not Just Physical, But Psychological
The real fracture wasn’t just territorial. It was personal.
Sunnis versus Shias. Arabs versus Kurds. Local people versus foreign-educated elites.
These were not organic rivalries.
They were engineered — then internalized.
Even within one family, two generations can now speak different languages, wear different clothes, and hold conflicting worldviews.
People don’t just look at each other as strangers anymore.
They look at themselves and feel foreign.
A Human With a Name, But No Sense of Belonging
Today’s Eastern individual has a name, a passport, and a flag — but no rooted sense of who they are.
Their ID card says “citizen,” but their soul whispers “outsider.”
Their faith is inherited, but unpracticed.
Their history is glorified, but unknown.
The West reshaped borders.
The East lost its memory.
The Exile Within: Identity Crisis of the Individual
Borders were redrawn, empires collapsed, ideologies shifted.
But the deepest wound inflicted by the last 200 years wasn’t political.
It was personal.
The real loss wasn’t territory — it was the loss of self.
People With Names, But No Direction
Millions across the East speak their native tongue — but no longer think in it.
They follow a religion — but rarely feel spiritually connected to it.
They live under a flag — but feel no pride in it.
A new kind of human has emerged:
One who doubts their own reflection.
They want to live like the West — but they aren’t Western.
They want to remain Eastern — but their identity has been hollowed out.
Souls Dressed in Western Costumes
Smartphones, social media, luxury malls, English brand names — these things wrap Eastern life in a Western shell.
But inside, there’s a silent collapse.
An Arab girl tries to look like a Parisian influencer.
A Turkish boy mimics a Hollywood star.
But neither the influencer nor the star could survive in their world.
Everyone imitates someone — but no one is truly themselves.
From Faith to Filters: The Vacuum of Meaning
When religion became corrupted or oppressive, it wasn’t replaced by deeper understanding — but by shallowness.
Today’s youth are drawn to:
-
energy healing,
-
astrology,
-
crystals,
-
cosmic spirituality,
-
gender experimentation,
-
cultural nihilism…
Not because they are foolish,
but because traditional faith systems stopped giving real answers — and modern ones never tried.
So they float.
The Generation That Belongs Nowhere
Belonging isn’t about citizenship or paperwork.
It’s about having a story you are proud to inherit.
But what story do we offer our children now?
History books are filled with wars, dictatorships, and debt.
We don’t say:
“You come from wisdom, from strength, from meaning.”
Instead, we say:
“Graduate. Get a job. Use this app. Move abroad if you can.”
And so they become exactly what the system wants:
A generation with motion, but no direction.
Is There a Way Back?
This is the hardest question:
Can we recover what we lost?
The answer is painful — but clear:
You cannot go forward until you return to yourself.
This is not about bringing back sultans or restoring old empires.
It’s not about nostalgia.
It’s about real internal restoration:
-
knowing who you are,
-
knowing where you come from,
-
facing the ugly truths,
-
and choosing your path with eyes wide open.
Identity Isn’t Retrieved — It’s Rebuilt
We said in part one: Identity was lost.
In part two: It was taken and fractured.
Now, in part three:
It must be rebuilt.
No one will hand it back.
It won’t be given by a government or a religious leader.
It will be built — piece by piece — by individuals who dare to ask:
Who am I, really?
Final Words: A Mirror Ignored Reflects Nothing
The East doesn’t look in the mirror anymore.
It only looks at others.
And so, it forgets its own face.
It’s time to take the mirror back.
To stop trying to resemble the world — and start becoming whole again.
Yorumlar
Yorum Gönder