Effects Migration has on Religion

     After reading the novel " Exit West " by Mohsin Hamid, I started to reflect on what in the book stood out to me the most. Throughout the book we follow the story of Saeed and Nadia, two young adults who find love during a violent time in their country. It takes a magical turn when suddenly these doors that can take you to any country instantly appear. As this starts happening more and more refugees are beginning to go through these doors to find new homes and discover what else is out there. They often are looking to leave due to war or poverty in their countries. Saeed and Nadia begin to experience this and decide to go on an adventure through these doors in order to find an escape from the current war in their country. Upon this they also start to grow feelings for one another, throughout the novel they face many challenges as a couple and with others.

     One important issue that I thought a lot about after reading the novel was religion. Throughout the novel we see how different Nadia and Saeed are with religion. Nadia doesn't really practice it because she begins to not see the point or feels different towards it. Saeed starts out not really practicing other then with his parents but then soon changes his mind and ends up dedicating himself to feel more close to his homeland. This is what made me think about other migrants and how their religion changes through their change in homeland. How does it affect them, does it even affect their views on religion, do many practice it or do many stop because they feel different towards it?

     In the article " Spreading the Faith: How Migration Changes Religion " it focused on how migration affects religion. The author speaks of how religion doesn't seem to weaken but to grow stronger. The more people move around the more their religion begins to impact them and make them actually practice it more. It also helps them make more connections to others and form communities based on their religion. Many different places of worship have been established due to the vast amount of migrants that brings their religion with them. From the novel it is easy to see how this could happen since Saeed was invested in his religious background and was able to make connections with others based on this factor. I think their is a large amount of countries that practice different forms of religion and the more refugees that enter different countries the more widespread their religion will be. This just shows how beneficial refugees can be in introducing new forms of religion into different countries where their religion may not be practiced.

     " Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life."
                                                                                                                - Budda