As-salamu alaykum,
In the younger years of my life, I grew up in an Island Kingdom in the Middle East. Bahrain; A few miles off the coast of Saudi Arabia, in all the rich & vast beauty of the pristine blue waters of the Persian Gulf; Bahrain, simply hearing her name brings joy to my heart. I was born and raised in Al Bahrain; The land of the beautiful, the land of pearls.
I was raised a Roman Catholic by religious parents, but I loved Islam more than my religion. But it never even occurred to me that I will end up in neither of them. Life took me to a state of skepticism, of reason & of science; it took me, to Atheism.
In Islamic thought, pearls symbolize perfection and completeness of the soul, light & truth, richly rewarded in Paradise. The Middle Eastern affection for the pearl is enshrined in the Koran’s description of Paradise where:
“The stones are pearls and jacinths; the fruits of the trees are pearls and emeralds; and each person admitted to the delights of the celestial kingdom is provided with a tent of pearls, jacinths, and emeralds; is crowned with pearls of incomparable luster, and is attended by beautiful maidens resembling hidden pearls.”
These words symbolize the perfect world, a final resting place Allah has prepared for his followers. But hidden amongst those pretty lines are two important things. “..is provided with a tent of pearls” & “..beautiful maidens resembling hidden pearls.” You might be thinking, “Is Allah offering women if you follow his words?” Well, your thoughts are correct!! But I do not wish to talk about Allah being a pimp (I use that word very carefully & with maximum amount of respect I can gather, to the religion I used to love) in this post. What I wish to emphasis is the word HIDDEN in “..beautiful maidens resembling hidden pearls” . These lines were put there by the person who wrote it (the said-to-be Allah’s words), purposefully to make it clear that woman in heaven HIDE their beauty. And therefore, all of Allah’s female creations on earth must also hide under a veil.
There are many lines in the Qur’an that underline the importance of woman hiding their faces, forbidding entrance to Mosques, Circumcision & almost complete crushing any self respect left in them. Most of the woman think its good and they bravely say “we like it“, which is of course, true, to them because they have never been outside it to know the difference. Its almost like the famous quote “A brainwashed person does not realize the fact that she was brainwashed”. In the present day, 98% of all Arabic woman in Islamic countries & kingdoms hide their pretty faces, never to be seen in public. Their men are the only ones allowed ever to set eyes upon their beautiful faces.
Quite often, we come across statement like, Hijab is a way of exemplifying a woman, not demeaning her. Are you sure about this?
Let me tell you why I decided to talk about Islam, Bahrain & Me. I attended the Indian School of Bahrain as a young one all the way through Junior high. This was not an Indians exclusive school, there were children from all of India & Bahrain as well. I used to have a friend at school, she used to sit beside me in most of the classes & we used to find each other in the same class as we moved up the grades. Her name was Noor.
She was one of my favorite (only) girl-who-is-a-friend at school. She was one of the happy ones, always talking and always doing something at her desk. She would often switch to arabic automatically without thinking & I would be completely lost in the conversation and I’d have to use Arabic Sign Language to tell her that she lost me. She would often burst out laughing or just sit there with a wide grin like kids trying to hide, with a smile, what they did wrong. She was fun. But it all changed pretty soon.
It was the first day at 8th Grade & as always, I sat all the way at the back. I wasn’t able to find Noor anywhere in the class. But I heard her name being called out in the roll and I noticed a little girl under a black veil raise her hand from a desk in front. I didn’t realize it was her until recess. It was not just the head scarf that arab girls usually wear, she had most of her face covered, and the long scarf was untidier than everyone else’s, covering the top of her uniform. The niqab or burqah type veil (face covering) is not a necessary nor beneficial component of Islamic life, but she wore it to class everyday.
One day in class, I got into a very intense discussion with one of her girlfriends. She was pretty angry at me for asking Noor to take her veil off. If I remember correctly, Noor’s friend told me: (Its kinda hard thinking 6 years back, so please bear with me)
I love my hijab. It loves me. I wear it because God asked me. not any person. God has good enough reasons.
There! Now how can you argue with that?? There wasn’t any thing I can say to change her mind. Months passed and Noor stopped talking to any of the boys or even me. She was always huddled together with her girlfriends. But I often called her at night (She wasn’t allowed to use the phone much) and we would often talk about the day. She would break into tears most of time while on the phone, about how her dad pushed her to things she didn’t like. I have never seen her cry, but I felt the sorrow in her voice. I couldn’t honestly look at her in school, I was helpless. There was always a broken heart inside that I never realized. She loved science, maybe she would have become an Atheist if it wasn’t for her society and family.
Her dad was a very religious person. He even talked to her Arabic teacher (I think Arabic lessons are a must for Muslims as their second language) to make sure She, doesn’t talk to boys, wears her veil all the time and lived in fear of Allah. I even doubt that he had other girls as spies in class. I just wish to remember one single line that my friend said sometime back, “I have to wear it because of my parents. I don’t want to wear it.” – That’s the truth. That’s where her dad & mom should see the light, in their daughters black pearl eyes.
I left my friend, school and childhood back in Bahrain when I flew back to India in year 2000. I hope all is well with you Noor, hope you find strength in this unjust world filled with people who never try to understand you.
The funny thing is, Noor means “Light” in Arabic
| Disclaimer: I’m not here to wage a war on Islam or go against their rusted old traditions that date back to a time when they had to wear veils in Deserts. I’m just here to let the world know about the silent voice of few new teenage minds. I’m here for my friend in another religion. This is just an entry about one arabic girl. I’m sure not all arabic parents are this strict. but still, It breaks my heart to see the beautiful faces hidden under a black piece of cloth. to see voices being muted & lights being turned off in the name of religion. I’m sure, if god existed, he would approve of his beautiful creatures to walk free. |
ila l-liqa (So long, Until the next time)
Source: Original post on my personal website
Thats really sad. I hope things worked out for her.
Great first post and welcome to TJW.
Hey Hannah! This is not my first post. Click my name to see previous posts of mine [Author#9 AnswerMan]. Whats the matter? we have talked before thru comments. forgot Moi ?
Thanks for the comment. I just wish she is in good health. its kinda hard for such a girl to live in biased world.
Ruben The AnswerMan
Sorry
Wa Alekum Al Salam, I would really kindly request you to explain the link between what people want to wear in the name of religion or in the name of fashion or in the name of my personal freedom and the existence of God?!!So if all of us are going to be running naked in the streets does that prove the existence of God?!!
Congrats! you missed the point by a mile.
AM
“I’m sure not all arabic parents are this strict. but still, It breaks my heart to see the beautiful faces hidden under a black piece of cloth. to see voices being muted & lights being turned off in the name of religion”
The idea is that you do not have a right to be looking at these girls/women in that manner (no matter how beautiful they are) out of respect for them. Why shouldn’t they cover their bodies and their faces? Why should men be able to ogle at their bodies? Unless she is your wife, you have no right. Would you want other men checking out your wife (you’re probably the type who would actually). My wife is for me to enjoy, why should anyone else see what i see?
The thing i really, really, really don’t get is, if you supposedly cared for her so much, how can u not respect her religion. She may have been too young/too much of a rebel to understand fully why the hijab is important, but the fact is, it’s her religion, and i from what you’ve said, her religion was never a problem, just her parents views.
Incidentally, it is considered wrong in Islam to force any girl or woman to wear the hijab against her will. She must make the decision to wear it herself. So your frustration should have nothing to do with Islam or God, only her parents.
Of course, be kinda hard to FIND a wife if you can’t even see what they look like. Face the facts, almost every relationship is started with the spark of physical attraction. How is one attracted to a mass of black which completely obscures any of the features that one may find attractive? And it’s not like he was “ogling” your wife. This was a friend of his age within his class which was unmarried. Big difference there.
For the relatively few women that cover their faces, that’s why aranged marriages exist. Note i say arranged (ie. the woman decides for herself), and not forced. Forced marriage rarely happens in the Middle East, it is more South-East Asian culture (nothing to do with religion).
Women are not required to cover their faces, so unless you have the misfortune of being blind, you CAN see what the woman looks like. Surely the face is enough to know if you are attracted to them (i don’t think women or men in Western cultures walk around naked while looking for dates), unless of course you really are so shallow that a beautiful face and a great personality are not enough to at least pursue a possible relationship.
“Face the facts, almost every relationship is started with the spark of physical attraction.”
Almost every relationship in the Western culture maybe. But not in the rest of the world. Some people are attracted by a smile, beautiful eyes, or even, God-forbid, a bit of intelligence, humour and amicable persona. Now don’t get me wrong, being attracted to your life partner is very important. But do you really think that just because you can see the vague shape of a woman’s body you will be physically attracted to her once her clothes are off? She may have deformaties you can’t see, for example. Or horrific scars from burns. Or maybe she is as an ignorant, selfish, stupid, closed-minded psychopath. You won’t know that by looking at her body!
Similarly, and i think most people would agree, you can become physically attracted to the person you intend to be with, through the sheer fact of loving them. You start with liking them as an individual, you like their character, their mind, the way they think…if that goes well, you then become attracted to them as a whole. Flaws and all.
If it was really such a problem finding women in the Middle East, where do you think the children come from? I mean come on seriously, just because it’s not your way doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way.
And i go back to my point in my earlier post – if he supposedly cared about her so much, he should’ve respected her religion and her decesion to respect her parents by wearing the hijab.
Hing,
We (westerners, Americans, Atheists, Secular Humanists) value the right to choose. We abhor being compelled to do anything against our will. This is the foundation of liberty, and the antithesis of tyranny.
In theory, the hijab isn’t a problem: women choose to wear it, and according to you, it is improper for a Muslim to compel another to wear it against their will.
In practice, however, the hijab, is often forced on the woman, removing her right to choose. In at least two predominantly Muslim countries, there are laws requiring women to wear it. Other countries prohibit the practice, also eliminating the right to choose: Turkey does not allow a woman to wear religious garments in public school or government buildings.
Aside from legal requirements, there is a cultural bias against those women who choose not to wear it. They are looked down upon, as heretics, blasphemers…
From a western point of view, the hijab is little more than a device to “keep women in their place”. It is just one of numerous such devices. For instance, it is frowned upon for a married woman to even speak to any male but her husband. In 1990, Saudi Arabia asked the US to keep women from deploying with their units to Desert Shield. They tried to prevent female soldiers from driving, on or off duty. Saudi base commanders tried to prevent US women from using the gym. These were women who left their own families behind to fight and die to protect a foreign country, only to be told “Act like a Muslim woman while you protect our country”.
I agree, ideally, wearing the hijab would be a woman’s choice, and her right in an environment where all people are permitted to worship as they please. There are a few Muslim women in my community who make this choice, and I have no problem with them or their decision.
But the mandate, legal or cultural, strips the religious meaning from the practice. Can you tell the proper, devout Muslim women from the ones who simply wear it to avoid punishment or ridicule? Isn’t it hypocritical to wear a religious garment when you deny the religion?
Tell you what: When it truly becomes a religious statement instead of another sign of rampant sexism, intolerance, and bigotry, get back to me and we can discuss the asinine “spiritual” aspects of the practice.
(Sorry, don’t know how to quote so bear with me):
rivalarrival:
“We (westerners, Americans, Atheists, Secular Humanists) value the right to choose. We abhor being compelled to do anything against our will. This is the foundation of liberty, and the antithesis of tyranny. ”
I agree.
“In theory, the hijab isn’t a problem: women choose to wear it, and according to you, it is improper for a Muslim to compel another to wear it against their will. ”
Not according to me, according to Islam – read the Quran (in English) and the ‘Hadith’. It’s all there. No human is allowed to force another human to do anything.
“In practice, however, the hijab, is often forced on the woman, removing her right to choose.”
Often? How many women do you know have been forced to wear it, out of all the Muslim, hijab-wearing women you know?
They are certainly encouraged, especially at a young age, when they are perhaps less-able to fully understand the rational behind it, but do it anyway out of respect for their parents. They then grow up, understand more about it, and decide for themselves whether to continue wearing it.
But most are not forced, and those that are should not blame the religion, but their own parent’s interpretation of the religion. (And before you argue as to why young girls wear it before they fully understand why they are doing so, it is much either than the other way around. Imagine a 13 year old girl walking into her school (in the Western world) wearing a hijab for the first time – all the questions, finger pointing, name calling and bullying would surely have her out of it in seconds.)
“In at least two predominantly Muslim countries, there are laws requiring women to wear it.”
Which two? It’s only Saudi Arabia that has the law. You shouldn’t judge the whole Muslim world by just one country which has an extreme stance on Islam.
“Other countries prohibit the practice, also eliminating the right to choose: Turkey does not allow a woman to wear religious garments in public school or government buildings.”
True, but what’s your point? This was a political move and nothing to do with religion, and in fact Turkey’s ruling AK party now plan to ease the ban.
“Aside from legal requirements, there is a cultural bias against those women who choose not to wear it. They are looked down upon, as heretics, blasphemers…”
Where do you get this information from? Is it your own view from your own observations? If so, in which country (-ies) have you personally seen this bias? Also, you just contradicted yourself – if Turkey doesn’t allow the hijab to be worn, then surely women who DO try to wear it in schools etc. are the ones that are criticised, not the ones who don’t wear it. You cannot generalise.
I have lived in several Middle Eastern countries over the course of about 12 years (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt, to be precise), and I can’t remember any time that any woman has had any kind of prejudice against her for not wearing a hijab. Ever. Honestly. Obviously all women in Saudi wear a hijab so I would never have known of anything like that there, but I have never known it in the other countries. The Middle East/Arab World, (however you choose to define it) is actually very Westernized (bar Saudi Arabia – and only in this respect). Women are totally free to wear what they want. If a woman wants to wear a miniskirt and skimpy top, she can. She will get stared at and maybe have a few negative comments (or indeed positive comments from some guys), but that’s no different to the Western world. (Slightly off point, but: just due to the nature and culture of Arab men in this day and age, they will stare and make comments at any woman who passes by them – weather she is covered from head to toe, or wearing almost nothing).
“From a western point of view, the hijab is little more than a device to “keep women in their place”. It is just one of numerous such devices.”
Do you think they really care what the Western view is? That is the whole point – the Western world does not understand Islam at all. They read the papers and watch the news and this is where they get their one-sided, erroneous information and brain-washed perspectives from.
“For instance, it is frowned upon for a married woman to even speak to any male but her husband.”
Frowned upon where? In Saudi? Not as far as I know. My wife was certainly allowed to speak to whom ever she wished while we were residing there. In Saudi women have male chauffeurs, male house help , even, shock, male relatives! How do they communicate with them? Sign language? Again you are generalising and it’s really not justified.
You do realise that many women in Saudi Arabia work and have jobs – some of them very high-powered jobs. They have men who work beneath them, or with them, or above them. How do you think they do their job effectively? There may have been a time in Saudi, many years ago, where it was the case that women talking to men was frowned upon, but like every nation and culture, times change.
“In 1990, Saudi Arabia asked the US to keep women from deploying with their units to Desert Shield. They tried to prevent female soldiers from driving, on or off duty. Saudi base commanders tried to prevent US women from using the gym. These were women who left their own families behind to fight and die to protect a foreign country, only to be told “Act like a Muslim woman while you protect our country”.
I’m not going to pretend I know much about this, since I am neither American nor Saudi, but did the US actually comply with these requests? I would very much doubt it. I think it’s more to do with Saudi Arabia’s view of actually protecting and keeping safe the female soldiers, simply for the fact they are female. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but that’s often their way of thinking. I also think that because it was a mixed gym, the women would have been disallowed to use it. Again, I don’t agree with it, but it’s not that they didn’t want them to do their job, just a cultural difference.
Why are you so fixated on Saudi Arabia? The writer was talking about Bahrain. Saudi is only one country, with older traditions, and it is unfair and quite fatuous to paint all Arab countries with the same brush. Do we class all people from Ireland as terrorists just because a few of them detonated bombs in the UK? Do we hate all Spaniards because ETA planted bombs in various locations across Spain? Does the world think all Americans are inarticulate and undereducated just because their President is so?
“I agree, ideally, wearing the hijab would be a woman’s choice, and her right in an environment where all people are permitted to worship as they please. There are a few Muslim women in my community who make this choice, and I have no problem with them or their decision.
But the mandate, legal or cultural, strips the religious meaning from the practice. Can you tell the proper, devout Muslim women from the ones who simply wear it to avoid punishment or ridicule? Isn’t it hypocritical to wear a religious garment when you deny the religion?”
The meaning of the practice I have already explained in an earlier post. Women who choose to wear the hijab, and those that are forced to wear it, are both still fulfilling the reasoning behind it. It is not a statement to proclaim to the world “I am a Muslim woman”, no; it shows modesty, respect (for oneself, one’s elders, and people around you) and shows that whether forced to wear it or not, they should act in a humble and reverential manner.
Furthermore, women who choose to not wear the hijab are not renouncing their religion. Since it is only encouraged and not required to wear a hijab, they are by no means any less a Muslim then a woman who chooses to wear it.
“Tell you what: When it truly becomes a religious statement instead of another sign of rampant sexism, intolerance, and bigotry, get back to me and we can discuss the asinine “spiritual” aspects of the practice.”
It’s funny how it is predominantly the “Western world” (non-Muslims, non-Arabs, Atheists etc) who seem to have the biggest problem with the hijab. If anything, it is this culture that is intolerant to anything different, anything that doesn’t fit it with their politically correct ideologies and nescient, closed-minded views of a perfectly functioning society.
And who said anything about spiritual? It’s about respect and modesty, and seeing the person for who they really are. Wouldn’t it be great if all people were judged simply by their minds and their hearts, rather than their aesthetic features? What a different world that would be.
Hing,
For once, we agree. The reasoning behind the hijab has nothing to do with the woman’s right to choose. It has to do with her subservience alone.
Yeah, that’s why we jail anyone who isn’t a staunch, White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant. That’s why every man is required to carry his King James Bible and fag-beater stick at all the times, every woman must spend most of her time barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, and every unmarried woman is prohibited from wearing anything more than a bra and g-string.
I understand religion. It is perfectly natural for good people to do good things, and bad people to do bad things. But to convince good people to do bad things takes religion. Whether an Abrahamic faith or not, religion exists to enforce ancient stereotypes in the modern world, often with tragic results.
If you really believed this, you would not be fighting for a symbolic representation of a woman’s humbleness and modesty, but instead find it in her heart and mind. Face it, the hijab is an aesthetic feature.
Here’s my real question: Why are a woman’s humbleness and modesty considered “respectful” traits? Would you expect a man to be humble and modest in the same way you expect a woman?
It is the underlying gender inequality that is the problem. The hijab is simply a symbolic expression of that sexism.
rivalarrival:
“Yeah, that’s why we jail anyone who isn’t a staunch, White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant. That’s why every man is required to carry his King James Bible and fag-beater stick at all the times, every woman must spend most of her time barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, and every unmarried woman is prohibited from wearing anything more than a bra and g-string.”
I never said anything about prehistoric cultures, or societies never changing. I said the Western world is not tolerant and totally ignorant to any culture that is different to theirs. A woman covers her hair in a certain way and she is immediately stereotyped and made an outcast. Younger Muslims who choose not to drink alcohol are branded as weird and antisocial. If these people were doing something unlawful or harmful then by all means, criticise them and exclude them from society. But just because they don’t follow the supposedly open-minded Western culture, does not mean that they are restricted, confined and restrained in their own culture.
“I understand religion. It is perfectly natural for good people to do good things, and bad people to do bad things. But to convince good people to do bad things takes religion. Whether an Abrahamic faith or not, religion exists to enforce ancient stereotypes in the modern world, often with tragic results.”
What on earth are you talking about? WHO is convincing WHICH good people to do WHAT bad things?? And what tragic results are you referring to? How much damage can a hijab sitting on a woman’s head do? Because this is, after all, what we discussing.
“If you really believed this, you would not be fighting for a symbolic representation of a woman’s humbleness and modesty, but instead find it in her heart and mind. Face it, the hijab is an aesthetic feature.”
Definition: aesthetic (adj) [es'thetik]
Concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste.
The hijab is a symbol of faith in God. This has many facets. It is not worn in order to make any woman more beautiful or less beautiful; it is recommended in Islam that women wear the hijab for several reasons:-
- showing modesty to one’s own body
- showing modesty to people around you
- respect to parents who would be proud to see their daughter in a hijab
- respect to oneself
- humility
and lastly:
- so that men do not commit sin (i.e. adultery) by being seduced by the beauty of a woman’s features, or indeed committing a crime by simply being aroused by any woman who’s body/figure can be seen.
It is not a symbol to tell the world they are Muslim, nor is it a sign meaning they are less equal than a man.
When a woman chooses to wear a hijab, she doesn’t do so without first giving it a lot of thought and much consideration. It is not a decision that is taken lightly.
Consider a young, single, 20-something woman living in the Western world. She is Muslim. She is a good person as defined by the society she lives in. She is “normal” by society’s standards – she goes out with friends to the movies, to bars and clubs, she has male and female friends, she dresses like any other woman her age would dress in her society. She sometimes swears and has bad thoughts, she likes to have a good bitch about her boss, she likes to light up when she is really stressed, she likes to gossip with her friends about the hot guy who was hitting on her…
Then one day she decides to wear the hijab. This doesn’t just require her placing a cloth on her head. It means she should no longer do some of the things she used to. She shouldn’t go out to clubs and bars, or anywhere that alcohol is consumed; she shouldn’t smoke, have bad thoughts, or swear aloud (of course she is only human so can only do so much), argue in a vicious manner, spread gossip or lies etc etc. She is still allowed to go out and have fun with her friends – both male and female. She is still allowed to dress as she likes, but should be modest in her appearance, i.e. not too much makeup, nothing too tight or revealing (she doesn’t have to go to the extreme and wear an abaya, the black gown worn in Saudi). She will be the same woman she has always been, but better. Yes, she must change the way she does certain things, and must stop doing other things completely, but she is not harming herself nor anyone else by doing so, quite the opposite in fact.
“Here’s my real question: Why are a woman’s humbleness and modesty considered “respectful” traits? Would you expect a man to be humble and modest in the same way you expect a woman?”
If you actually knew anything Islam you would know that men are required to be modest in their dress as well. Men should not walk around shirtless for example, even in extreme heat. They shouldn’t wear sleeveless vests, or cut-off trousers, or t-shirts with rude or offensive pictures or slogans on them. (It goes without saying that while on the beach/at the pool men can obviously wear swimming trunks, though these should also be modest in nature – not too short or too tight or skimpy). The Quran is very specific about the dress code for men, going so far as to say that men should not look like women in their appearance; they should not wear makeup, jewellery (apart from a wedding band), or any feminine prints or shapes.
Muslim men are also taught to avert their gaze when a woman passes them by on the street (admittedly this doesn’t happen much in younger men as they are still controlled by their penis), or for example when they are at a friend’s house and there are women walking around the house (whether wearing a hijab or not). This is out of respect for the woman, and also to show that the man has enough self-respect that he would not degrade himself by eyeing up a woman that wasn’t his wife. Of course if he is talking to her or being introduced to her he can look at her face, no problem, it would rude otherwise.
So yes, men and women are both expected to be modest and humble in Islam.
“It is the underlying gender inequality that is the problem. The hijab is simply a symbolic expression of that sexism”
From the comments I have just made you will see that there is no inequality between men and women in Islam. Well, actually, I tell a lie, that’s not entirely true – women are actually placed above men by God. For example, a child is told never to stop his prayer if his father calls to him, but if his mother calls to him the child must stop his prayer immediately and answer his mother’s call.
The whole issue if wearing the hijab has nothing to do with sexism whatsoever. In the few cases that girls are forced to wear it, it is the parents who are in the wrong, and in fact, God penalises (albeit relatively lightly) those who force the hijab onto someone.
Further, if you actually speak to women who wear the hijab, you will find the majority feel liberated by wearing it. How wonderful to not be judged by appearances!
Hing,
Would you care to reconcile this statement:
With this one:
Being forced to wear the hijab demonstrates faith in god?
In most places, a person is responsible for his or her own actions. For example, if you were to rape a woman who didn’t happen to be wearing a hijab, we would place full responsibility for that rape on your head, and not blame the rape victim because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.
Bullshit. If you truly believe that, you are kidding yourself.
I won’t deny that I know more about Christianity than I do about Islam. That said, does it really matter? Islam suggests to you that men are required to be modest in their dress. It probably also suggests to you that suicide is wrong, and killing innocents is wrong. I seem to recall Qu’ranic passages admonishing Muslims to protect infidels, or at least refrain from harming them. Christianity professes “Love thy neighbor” and turning the other cheek, yet the Westboro Baptist Church, Jerry Falwell, the Ku Klux Klan, and numerous other self-avowed Christian organizations.
My point is simple: Religion is a salad bar. Adherents follow whatever mishmash of doctrine they choose, and conveniently ignore whatever doesn’t fit their own purposes. What you are telling me may be true for you, but clearly, it is not true for everyone who claims to be Muslim.
Clothing is just another appearance. I thought you were looking at the hearts and minds.
does the islamic religion have a traditional festival of lights?
Chole, chole chole…. Thats the Hindhu festival Diwali. Not Islam. (But the festival is no longer considered to be religious, its an Indian Festival of Lights, happiness and so on…) oh and speaking of it, Diwali is coming soon.
-Author
PS: Hey, you wouldn’t be the chole on SU… are you?