Symbols of piety:
The beard, the hijab, the nikab, middle eastern dress, Asian dress... What differentiates piety, religious adherence to not.
Ok, in hot weather we can agree, the obvious, which is not. Hijabs are supposed to be, agreed, but what's with the skinny jeans and cute fashion. Make up that draws even more attention to oneself.
There was also a trend in recent times where a middle eastern scarf for men was worn, it became so popular it became mainstream.
A few years further back there was a trend to wear, almost combat like fatigues by young men, to almost look like mujahideen. I'm not judging it I'm questioning it.
What's with the bad boy swagger when off to pray at the mosque. Doesn't a swagger communicate I'm a man of strength, confidence and power.
What does fasting try to teach us. Ill come back to that. I read people, I read situations, I read body language, I read conduct, and what I'm reading is mixed signals. The intention might be one thing, the non verbal communication is another.
We all try to identify ourselves with a particular group, regardless of faith. It's natural to find affinity with our fellow human beings that we are drawn to.
I am baffled with what I see. I'm a judgemental person myself. I judge what I see. I compare and contrast it to what I hear. But when I try to compare some individuals by the way they dress and their intention in Ramadan I'm a little confused.
"The month of Ramadhan is not like any other month; its purpose is to rid man of those habits which he has accumulated throughout the rest of the year. It is a month that prepares man for the remaining eleven months by teaching him discipline and self control. Thus, Allah has made some acts which are beloved to man, like eating, drinking and fulfilling one’s desires, Haraam. If man can control these desires in this month, which are usually permissible for him, then he can surely control himself from other desires which are not permissible throughout the remaining months."
"In this month we will be given many opportunities, as mentioned above to reform ourselves and seek forgiveness for our bad sins. This is a month of reformation and self reflection, where a believer can ponder of over spirituality and piety and bring a change for the better. The Prophet of Allah صلي الله عليه و سلم has clearly stated:"
مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ حَاجَةٌ فِي أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ
“Whoever does not give up lying and evil actions, then Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink” [Saheeh al-Bukhari]
None of us are perfect agreed, these observations have been accumulated over a period of time. They are coming to mind now. I'm posing the questions in order to understand. The answers we come to are going to be. different, I'm not here to give answers, I'm in search myself. The answers are for you to find in your heart and soul based on Islamic teaching. I'm not a teacher, I'm very much a student, and in so many ways I'm in Islamic junior school.
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