Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Stereotyping Islam..
Originaly Posted On: 2008-06-27 11:15:48

(This topic is a message to any non-Arab muslim or non-muslim in specific, and to all in general)

When your around for Modern muslim images, You’d expect a picture of some angry mob burning down a chinese made American flag, or a turban wearing bearded fellow who’s yelling the name of Allah while waving around a sword, which are indeed some of the many images Islam is being portrayed in these days.. But Am not talking about that kind of Stereotyping, people already talked about it enough..

What am talking about is the Stereotyping of Islam that our society, Saudi Arabia, and the muslim and non muslim societies in general have of any religious figure..

(google a picture of the Religious Authority in Saudi)

When did islam turn into a dress-coded religion? Have we adopted the fact that when someone turns religious, there’s a certain uniform he has to wear?

The thobe, The Ega’al-less Shumakh, the White Ghutra, The Robe (Bisht).. All of the above, if you’re that much religious..

Mind you the inconvenience it may cause to new muslims in non-arab countries, Islam is a flexible religion that is no need of a dress code, our muslim actions and behavior speak loud enough of who we are and what we do.. Restricting our thoughts and imagination to the idea that you have to be a Thobe-Wearing muslim to be a Complete muslim is silly, to even wear that to enter Heaven is stupid.. I came across many Muslims and Muslim reverts who all agree on the fact that the Thobe is the official muslim uniform.. It’s NOT.. Simple, see?

Ok, maybe other heavenly religions already adopted certain uniforms that categorizes it’s participants.. You have the White Collared priests, the Black Hatted Jews, and the Orange-like monks of Tibet and so on.. Islam, however, never specified a certain type of clothing more than rules on what you should wear and how you should wear it, unless you’re off to Hajj or Umra.. For example, preaching of islam’s dress codes that preach modesty, as a muslim i shouldn’t let any piece of clothing i wear (if it happens to cover my legs) to exceed my ankles..This is to Avoid the image that abundance in length is a sign of luxury, in opposition of the poverty image of small shredded clothes.. I should stay away from certain fabrics that gloat of my social status and stick to practical ones that help me do my daily tasks.. i can be stylish, but fabrics like Silk for instance, shouldn’t be used by a man.. I should also refrain from clothing that doesn’t belong to my gender in the common understanding of clothing.. Yes, travesties can’t be muslims..

However, it is not mentioned in Islam nor in different sayings of the prophet PBUH that you should wear a thobe and/or a ghutra.. You can shop from Giordano, buy some Sketchers, wear a Puma and still be a muslim.. a Devoted muslim too.. See, in Islam, we don’t need clothes to speak of who we are, like i mentioned before, it’s our actions.. Like for example, the shaved Mustache and the beard (that should be as long as a closed fist placed under one’s chin) are a sign of someone who’s deeply knowledgeable in Islam and highly devoted; it’s not the Thobe..

My message now goes straight to the new muslim reverts, The thobe is not the Muslim wear, so don’t throw away your clothes just yet.. I met several new muslim reverts who told me that they actually stopped buying pants and shirts ever since they became muslim.. Some of them actually suffered going through the process of tailoring one.. Now, all this fashion journey to nowhere leads to no where.. Islam is not that hard, nor it requires all this mumbo jumbo arabian image to fully be a Muslim..

Another part of this problem lies In Saudi Arabia, Where many still believe that the Thobe and Ghutra are a sign or religiousness, while casual t-shirts and Jeans are just silly arabs trying to act American.. Not western, specifically american.. And that is both wrong and stupid.. Last time i checked, when i wore a thobe in my Engagement, it serves the point of showing that am Celebrating, since i had those textures tailored on it as ornaments, and it gives out that am a Saudi on a special occasion.. Doesn’t mean that am more muslim than anyone else.. Plus, in despite of the pros, the cons are that the thobe is very restricting in movement, not that practical and it’s highly flammable.. So, even if islam wanted a uniform, that would be my last choice.. It’s ok as a cultural trademark, The greek culture has their own set of flammable threads too, it’s just clothes.. The only clothing in Islam that has been specified in the Quran and Sunna is the Ehram.. Other than that, go wild, within the limits of course, which is another topic..

Sticking to the topic in hand..

a Fat bearded muslim, wearing the whole gear, thobe and a Ega’al-less shumakh, walking around dragging his wife behind him and beating his kids, while still having time to pray to Allah, ironically, is in no way similar to another Muslim, wearing the whole gear, and good to his wife and son..

When we actually start believing that a certain dress code is a true representation of a school of thought or a spiritual religion, subconsciously and consciously we’d start to believe that the actions of those who wear it are true representations of it.. Which is wrong..

Anyone knows if there’s a Banana Republic opening in Jeddah soon?
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Yours,

Lou..

p.s. i miss you guys

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