June 10': Appearances Can Be Deceptive (Article of the Month)

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Appearances Can Be Deceptive
Sireen Amatullah

The religious landscape in England, both metaphorical and literal, has changed dramatically over the last few decades. Architecturally, where only church steeples and bell-towers once loomed above with their bells peeling to signify worship, gradually, minarets and domes have appeared, beautifying and adding grace to the skyline, and the Islamic Adhan can be heard calling the faithful to prayer.

A few decades ago, it was quite rare to meet a person from another country in their national dress but now English streets are blessed with a myriad of colours and styles both cultural and religious, turning this society into a rich tapestry of traditions and beliefs. One might say that this 'green and pleasant land', signified by red, white and blue, has been wondrously enhanced and transformed into a rich and diverse social palette of every subtle and vibrant hue.
 
One would always hope to find tolerance and acceptance of our outwardly differing appearances but sadly, this is not always the case. Human beings are said to fear what they do not know or understand and this can sometimes provoke in them a hostile attitude and response to apparent, overt variances they encounter in their day to day lives which they find incongruous and perhaps threatening.
 
In England, but also in the West generally, the sight of Muslim women, wearing clothing that covers from head to toe, often completely in black, is one that appears to initiate such an antagonistic response in some people. Leaving all questions of security issues aside, the debate as to whether Islamic women can be permitted to wear the most complete Islamic dress in public is one that has reached the status of Government discussion; citing infringement of these women's Civil Liberties. There appears an ever increasing opinion that these Islamically compliant ladies need 'saving' in some way, from what others see as an oppressive, dogmatic faith that seeks to subjugate and imprison them. However, freedom and liberation are subjective and imprisonment does not only occur within physical walls.
 
In a society where women's hemlines are ever rising and necklines are forever plummeting indeed it can be said that the modest covering Islamic dress affords, is certainly somewhere at the other end of the spectrum. The colour black ( though technically not a colour) is historically linked with death and mourning with an additional sense of severity, to Western eyes, and this may be  a small part of the opposition; perhaps they see them as dejected because of their downward glance, in a society of throwaway smiles, full of glitz and brash, outer glamour. Ancient archaeological excavations have established that women, from the earliest civilisations, have decorated and adorned themselves; so is this partly why their opponents are so incredulous at Islamic womenfolk choosing to be modest in dress and behaviour?
 
The essence of the discrepancy in the thinking, of those who feel the need to champion the cause of Muslim women, is that it is a 'choice' these women make for the sake of another, infinitely better life to come; to please their Lord and Creator and not this  transitory world. They make this choice freely, joyfully; their hearts are imperceptibly exultant, freed from earthly shackles, inaudibly hymning the praises of their Beloved beneath their quiet, some may say dour exteriors. Beneath the folds of the swathes of fabric covering their dying, earthly bodies, beats their reverent hearts brilliantly aglow with inner Divine worship. Their worshipful heart rests like bullion within a bank vault, their real self, their inner-self, fulfilling the obligations of the next world whilst outwardly meeting the banal demands of this mundane existence.
 
In making any judgement we use all our God given senses and intellect; the sense of vision is an instant one, creating an immediate impression. We all at some time make judgements based on outward appearances which can prove later to be incorrect; on reflection realising that our viewpoint was formed from our own pre-conceived ideas or misconceptions, prejudices and lack of insight and therefore inaccurate. We are all unique creations of God and diverse in countless ways, both obvious and hidden, it is easy to delineate the differences, being deceived by outer form, instead of celebrating the inner core human values binding us to each other that transcend all divisions of race and religion.

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