I've been feeling conscious of my travels into work since last week. Ever since the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport of 30 June 2007, it seems that I have become a public attraction or is it just my conscious playing games with me? I have been feeling the very same I felt when I first began to wear my hijab 5 years ago. At that time, I felt as if everyone I walked past were looking back at me, talking about me perhaps, maybe believing that I was oppressed by my family or forced to wear my hijab.
Today, Alhamdu'Lillah I did not see any headlines in the paper that began with, 'Muslim...' or, 'Islam..'. Funny thing is though - there's me feeling slightly uneasy and overly self-protective with the thought that, 'oh damn, with this hijab of mine, I might get recognized by someone as being a Muslim and then I'm going to be blamed with absolutely everything that's going on worldwide!', when actually infact I may not get recognized at all. Why you ask? The other day I was introduced to a guy who graciously stood up and leaned over to shake my hand. I politely declined his handshake and my colleague informed this man that due to religious reasons she, meaning me, will not shake hands of the opposite sex. This piece of news was obviously new to the man who then looked at me and asked,'Oh that's interesting, so which faith are you from then?'. I smiled and said, 'Islam'. Therefore, even though Muslims get to hit the front pages nearly every week, and there our wonderful supporting pictures of 'Muslims' supporting beards, hijabs, niqabs, abayas etc...There are still some people that remain completely ignorant of the fact of what a 'Muslim' looks like.
Perhaps I am wrong here, maybe I should have introduced myself as a 'Practicing Muslim' inorder to save some confusion for next time this man bumps into a sister that is half decently dressed, does not wear a hijab but is Muslim too. However, is she a 'Practicing Muslim'? You know what, who cares? A Muslim is a Muslim, practicing, non-practicing, extreme, moderate, fanatic who invented these tag words? A Muslim knows what his duties are as a Muslim, it is up to him or her to follow them to the best of ability at the end of the day, who are we as individuals to judge a person by the way he prays, reads, dresses. We don't know what is in a person's heart, we don't know his destiny. Remember, One of the most beloved people to Allah (swt) was Umar (May peace be upon him), the companion of our Prophet (pbuh). He used to bow down and worship idols before he was blessed with Islam. Allah (swt) is the judge of all things. Everyone else, just do the best that you can in this temporary duniya and use it wisely to prepare for our akhira.
My friend and I walked into Caffe Italia today and hey, guess what - we sat in what used to be the cloudy smoking area only now it was smoke free...what joy!
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