My Islam Wears a Three-Piece Suit
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
Surprised? Don't be. My Islam does wear a three-piece suit.
And you don't believe Islam can be mine? Really? Then what is it that you practice -- and believe in? It is all uniquely yours, no matter what Islam itself is or can be.
It is your Islam.
Of course, Islam is from Allah. And in that sense it is nobody's Islam but Allah's.
But Allah gave it to you. And you accepted and embraced it. So it is your Islam.
If you don't see this, you are going to have all kinds of problems to deal with as you move forward in the journey of life. And anyone with eyes can see them -- problems -- cropping up at every turn.
And in this sense you are an embodiment and representation of Islam, such as you are and such as your Islam is.
Don't you see how a lot of people lambaste Islam for a lot of foolish things Muslims appear to do? They think that the things you do is what Islam is about.
So, what does your Islam wear? A long robe in the streets of London, Paris and New York that looks like a nightgown?
Why do you do that? Are you a Catholic Priest? What is the motivation?
I suspect somewhere down there is the smug feeling that you somehow represent in this long robe on the streets of London, Paris and San Francisco a brand of Islam -- your Islam -- that puts you closer to God. That makes you holier than the rest of us.
Is this an ego trip of some kind, do you think?
I will leave it at that. I will not bring the most beautiful name of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, into this. I just will not.
But you know there is that thing inside you -- the feeling that in that long robe on these streets, in Amsterdam, Glasgow and Marseille, in broad daylight, is a purer, a superior, a holier and a more "pious" version of Islam. And those who do not sport this particular garb are somehow practicing a Lesser Islam.
They are deviants, really.
It is beginning to look more and more like that ego trip thing, wouldn't you say?
It could even be an In-Your-Face version of Islam. A kind of Islam that says -- to Muslims and non-Muslims alike: "Hey buddy, this is the real face of Islam. So, there! Deal with it."
And I saw this happening on the Stateside and all over Europe and UK, and Canada and South and Central America not just for a day or two but for all these decades.
I was witness to how Muslims used to dress the way they used to -- good Muslims mind you -- in regular street or office clothes. People in ties and suits and shirts and pants. And generally well-groomed and generally of smart appearance and bearing and comportment.
And then this night-clothes-during-daytime craze started. And it was downhill after that. Mercenary Islam was upon us.
Allah bless Malcolm X. How elegantly he dressed! In a suit!
Which one of these mercenary night-timers is fit to straighten the knot on his tie -- or I would say even to touch the shoes on his blessed feet?
So, no. The nightgown during daytime on American and European streets does not give your brand of Islam a leg up. It does not make your Islam a superior one.
That is why I stuck to my own brand of Islam all these years: an Islam that wears a three-piece-suit -- no matter how much flak I catch for it.
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