Practicing or Appearing?

[bebo]

Re: Practicing or Appearing?

@Muzna

Was watching a discussion that included Dr. Zakir Naik on the matter of stereotyping and came across this interesting question…

Is it more important to “appear” muslim, that is, have a beard and wear a cap or dress in hijab/scarf or to “practice” being a muslim where you may not necessarily dress like one but act like one.

Thoughts?

Question is little confusion as in what is a practicing muslims?
As per my understanding Islam is considered as a code of life and it engulfs every aspect of muslims’s lives.

May be we can look at it as in Islam somethings are given more importance than others and hence these constitute as farads such as praying 5 times a day or fasting in ramadan. Dress code is important but while it is superior to cover your head (in case of ladies) and properly cover your body it is not included as a farad. If someone is keeping a beard for the sake of following sunnah and if someone is wearing scarf for the sake of following islamic dress code then they most probably follow other aspect of the religion too.
I think following only farad is very rudimentary stage and islam expect every muslim to at-least do that. Going a step further requires more effort and taqwa and not many people are capable /willing of it.