I spent 4 years in military, where the appearance was not more important than character, but the comparison between the two was considered illogical, because leaving the uniform while still being a practicing soldier is not an option (for common soldiers) in any military of the world, yet they give more importance to the character.
**Islam also doesn't give this option, even though you aren't declared kafir by leaving appearance. Imagine, anyone asking the Prophet (saw) this question about which one is more important ? Its just like asking Hijab is more important or Farz namaz. Practically Hijab is less important but leaving it also makes ALLAH unhappy. So, a woman practicing only namaz can't console herself that she is practicing the more important deeds so she won't be asked about the less important ones. In fact, a gunnah-e-saghira practiced consistently for a long time becomes gunnah-e-kabira, in the light of hadiths. (you may confirm from a scholar).
**My father served for 35 years in air force and reached the highest level. But if he goes for a minute to his office wearing uniform of any other army or that of India, he would have to face court marshal. No one would even consider all his sitra-e-imtiaz, tamgha-e-imtiaz,.....etc. breath taking sacrifices, because he didn't respect the appearance that he was expected to.
I Know I am a sinner, I do not practice Islam completely but I just can’t pretend to be a Good Muslim by wearing Hijab and then going to concerts, watching movies, listening to songs, Talk/meet male cousins/Friends. Though I try to practice in Balance as much as I can. And I am not pointing to girls/women who wear Hijab, Just talking about Myself.
A merchant shaved off his beard 6 months after keeping it. When asked about it, he said, "It is a disgrace of beard when I lie and do other bad things while keeping beard"
The reply was,"Instead of shaving off the bad habits from your character for the sake of beard, you decided to do the opposite ?!?"
A merchant shaved off his beard 6 months after keeping it. When asked about it, he said, "It is a disgrace of beard when I lie and do other bad things while keeping beard"
The reply was,"Instead of shaving off the bad habits from your character for the sake of beard, you decided to do the opposite ?!?"
This not just happen with bear, even people choose to not pray namaz thinking they have done sin that day, this is how devil (shetan) make us think so we stop even trying being a good muslim. No one can be 100% muslim just in one day, but can become good muslim practicing all the little things each and every day as much as we can, the time we are able to do little things with ease we will be ready for the big ones, every tree is just a seed in the start
Short Answer: Practicing the basics is in fact basics, the entry pass to the greates deen islam. It’s the ticket to the least privileged seating arrangement in Jannah INSHA ALLAH. Practicing other important factors (which are dubbed as appearance in this thread) add on to your membership and bring you closer to the central stage which should be everyone’s ultimate goal.
Long Answer: Those whose argument is that appearance is not "that" important because of "some condition(s)" fine, do the practice for the time being, but try to get out of that condition so that you could include "appearance" in your practice (which is an intrinsic part of it)
Just happily settling for the “condition” where practice can only be limited to the basic five tenets of Islam, and following the appearance part puts you at odds, you are constantly rejecting those other parts of the sharia (as discussed here, hijab which is farz, beard which is sunnah++++ some even believe it reaches the level of wajib). And if done non-stop, it threatens you iman as much as rejecting a farz does.
Also note that, when you continuously reject the importance of “appearance” part and the intended benefits it brings with, you are effectively saying you don’t care about those benefits and you are happy without them, which itself is equal to rejecting an ne’maat (prize) being offered to you by The All Mighty, imagine yourself in that position and I’m sure you will not want to see you there. May we all happily accept all the bounties what ALLAH SWT has reserved for us, and not get “mehroom” just because we did not want to “practice the appearance” for whatever petty conditions.
Everyone makes excuses for one thing or the other, but deep down they know the reality of the excuse they are making : )
I spent 4 years in military, where the appearance was not more important than character, but the comparison between the two was considered illogical, because leaving the uniform while still being a practicing soldier is not an option (for common soldiers) in any military of the world, yet they give more importance to the character.
Islam also doesn't give this option, even though you aren't declared kafir by leaving appearance. Imagine, anyone asking the Prophet (saw) this question about which one is more important ? Its just like asking Hijab is more important or Farz namaz. Practically Hijab is less important but leaving it also makes ALLAH unhappy. So, a woman practicing only namaz can't console herself that she is practicing the more important deeds so she won't be asked about the less important ones. In fact, a gunnah-e-saghira practiced consistently for a long time becomes gunnah-e-kabira, in the light of hadiths. (you may confirm from a scholar).
My father served for 35 years in air force and reached the highest level. But if he goes for a minute to his office wearing uniform of any other army or that of India, he would have to face court marshal. No one would even consider all his sitra-e-imtiaz, tamgha-e-imtiaz,.....etc. breath taking sacrifices, because he didn't respect the appearance that he was expected to.
beautifuly said... just wish i had read this before posting my 2 cents... JAZAKALLAH
A merchant shaved off his beard 6 months after keeping it. When asked about it, he said, "It is a disgrace of beard when I lie and do other bad things while keeping beard"
The reply was,"Instead of shaving off the bad habits from your character for the sake of beard, you decided to do the opposite ?!?"
I don't know why people associate hijab with a woman's virtue. What I understand from Quran is that God has suggested to women to cover themselves appropriately to avoid unwanted attention. For example, I don't wear a headscarf in Rabat coz I'm not attracting anyone but in Meknes I do coz I feel safer and mingled with a scarf on. In UK, I feel hatred when in public coz white people think I'm an alien so I take it off again. Now go ahead and judge me all you want but I'm not a less Muslim coz of my understanding of hijab is different to that of hanbali or deobandi or brelvi.
Now this concept of "uniform" all the women in black burqas is actually alien to Islam and only started when wahabis took over Saudi. Islam does not promote monoculture like the modern West.
But since , how religious one is , depends on person to person and I were to choose one of those two given options , I believe practicing is best. Appearances can be highly decieving , infact most of them are .. unfortunately in today's time, many people manage to hide their ugliness of character through appearing as a very religious person !
Islam is not a middle eastern religion and the attire argument is faulty to begin with but I think that is what most of the noise here and in general is. The focus Islam puts on education and learning is missed en masse..among other things.
just one thing i want to say ..Conditions say agar app kissi islamic order ki IMP ko choose kerain gee k normal life main is ko iktyaar ker lain
to yeh namumkin hain ..wohe condition jo TLK ko dee app ko bhi dayte hoon
islamtojaan bachanay k ley kalam-e-kuffar keh daynay ki bhi rukhsat dayta hai ..kia app is condition say yeh choose ker lain gee
k muslman honay k ley zaban say imam ka iqrar bhi imp nahi sirf dil main maan lay ??
yahan sawal yeh nahin hai kay kaun behtar musalmaan hai......iss ka jawab tau Allah hi janay.
sawal sirf aur sirf yeh tha kay insaan shakal aur pehnaway say musalman nazar aa'ay ya apni adaton say momin ho.....aap apnay liyay kya chahaingay?
agar aap yeh maanti hain kay pehnawa bhi aik "aadat/amal" hai tau aap ka jawab simply yeh hona chahiyay kay aap apni aadaton say momina hona pasand karaingi.
it was not a complicated question and the answer should be equally simple. many understood that.
the side-effects of the question, however, were geared to reveal how people think and what their "mindsets" are.
my personal opinion is that if I practice my faith in all aspects of my life, I will soon begin to follow all the other rules that are set forth as well. I think that this would be a natural progression......
There was a gentleman who dropped by an All Views thread on Climate change/ conservation. He just ridiculed the topic - in his view, none of this is important. Only the after life is.
So it appeared to me that a practising religious person does not consider taking good care of our planet as a good and necessary objective.
Of course the religious right things along same lines.
Southie I shall send you a video regarding the "Save the Planet" "Green Movment" Scam.
I spent 4 years in military, where the appearance was not more important than character, but the comparison between the two was considered illogical, because leaving the uniform while still being a practicing soldier is not an option (for common soldiers) in any military of the world, yet they give more importance to the character.
Islam also doesn't give this option, even though you aren't declared kafir by leaving appearance. Imagine, anyone asking the Prophet (saw) this question about which one is more important ? Its just like asking Hijab is more important or Farz namaz. Practically Hijab is less important but leaving it also makes ALLAH unhappy. So, a woman practicing only namaz can't console herself that she is practicing the more important deeds so she won't be asked about the less important ones. In fact, a gunnah-e-saghira practiced consistently for a long time becomes gunnah-e-kabira, in the light of hadiths. (you may confirm from a scholar).
My father served for 35 years in air force and reached the highest level. But if he goes for a minute to his office wearing uniform of any other army or that of India, he would have to face court marshal. No one would even consider all his sitra-e-imtiaz, tamgha-e-imtiaz,.....etc. breath taking sacrifices, because he didn't respect the appearance that he was expected to.
Not to nit-pick but would you consider a decorated soldier any less honourable if he/she is in their civies? Does the uniform lend them special powers or are those valuable qualities of discipline, morality, integrity ingrained in their character?
I understand your point and appreciate where you are coming from. I even agree to a large degree. However, the thread was not geared to suggest that you should do one over the other.....but to rank one as more important than the other and if so then which is preferred.
Muzna you question just made me think about this. When any person gets converted to any religion he/she right after accepting that religion changes his getup/appearance according to that religion, does that not show the appearance and practicing is important to prove yourself that you belong to that religion.
Muzna you question just made me think about this. When any person gets converted to any religion he/she right after accepting that religion changes his getup/appearance according to that religion, does that not show the appearance and practicing is important to prove yourself that you belong to that religion.
perhaps to some it is.........
I can't say for sure because everyone is different but I would hazard to guess that someone who is converting/reverting would feel a compulsion to "represent" him/herself in the appearance of the newly accepted faith for reasons other than those we are talking about here. (i.e. He/She may feel a need to distinguish between their previous faith and the new one.)
The real test would be to revisit this new convert/revert a year later and see if they have relaxed their behaviour at all.....
this also bring up another aspect of this discussion........
is an outward appearance for yourself or for the rest of the public?
do you feel a need to prove your identity to someone or do you feel that it really doesn't matter and that your faith is between you and Allah?
At times it becomes difficult to decide which one is relatively a trivial matter. In short, in Islam everything that the Prophet SAW specifically termed important is important & vice versa. HE emphasized on appearance A LOT (many hadiths you would find on beard and hijab), so calling it relatively trivial compared to character wouldn't be appropriate, as the Prophet (SAW) never made such comparison, otherwise he could have make it a step by step process. First character and then appearance, to emphasize the importance of one against the other. His teachings take both aspects in parallel. Don't remember now the exact references, but the following two hadiths I heard from a scholar makes sense to me:
A momin is recognized from a distance (from his/her appearance that s/he is a momin)
Momin woh hai jisko dekh kar Allah (SWT) yaad aajaye. (His/her obedience towards Allah's is evident from his/her appearance)
Once a Jew mentioned it after accepting Islam, that the biggest Dawah Muslims give quietly is through their appearance. If it weren't that important the Prophet (SAW) would have never emphasized that.
this also bring up another aspect of this discussion........
is an outward appearance for yourself or for the rest of the public?
do you feel a need to prove your identity to someone or do you feel that it really doesn't matter and that your faith is between you and Allah?
regarding this i will say only thing, i once read this in Ashfaq Ahmed book what is difference between Musalman and Momin,
Musalman wo hay jo Allah ko manta hay aur Momin wo hay jo Allah ki manta hay
so we are muslim by faith to become a Momin is what we should look forward to and that's the real challenge.
personally i am doing all i can to become a true Momin
At times it becomes difficult to decide which one is relatively a trivial matter. In short, in Islam everything that the Prophet SAW specifically termed important is important & vice versa. HE emphasized on appearance A LOT (many hadiths you would find on beard and hijab), so calling it relatively trivial compared to character wouldn't be appropriate, as the Prophet (SAW) never made such comparison, otherwise he could have make it a step by step process. First character and then appearance, to emphasize the importance of one against the other. His teachings take both aspects in parallel. Don't remember now the exact references, but the following two hadiths I heard from a scholar makes sense to me:
A momin is recognized from a distance (from his/her appearance that s/he is a momin)
Momin woh hai jisko dekh kar Allah (SWT) yaad aajaye. (His/her obedience towards Allah's is evident from his/her appearance)
Once a Jew mentioned it after accepting Islam, that the biggest Dawah Muslims give quietly is through their appearance. If it weren't that important the Prophet (SAW) would have never emphasized that.
never heard these ahadith before.....the hadith I've been hearing since I was little goes li ke that, "momin woh hai Jis ki zuban aur haath say doosra momin mehfooz rahay'.
Wow how many times I have hurt people with my words? :(
A momin is recognized from a distance (from his/her appearance that s/he is a momin)
Momin woh hai jisko dekh kar Allah (SWT) yaad aajaye. (His/her obedience towards Allah's is evident from his/her appearance)
this could simply mean a person that is dressed modestly......depending on your particular definition of "momin"
and there are many people I know that do not practice hijab but "noor" is clearly visible on their face......when I look at them I think of how blessed they are and I could be........I think of Allah.
and then there are those that practice hijab to a very rigid degree yet there is no "noor" on their faces.....there is no compassion in their words......
Once a Jew mentioned it after accepting Islam, that the biggest Dawah Muslims give quietly is through their appearance. If it weren't that important the Prophet (SAW) would have never emphasized that.
and not to be argumentative but do the orthodox Jews not give the same testimony to their own faith through their attire?
by the same token, when I see an orthodox Jew should I automatically assume that he/she is abiding by all the tenets of Judaism?
Even though it is good to discuss such matters, my personal experience in daily life has not been that good with people who try to compare the two and give more importance to one compared to the other. Whether character or appearance, when they over-emphasize one (the one they are practicing) compared to the other (they are not practicing), their practical life gives a clear impression that they are satisfied that their practicing one aspect loyally would compensate for the lack of other, which isn't true.