Muslim For A Month September 23, 2006
Posted by aMuslimForLife in Education.trackback
Very Interesting. A Social Studies Teacher, Rebecca Watts decides to become a Muslim for a Month to better understand Islam and her students. She has received alot of support from the Muslim community and I think it is a wonder. You can read Her blog below.
Umm Zaid has a good post called The Pretenders Part I and Part II on this phenomenon of wanting to be Muslim for a set period of time and how it is akin to blackface skits, indicative of racism, and will not help the person gain a real understanding of what it means to be a Muslim because they do not have emaan.
Well of course they will not have the full understanding of what a Muslim is, but they might gain some understanding. You have to remember it is Allah who open hearts but means He chooses.
My best friend, who was non-Muslim when I met him, was critized by another Muslim wanting to fast Ramadaan when he was non-Muslim. But I thought it was a good idea and he became Muslim, AL Hamadllah.
So I believe anything that a non-Muslim wants to do to understand Islam and we can facilitate it for them where it does not compromise our principles, beliefs and practices, I don’t see the harm in facilitating it for them. Perhaps that is the door which will lead them to Islam. One needs to optimistic in dawah, everybody does not think like we do.
Not every Muslim experiences Islam the say way. One Muslim may find this verse to his or her favorite verse another Muslim may find another verse to be his or her favorite verse. Therefore every Muslim even though they are Muslim, does not experience the same experiences and feelings. What increases one Muslims Iman may not increase another Muslim Iman, what I may consider significant another Muslims may not.
We all have different personalities.
It may not give them a real understanding of what it means to be Muslim but they will gain some insight, in sha Allah.
And Allah knows best.
Asalamu alaykum,
No doubt they may gain a better understanding and I myself before I accepted Islam tried out fasting, salaah, and hijab but Umm Zaid’s point is not to criticize sincere searchers but a criticism of those attempts often by journalists to pretend to be Muslim for a day and give a superficial caricature of what it is to be a Muslim rather than giving an actual voice to Muslims to explain the depth and complexity of their faith.