Anonymous, Zalik, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Regulations and Customs
Author: Anonymous
Ever since I gained consciousness of my existence, I have contemplated who I am and the purpose of my being. As I grew older and began to comprehend the world around me, I started to grasp the significance of existence through teachings from my family members and those around me. The question of my identity and the paths that lead to the ultimate goal troubled me for a significant period. What should be my purpose? As a young girl attending preschool, I began participating in religious classes.
During that period, religious classes were held on Saturdays and Sundays, with guidance from a local religious leader. I vividly recall the words my mother spoke to me: “Listen, my child, the religious leader will impart valuable teachings that will be beneficial throughout your life.”
In those days, I didn’t fully grasp the significance of those experiences. However, as I reflect on my memories now, I realize that it was one of my earliest concrete encounters with the religious dimension of life. I learned how to conduct myself and dress in accordance with the established regulations of Islam. My education expanded beyond preschool, encompassing Islamic religious studies in school. The learning process concerning Islamic guidelines remained consistent and ongoing, regardless of the background of the instructors.
The regulations we had the opportunity to learn about, particularly those pertaining to clothing and the “appearance of a Muslim,” were explicit and precisely outlined: women were expected to cover everything except their faces, ankles, and wrists; men were to cover their bodies from the chest to below the knees. During my high school years, the internet emerged as a source of knowledge, providing various resources in addition to books and oral teachings from instructors. It was during this time that I noticed an increasing number of Muslim couples in my town who dressed differently from what I had learned in elementary school. Later, I came to understand that these individuals followed different customs and rules within the Islamic faith, both in their behaviour and attire. By this, I mean that women covered everything except their eyes, and sometimes even their eyes; men wore long beards and rolled-up pants.
During my teenage years, I was filled with curiosity and a strong desire to deepen my religious practice, driven by a fear of making errors. In pursuit of understanding the regulations of Islam, I turned to the internet for research. Numerous online sources suggested that I should cover my entire body, including my face (a requirement that made me uneasy), or else everything I did and practiced in my faith would hold no real value.
Time passed, and after much internal struggle, I decided to follow the advice of my instructor from the religious classes I attended. During my studies, being in a new environment meant limited interaction with the Islamic community. Upon completing my studies in the natural sciences, I secured a job at a Madrasah, an Islamic educational institution. Collaborating with professors who possessed extensive knowledge of the faith and the Quran, including experts in Fiqh, Aqeedah, Akhlaq, and Hadith, some of whom were hafiz and hafiza, reignited a contemplation on the appearance of Muslim men and women that had remained dormant within me for years.
The dress code at the institution for male and female students was clearly prescribed and aligned with what I had learned throughout my education. Most female professors adhered to the prescribed dress code, while the male professors were neatly groomed and dressed in suits. It took me a considerable amount of time to muster the courage to discuss this topic with any of the professors in the academic subjects, as I wanted to avoid giving the impression that I was passing judgment on their adherence to Islam.
These professors dedicated their professional lives to researching, studying, practising, and disseminating correct interpretations of the regulations from the Holy Book. It became clear to me that they were the ones who held the answers to my questions. I approached one of the professors and inquired about why some people in the Islamic world choose one way of dressing and appearance while others choose differently. She explained that it was a matter of varying interpretations, and none of them were inherently wrong or less valuable.
In that moment, I realized how shallow my understanding of the regulations had been, and how I had viewed them in overly simplistic terms. How could a hafiz who had memorized the entire Quran and devoutly prayed in the front row with his congregation five times a day be deemed a bad Muslim simply because he did not have a long beard and rolled-up pants? And how could a hafiza, a professor of the Arabic language, Akhlaq, and Aqeedah, who imparted knowledge about Islam and guided the younger generations in living a righteous Islamic life, be considered a bad Muslim woman?
Thus, I came to understand that what we perceive with our eyes and hear with our ears does not always reflect the true essence of things. Similarly, the outward appearance of an individual, be it a Muslim man or woman, does not define their spiritual worth or the depth of faith they hold within themselves.