Now be for you read this know why i am posting it , i have seen people in the muslim community who are highly reguarded may be be cause of who their family are or how rich they or even their education level . Then i see their actions and they are far from islamic ( some are pretty bad but gets swept under the rug ) but no matter what they do ppl still look up to them . Then there are oher brothers who do not have family high up in the community may be they converted or something and they are ingorned . I it often irrites me the view that the non-muslims i interact with have of me , comming up and asking questions and they really to watch what i do as some how using my actions as a standard of how islam's teachings are actually praticed by all muslims . They have a definate opnion of me and the " position " they assume i hold in the religon , but the truth is thats far from true , not only do i comit sins like eveyone else . If i was to walk in to the musjid people would ingore me in genaral , which is ok with me really . But they were times that i have advised people about matters in the religon , i mean serious matters that people simply ingore simply because it was me saying it . Case in point , i was talking to this young ahmadia boy who really did not understand much of the religon . So when i realized he was ahamedia i just had to explain the error that the ahamedia have because it is an impossible one to ingore . Now they are many muslims in the world sunnis , shai , sufis all manner or names and pratices we have had arguements over who have been right for hundreds of years . Wars have been fought ppl killed ect . But all of the muslims , all the muslims in the world with out exception are united in the belief that " there is no god but allah and muhammad is his final messenger " . Then there are the ahmedia who beleive in a messenger after muhammad , a belif that takes them outside the fold of islam completly . Some muslim countries have actually taken the time to pass laws concerning the matter that the belief of these people takes them ontside the fold of islam . They are not even allowed to perform hajj because they are not muslim and can not enter mecca or medina . So in a very nice way i explained to him that in islam we believe that muhammad is the last messenger that allah sent , and why ect . The guy listened understood what i told him and then he goes home . The next dad he comes up to me and he is like Sir are you a shykh or something so i told him no and that was it , he understood what i told him , he understood why the ahamedia were wrong but because somebody else had some kind of tittle told him other wise automatically they are are right and i am wrong just because i said it .
Adheim
Some people disguise themselves in a religious façade to make others assume they are pious. However, never judge a book by the cover and be aware that some people pretend to be religious for their ulterior objectives, something that has distorted the image of Islam.
Dr. Nasser Al-Obaid, a Dawa worker, said it is dangerous for people to pretend to be what they are not and that it is equally dangerous to generalize people. “Unfortunately, most people either harshly judge those who pretend to be religious or staunchly support them. We should be moderate and avoid generalizations,” said Al-Obaid to Al-Riyadh newspaper.
“Some tend to generalize based on certain personal situations and claim that everyone who appears to be religious are hypocrites because from the outside they pretend to be good but from the inside they do not observe Islamic teachings,” he added.
Al-Obaid said he was not defending religious people or asking others to turn a blind eye to the negative practices they engage in. “At the end of the day, religious or not, people are human beings and are prone to make mistakes. It is wrong to judge people on certain acts in certain situations,” he said.
However, if a religious person continues to engage in negative practices then he deserves to be blamed and criticized, he said, adding: “Everyone should be careful when dealing with such people.”
Dr. Atallah Al-Abar, secretary-general of the Family Welfare Society, Qurayyat, warned against Islamic preachers who try to convince people they are religious but live lives that are contrary to the Shariah.
“Only renowned and well-known scholars should be followed because they are known to all people and the majority respects them. Some people disguise themselves as religious for ulterior goals. They do this to deceive people and con them out of money or for other illegal purposes. Some of us fall prey to them and believe that they are telling the truth,” he said.
The real religious person, said Al-Abar, is the one who embraces the other and does not exclude him; he offers advice and tolerates others. “I advise young men and women to approach only renowned scholars if they have questions. The scholars should open up channels of communications with the general public and make their moderate voice reach all sections of society,” he said.
Dr. Khalid Al-Sebait, an associate professor of Islamic studies at King Khalid Military College, criticized how some members of the public tend to base judgments on external appearances.
“It is strange that even if one performs the five prayers every day, fasts Ramadan, pays zakat, acts politely with others and above all treats his parents nicely and with great respect, he will still be viewed negatively. It is because some of us judge him by the way he looks on the outside,” said Al-Sebait.
“In fact, some people with low-level ethics have taken advantage of the situation and pretend to be religious in order to deceive others. One of the effective solutions to this problem is to raise public awareness about these negative practices and show them that the external appearance should not be used as a criteria for judging and trusting others,” he said
