Category: Islam and Muslims


How (NOT) to enjoin the good and forbid the evil

- do not at any time think of your own self but concentrate on the ill doings of others. You are perfect.

- tell anyone and everyone they will go to hell if they don’t listen to you.

- ensure you tell wrongdoers in the most offensive way possible and when they say they are offended, be sure to soften things by telling them, “I am saving you from the hell fire.. you should not be so arrogant…you should be thankful and take this as advice given out of love and concern for your afterlife…what if you are in a burning house, do you expect me to talk to you quietly and gently?!…I am doing this for your own good, why are you so stubborn that you cannot see?….”

I am touched and yet at the same annoyed with people who are so scared of hurting my feelings or of being labelled politically incorrect if they were to describe me as “the lady with the scarf.” It’s happened so often at work when a nurse will ask a client which vet he/she would prefer to see or which vet did you see last and the poor dears will skirt around the scarf like it doesn’t exist when really it is the most OBVIOUS thing about me.

It’s OK with me to describe me as the dark/olive skinned/scarf lady/gorgeous/Muslim/beautiful one. Because I am.

A colleague is Indian and we’ve had a bit of whinge about it. He usually gets called “the large vet.” He isn’t the vet who immediately comes to mind when someone uses that word. He isn’t extraordinarily tall. He isn’t even fat! “JUST CALL ME THE BROWN MAN!” he laments.

We don’t mind.

Really. Go on – it will save everyone a lot of unnecessary time guessing and we aren’t offended. We’ve been called a whole lot worse, you know.

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