Food for thought:
We like to think of ourselves as very religious and modest people. But our definition of modesty is limited to some very superficial factors which include the way we dress up, whether we have any inappropriate relationships with the opposite gender or not and if you are a woman then being passive in the face of oppression and abuse or not expressing your opinion if it differs from that of others also make you a modest person. We adopt this persona of so called modesty but the irony is that when it comes to matters like racism and judging others then we are as far away from the teachings of our religion as possible. We are as immodest as one can be. We love to be judgemenal. We feel entitled to be judgemental. Without giving it an ounce of thought we like to label people and make assumptions about them. Same is the case when it comes to issues like racism and stereotyping. You are ugly because you are dark. You are unattractive because you are fat. No one is going to marry you because you are not pretty enough. Your character must be shady because you are divorced. Her character must be shady because look at the way she is dressed. You are going to hell because you are a follower of that sect. I cannot hire you for this job not because you are not qualified enough but because you didn't come to me by the reference of a friend of mine. We can't marry our child into that family because our caste or nationality is different from theirs. He must be stupid because he is a pathan. He must be a sweeper because he is a non-muslim. I cannot share a meal with this person because he or she is a follower of a different religion. She must be a bad mother because she has a career. We say and do all these things without even thinking how much we are hurting, offending and demotivating others by doing so. When it comes to these matters we definitely need to unlearn what we have learned so far and relearn what our religion actually teaches us. We need to learn that simply being kind to others without judging them can do miracles for them and for us as well.
