scent of a muslim

contrary to common belief, muslims are actually unified. there is one common thread that binds all muslims all across the world, and sadly it is not faith. rather it is something far more powerful: the scent of a muslim. whoo-ah!

but you don't need al pacino's sense of smell to know that you've entered a place of muslim worship. anywhere you are in the world, when there are muslims praying, you know it.

today i went to my first oxford muslim students association event. i arrived a bit late, just as the prayer was finishing. the moment i entered the room i immediately knew that islam was in the air. alas, i had found my people and they were boldly bearing the international of the muslim world: foot funk!

in islam we are instructed to remove our shoes when we enter a place of prayer. we are also explicitly instructed to be clean. now i realize that cleanliness may be relative and perhaps to a certain extent it is a luxury to those living in extreme poverty. but these are students who have access to showers and laundry facilities. there is simply no excuse for such madness. and to be fair, it is not only oxford students. mosques, and prayers rooms across the U.S. and all over the first world all share the funk.

the funniest part was that the room that the iftar was in was not even a mosque. it was simply a room that the muslim student association had reserved for one hour! meaning that in the 5 minutes that the students had been in the room, taken off their shoes and prayed, they had managed to fill the air with their essence. eau de nasty.

now see the logic of certain people insisting on praying with their shoes on. perhaps their argument is doctrinally flawed, but if it means protecting all of us from what is under his shoes, i think i can support it.

and there is more irony still. i themed this posting after the movie 'scent of a woman' for another reason: the last thing you could possibly smell in that room was a woman. why not? because the women were in the room next door. now far be it for me to ever advocate feminism or women's rights (God forbid), but on a serious note, i will say that on a college campus segregation is stupid and hypocritical. this is the opportunity for the muslim students to mingle in a respectful environment, among their peers. anyhow, i won't get into the full argument because i am sure most of you know where i am going with it.

in the end i guess it is for the best. i really don't think the ladies wanted to walk into that room without a face mask. although i wonder... does the women's prayer area smell just as bad???

that is definitely one of those things that makes you go hmmmmmmmmm...