Living by Tradition

There’s one thing I learned from Imam Bedejim Abdullah.

“Why do I grow my beard and mustache? I do so because it’s not a fad or fashion, but growing my beard and mustache is part of our tradition as Muslims,” he said, explaining that God’s servants and messengers, from Abraham to Mohammad, had grown their beard and mustache. “And why do we not eat pork? This is also part of our Muslim tradition because our religion extends into our kitchen.”

I interviewed the Muslim chaplain of the Philippine Military Academy during the World Religion Week celebration hosted by the Saint Louis University last month. While I was interviewing him, many students came over and the Imam invited them to join us at his prayer carpet, which he spread at a lobby of one of SLU’s buildings where various religions also displayed photos and posters describing their basic tenets and doctrines.

The Imam encouraged the students to ask any questions under the sun about Islam. As expected, the students’ questions included why Muslims don’t eat pork, whether or not Islam is also a path to salvation, etc.

On pork, he said the Koran considers pigs as filthy and therefore unclean for human consumption. And so avoiding pork in their diet has become a tradition Muslims live and practice each day of their lives. According to Abdullah, the kitchen is also a sacred place and must not be defiled by something unclean.

Except for Seventh-Day Adventists, I don’t know of any Christian groups, which incorporate their Christian tradition with their culinary arts.

Even for practical reasons, there must be some wisdom in the prohibition by some religions on certain foods. And it’s not just because one person’s food is another person’s poison. Many of us belittle those who abstain from pork until we get arthritis and high blood pressure and our doctors advise us to avoid pork and other meat altogether.

On tradition versus fashion, there’s also wisdom in not being easily swayed by fashion trendsetters in Paris and New York, who decide on how our hair and faces should look and how we should dress up. Of course, new fashion means new product line, and the more people crazy about a new product, the more money for those behind this fashion business.

So there’s something to appreciate about the likes of Abdullah, who simply look and dress up as their Muslim forebears did ages ago because this is part of their tradition. In so doing, they are freed from the craze, if not trap, of having to keep up with the latest fad in fashion.

I met a Malaysian Muslim leader a few years ago and he said he stopped wearing Western suits and had since worn loose Muslim attire made of batik. He said patronizing his own traditional attire would be good for his country’s economy. Batik is Malaysia’s top clothing product and patronizing it would indeed be favorable to local batik manufacturers. Such attitude must be one of the moving forces behind Malaysia’s transformation as an economic tiger.

Even just from their views about their cuisine and about why they grow their beard and mustache, our Muslim brothers can teach us a vital lesson or two. They have much to teach to their Christian brothers and sisters, many of whom generally profess and say one thing and practice another thing.