Two Cultures

As the Sixties and Seventies boomers, the generation when sex, drugs and rock'n'roll went mainstream, get older we see more stories of this nature :

Burnley magistrates were told how Lesley Anne Cassidy, 48, had had 127 tablets of valium which she had bought from a dealer. She had served a jail term for peddling drugs.

Cassidy wept as the court was told how she would take between 10 and 20 valium pills a day and her late husband would take the same. The defendant, of Smith Street, Nelson, admitted possessing a Class C controlled drug ...

The defendant was present and said she and her late husband had taken drugs. She said she had gone to sleep and had awoken to find him lifeless on the settee. Mr Hartley said Cassidy was admitted to intensive care, and after she was released she was arrested.

Police investigated and there was no evidence to show Cassidy supplied her late husband with drugs. There was evidence both had bought drugs. The defendant had 127 valium tablets which she had bought from a dealer. Jasmine Basnyet, for Cassidy, said she had taken valium for a long time and the number of pills she had had would only have lasted the couple for about a week or so.Both would take between 10 and 20 tablets a day.

Aye. 48 was once a respectable age for a man, a matronly one for a woman. As you get older you find that you can't do all the things you did when younger - not without a physical toll.

In the same neck of the woods, a younger woman takes a message on board :

In one of the shops I visited on a regular basis the assistants said he wanted to say something and hoped I would not take offence.

He commented on my attire or should that be the missing item not supported. He said he admired the work I was doing as a disabled person but I really should cover my head.

I instantly jumped to my defence declaring I prayed five times a day as required and even prayed the Quran on a daily basis.

The man praised this but said I would be questioned for not covering my head as it was a compulsory.

I again attempted to justify myself ‘I might not be wearing a head scarf but at least Iam decently covered, I am wearing loose clothing and nothing is showing. What’s better to dressing like this without a head scarf or covering your head whilst wearing jeans that fit like a second skin and a top that leaves nothing to the imagination’?

He replied that she would be questioned about this on the day of judgement but at least she was fulfilling the requirement of the head scarf which meant that it is one less thing to answer for.

Sometimes someone says something and it really affects you, for the first time I saw it differently. I had been asked to cover my head by various people but always said ‘Inshallah when I’m ready’.

Little did he know his good advice had sown the seed.

When I got home I was overtaken by a desperate need, the likes of which I had never experienced, to cover my head. I put on my scarf and called my mum...

It’s been about a month that i have worn it and to be honest i don’t even notice it’s there anymore. I am still the lively, bubbly, chattering Sarvat that is me.

The reaction from fellow Muslims has been a surprise. I have for many years been someone who practises my faith but now thanks to a cloth on my head it works as a visible statement that says I am a Muslim and am practising my faith.

What twisted irony, the head scarf was once used to aid me in my quest to impress, vanity. Now it is worn in the true essence of what it stands for - modesty. Allah Subhanatallah works in mysterious ways.

This little tale could have come straight from a Victorian newspaper. Righteous words, spoken in due humility, are never spoken in vain. Praise be !