Quacks and Burkas

Imagine a Doctor advising a patient who has vomiting, to cover up all food and water in his home because the very act of looking at food makes him vomit, and vomiting is not good for health. What would you call such a Doctor? A quack, obviously! And you would ofcourse try to understand why there is vomiting in the first place, and treat it!

This brings me to a similar situation common to many parts of the world these days: covering up a woman in a burka or niqab to prevent men from lusting at them.

Why do some Muslim women wear burkas?

Raihan Ismail is a lecturer in Middle East Politics and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. Dr Ismail spoke with 666 ABC Canberra to answer some common questions about the burka. The Koran calls for both men and women to ‘cover and be modest’ she said.

This is because being immodest can awaken lust, which is recognised as bad by most religions of the world.

So what is the only solution to the problem of lust?

The Bible tells us in simple and plain language that all of us were or are in this situation, following our heart and fulfilling the lusts of the flesh:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

The Bible also talks of a people transformed from within:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV)

The answer to the lust problem then is not in covering up the objects of lust, but dealing with the lust within your own heart.

Easier said than done? Here is how it is possible:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; the list goes on. (Galatians 5:16-19 NIV)

The Spirit of God is a wonderful gift that God gives to those who have repented of their sins and accepted the free gift of forgiveness offered by God through the substitutionary sacrifice of the sinless man Jesus Christ.

That is why the Apostle Peter could write two thousand years ago:

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:1-4 NIV)

God has created man and woman as precious, wonderfully different and yet equal in His eyes.

We all have been born with a default mode that is damaged, with the tendency to sin and lust. I am sure all of you have experienced that, in yourselves and in others.

Yet the amazing fact is that despite knowing us, God loves us, and has made the provision for us to ‘participate in His divine nature’, and overcome every evil in our hearts. The way is simple and effective.

So dear friends, do you feel that covering up women or the opposite sex is the solution to the problem of lust?

Religion tells us to follow rules and external conformity, hoping that will solve the problem of lust and other evils. God tells us to change our heart from within. You decide J