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Fatwa CenterConcealing non-Arab identity to gain respect
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu, Shaykh. I am a non-Arab woman, but I try not to reveal that I am non-Arab when I fear that if I reveal that, by speaking English or Urdu, or by my dress, etc., I maybe mistreated, abused, disrespected, made fun of, or being flirted with, by men. I have lived life with these experiences, and I hesistate to reveal that I am a non-Arab. With the little Arabic that I know, I try to communicate with it, and otherwise also. Hence until I reveal it myself, no one can always (or mostly) identify that I am a non-Arab. My concern is, am I sinning by doing so? I am not saying that if I am asked whether I am an Arab or a non-Arab by someone, I will lie about it. Allah, the Exalted, decreed this for me, and I am happy with it, praise be to Allah. I only do this in order to avoid what I have mentioned above. Is it the besst thing? Please advise, Shaykh. Praise be to Allah, Arab women are respected and honoured, mostly, and not disrespected or made fun of, not like us, non-Arabs, especially those of us who are from Asia. At times, we are even treated like garbage, actually worse than that. I have been suffering from this as I have been living as a non-Arab in an Arab environment. This is not what Islam says, but some people have made this wrong distinction. Please advise, Shaykh. May Allah reward you, Shaykh.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Concealing what may reveal that you are a non-Arab in order to spare yourself potential harm is not a sin, and there is no harm on you in doing so; rather, it is better in such situations, as we have previously underlined in fatwa 334225.
Allah knows best.
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