How I Became a Mullah

Looked at myself in the mirror today and still couldn't find the resemblance.

Seriously. Didn't I get mistaken for a porn-obsessed sexual perv just a month back? When did I suddenly turn into a turbanned and mustachioed religious cleric?


Then again it was dark, I'd grown a beard and I was eating kosher food.

Mullah : Excuse me, good sir. Would you like to try this CD?
Paul : That's a nasyid CD.
Mullah : Really great. Sung by a band of god-fearing brothers. It will strengthen your inner spirituality.
Paul : Mother of God.
Mullah : Peace be upon you too, my brother.

This close to replying in kind - except I was too tongue-tied to come up with an answer. Despite his shoving the religious items at me, my religious inclinations weren't in the least bit swayed. Didn't feel any urge to toss my Bible out the window. Even my crucifix remains intact, albeit in a lil box by my nightstand. After all if your religious beliefs are apt to waver significantly after a persuasive spiel, they weren't all that strong in the first place.

Obviously not everyone thinks the same.

Thanked the peddler politely but shook my head to say no. Now isn't it fortunate how wonderfully tolerant I am? If the roles were reversed - say a naive bible-toting preacher innocently selling traditional hymns to a Muslim - I can already imagine the crazed jihad-like uproar that would ensue. Torches and pitchforks I swear.


Maybe if they looked as good as Mormon boys, I might reconsider!
But I guess it's interesting that I actually got mistaken as the aspiring mullah with four submissive wives and twenty hopeful children.

Talk about diversity! Interracial mixed marriages have become so common here that it's almost impossible to peg someone's racial heritage just from one look. Even the stereotypically fair Chinese here have turned permatanned like the mocha-skinned natives. Which is wonderful. Perhaps that's the road our country should be heading towards rather than headlining race and religion on our identification cards to further divide us. Just a thought.

May we all be mistaken as mullahs one day.

And vice versa.