I'm willing to die on the hill of insisting that Muslims who are serious about their religious values should not have to present themselves as having a constantly serious personality, trying to fit into some false conception of what a "practicing Muslim" is supposed to look like.

I think some Muslims have this conception because of their interactions with religious authority figures, like teachers and scholars, who choose to present themselves more seriously in public settings. This isn't to say that they're right or wrong, but to point out a byproduct.

You can be serious about your Islamic values without taking on a constantly serious and rigid persona. Islam doesn't tell you to stop having a personality. It helps you understand who are at your core. It brings out your true essence. It feeds your soul & purifies your character.

This is a challenge for a lot of us. It's not easy to understand yourself, let alone to be yourself. Our behaviour is influenced by the groups we're trying to fit into or seek approval from. But blind imitation can starve the soul, rather than empowering it & bringing it to life.

When you don't do the work to understand your nafs and ego, to purify your soul, to understand what this religion really wants for you, it's so easy to become scared of your personality, to believe that you need to shut it down lest it come out & lead you to sin. It's really sad.

This can become a source of anxiety for people. It can manifest in policing anyone who doesn't fit into their conception of religiosity or righteousness. One of the easiest remedies is learning about the lives of the Prophets (AS) and Companions (R). So many unique personalities.

I’m surprised by how many people are connecting w this, alhamdulilah. I’ve been working for over a year w a team of awesome ppl to develop a platform for content that addresses topics like this. We haven’t launched yet, but we’ll announce it here soon isA: http://bit.ly/tareqnewsletter