A summary of my research on Yasmeen Ghauri

Why did I do a research on Yasmeen Ghauri?


The phenomenon of Muslims (particularly women) marrying non-Muslims and even leaving Islam has been of interest to me, as I do not understand what compels them to do so. If the secular countries are only one-hundredth as tolerant as they claims to be, Muslims should be happy enough living there. Should they fall in love with a non-Muslim, they can marry in a civil court.

One reason maybe that the basic concepts of Islam have not been sufficiently clear to those Muslims who have chosen to leave the faith, or maybe they prefer satisfaction of their earthly desires more than what will transpire on the Day of Judgement.

I have never bothered to read about or see fashion shows, but then I learnt about a Canadian girl (born of a Pakistani father and a German mother). The father was an Imam. This girl became a supermodel, and a household name in Europe. I decided to do some research. I read some more on Yasmeen Ghauri, and saw some videos. I think now I know, understand and appreciate her point of view better, although there are still points that need to be cleared.

She was born in 1971, and her parents divorced in 1980. Her mother accused her father of giving time to the mosque rather than the family. Her father denies this, and says he always catered to his daughter's wisehs, taking her to Los Angeles and Disneyland when she expressd a desire to do so. She continued to live with her father, who took her for Hajj when she was 13. She had inherited her body frame and curves from her mother, and her skin color (coffee) from her father. At school she was the only Muslim (and also the only colored girl). As a resullt she suffered racial slurs (Paki, Paki), and withdrew to herslef, eventually setting into friendships with older people in her neighborhood.

At 17, while working at a McDonald's, she was "discovered by a photographer who brought her to this hairdresser. The hair dresser asked er if she would like to become a model. At that time she described herself as a rebel, wearing all black, and even painting her toenails black. One can understand that there would be friction between her and her father. She perhaps wanted to fit in and be accepted by the society she was living in, while the father was worried about her Aakhira. A modeling career for her was rejected by both her parents, as the atmosphere was "unsanitary and evil". She, however, went ahead, and describes as funny when her father met her agent and asked him that his daughter should not appear nude or something. What she said is not clear to me on the video. She most probably wanted to do what the other girls were doing.

She worked for three years as a model while living in her father's house, who was deeply unhappy, for her and also because the community had begun to question his ability to lead if he could keep his daughter from going astray. She eventually moved to New York and signed a contract with a renowned Modeling Agency. Despite the fact that she had moved away from her father's home as a result of intense disagreement over her career, she used to phone him at least twice a week. Apparently she told her father not to speak anything about her to any one, but herself made a few remarks to the TV, and the father then also spoke a little.

She does have some good qualities. She earned a lot, but was sensible with her money. She is humble and down to Earth. She looked after her mother while modeling, although the information is dated when she initially moved to New York at age 20. She reads ten books a month, or maybe used to read. So her brain must be stimulated. In her interviews she comes out very confidant. She dropped out of a top fashion house show in 1996 to pursue a degree in business administration, not an easy subject. She must have been thinking of what she would do after retirement, if she weren't married. She says at the time of her modeling days that all this modeling work will not last for ever, so she has to make as much money as possible. That is why she has worked not only on runways, but also in advertisements and promotions. She also said this modeling career will be behind her, and she will have a family she is devoted to.

Baring her body, although not comletely nue to start with, was sinful enough, but she went a step further, and had a boyfriend for many years, who became the father of her daughter, born out of wedlock. This, too, is understandable, as the pressure of the society and one's own nafs is to have a partner. In the absence of regulations, one will have sex before or outside marriage. There is loneliness, too, for which one wiil substitute the intimacy sex brings. Alcohol also lowers one's controls, and she had started taking alcohol. Mixed dancing whets up an appetite for sex, and she had started that, too, for she primarily went into modeling because she wanted to enjoy life. She was abandoned by the community, and she found friends among the non-Muslims.

The Muslim community rejects girls who take to such careers. There would be very few, perhaps nil, Muslim men who would have approached her for dating and marriage. She married Ralph Bernstein, a Jewish lawyer, after she had her daughter with him. She helps in fund-raising for breast cancer and saving the German Black Forest. I googled to find out if she is now going by her husband's surname, and sure enough, she is. This year she donated $ 2300 to the Democratic Party. There are other fund-raising events with her name as Yasmeen Bernstein. So she is indeed looking after her family and the circle she has joined. Looks like she is keeping herself and her family away from the limelight. She also said that she does what she believes in.

Her father has also said that she would question him on why they had to live different lives - one at home, one at school, and one at Sunday Islamic school.
 
All very secular, or maybe Jewish, millionaire class living. Nothing about returning to Islam. In fact if she continues like this, she may become a Jew. Looks like all her current friends are Jews. Maybe she already is.
 
In her interviews, she comes out as a very self-assured person, who has consciously taken this route. The interviews happened a long time ago, and in it she said on religion that I am a Muslim and Islam expects its adherents to be modest, not to show skin, not to drink dance, etc., everything that I am doing now". Then she says her father told her "I am putting him in jeopardy. I am going to Hell - all very dramatic." Then she says she is a normal person, and wants to lead a normal life. She is also reported to have said that although her family was middle class, she longed for things that the other children had and did. This is in contrast to the happy-go-lucky attitude she displayed in her career as a model. Obviously, she wanted money and a good sensual life.
 
From this it comes out is that she has rejected Islam. She does not say that she has left Islam, but she admits what she was doing at that time is not allowed in Islam. What she says about the differences with her father shows misunderstanding, if not contempt. She thinks inside he is proud of her. What nonsense. The father refutes that thinking. She also thinks this is dramatic when her father says she is putting him in jeopardy (she was, the community gave him hell), and that she is going to Hell.

Thus she is somewhat contemptuous or dismissive of the punishments in the Hereafter.
 

I pray she returns to Islam.