The Dirty Foreigners

There is a common belief among most Muslim Egyptians about foreigners. I don’t know if it’s shared among other Muslims around the world. The belief is that foreigners, the non-Muslim Westerners and to some extent the Egyptian Christians, are dirty. Many people think so because they believe these foreigners don’t shower on a regular basis. As well as that, they don’t use water to clean themselves after urinating and defecating.

Water is an important tool for cleanness in Islam. Partners have to shower after having sex. Women have to shower as soon as their period ends. Before prayers, Wudu should be done using water.

I remember when Adolph and I went to climb Membe mountain and I needed to pee. He told me that I might do it somewhere among the bushes but I told him I couldn’t. He asked if it was because I needed water to clean my excretion area as other Muslims do. Yes, it’s true I use water to clean myself. However, on this day, this wasn’t the case. I didn’t pee because I was on my period and I didn’t have an extra sanitary pad to use. In addition, I felt disgusted by the idea of peeing and not being able to wash my hands with soap afterwards.

As for the media, many TV shows make use of this topic and create videos mocking how dirty foreign people are.
I recently came across one of these shows while working. The presenter talked about his experience in the States and the big problem he faced there. It was when he went to the toilet and he couldn’t find the shattaf, which is something like a sprinkler used in toilets after excretion. The presenter wondered are all the men and women in the West don’t wash their private areas? Yuck! How long have they been like this? 200 years! The audience then applauded and laughed out loud.

People often see others from a negative perspective, especially when they don’t do things the way they do. Nowadays, many people blame the Chinese for the Coronavirus because they eat bats, dogs and other inedible animals.
In fact, many people in other countries eat weird food. In Egypt, some people eat stuffed intestines with rice, animal penis, the heads of shrimps, and salted fermented fish. The Lebanese eat raw liver. The Japanese and other Asian people eat raw fish. In some Latin countries, people fry the insects, add spices and eat them like seeds.

This is how racism starts, seeing others as dirty or terrorists or blaming them for a pandemic. Then the circle goes bigger and bigger until it gets out of control and becomes a firm belief. The only ones who would benefit from it, are the fascist and extremist groups as they try to achieve their agendas around the world.

Shattafa - Bidet Shower