The Refutation of Those Who Say: Religion Is Husk and Kernel

The Shaykh : And based on this, some of them utter words that, if they meant what they said, the Shari'ah would rule that they have committed apostasy. This is because they label this concern with the outward aspects of matters—specifically what relates to the bodies—as "husk," or they say that it is among the trifles of matters. We have often heard this and read it in some treatises. This is negligence of this scientific and Shari'ah reality, which, after Islam, became an empirical scientific reality. That is, what they call today psychology has established for them that the outward appearance, whether sound or corrupt, affects the inward state; the body, whether weak or strong, affects the heart, whether weak or strong. This has been established with them recently, whereas Islam, as is its constant and eternal habit, was ahead of them in this.
It has now been established by their experiments that if a person changes his appearance, his nature and morals are affected. They give a very simple example of this: they say that the same person differs in moments due to the difference in his attire and clothing. They say, for example, that the poor man who finds no clothing with which to adorn himself wears a tattered garment; so he walks on the earth in humiliation and degradation, whereas in his own reality he is not so. But this clothing makes him feel lowliness and humiliation, so he walks thus in a hunched, humble manner. This same person, if it is decreed for him or if the opportunity arises for him to wear beautiful, luxurious clothing, behold, his appearance changes and his gait changes. Whereas you saw him just now walking with the gait of a humble, poor person, now you see him standing straight and walking on the earth with strength, pride, and arrogance. What has befallen this man, who previously walked that humiliating gait? He was previously affected by his tattered clothing, and then he was affected by his new, luxurious, expensive clothing. They mention this example to show that the outward affects the inward.