Well...unless he dies before us and one of us ends up praying for him.
And no, our perception is not because of the the beard and physical appearances. Our perception is that every single time we deal with a so called "scholar", everytime we see one on tv, he is angry, he is all frowned up, he is constantly pulling you towards a specific sect and finally, his way of 7th century reasoning just does NOT stand up to anyone with a 21st century education. Im truly sorry to say, but these people are gonna stand in front a 21st century brain surgeon and tell HER that her faith is merely half compared to a man and she is naaqis-ul-aqal JUST because she's a woman? I'm sorry but talking to most of them is almost an insult to our intelligence. They just can't stand in front of 21st century cognitive and critical thinking... they almost always crash and then get angry. Is it any surprise that we have this perception about them that they are all backwards? No it's not and it's their own fault, not ours.