Muslim Beard Row Boys Now Banned from School

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two Muslim schoolboys barred from classes because they would not shave off their beards have now been sent home from their school

Both 14-year-olds had been placed in "isolation" from the start of the new term at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School in Accrington, Lancashire.

Talks were held with the families of the two boys to resolve the problem but neither side backed down and the school has now decided the pupils can only return to school when they are clean-shaven.

Headteacher Xavier Bowers has stressed that the matter is not one of religion but about dress code.

In a statement issued today, he said: "At Mount Carmel RC High School, we believe that it's important to be clear about what we expect from students in all aspects of school life, including appearance and uniform. » | News agencies | Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Decoding Facial Hair in the Arab World

BBC: During the Mubarak-era, beards were a no-no in Egypt - but now they're back in fashion with a vengeance. In the Arab and Muslim world, facial hair signifies a lot more than personal style, writes Cairo-based journalist Ashraf Khalil.

A couple of years ago, I was with my parents in a mosque near Chicago. They introduced me to an old family friend - a lady who'd known me since I was a kid but hadn't seen me for years. She embraced my mother and shook hands with my father, but when she turned to me she stood about a foot away from me, didn't offer to shake my hand and instead sort of awkwardly waved.

My father asked her why she had been so distant and she said it was because of my beard. She assumed that my facial hair was symbolic of a deep Islamic religiousness and was afraid that if she offered her hand to shake, I wouldn't take it. My father, who knows exactly how non-religious I am, still LOVES to tell this story.

In the Arab and Muslim world, facial hair means far more than just style and grooming. It's a sociological signifier, a shorthand that often tells you who you're dealing with and what they're all about before they can even speak. There are a couple of different styles in play, and as a journalist you learn to develop a sort of internal chart.

In Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood members generally tend to go with the full but well-groomed beard and moustache. However Salafists - the ultraconservative fundamentalist Muslims - like to let their beards grow long and wild, often leaving their upper lip clean-shaven as a nod to how the Prophet Mohammed wore his own beard 1,400 years ago.

Some within the Salafist camp take things an extra step and dye their beards with henna, producing a range of colours from maroon to bright pumpkin orange. » | Ashraf Khalil | Saturday, February 02, 2013

BBC Working Hard for Britain’s Muslims! Are Beards Obligatory for Devout Muslim Men?
BBC: Hizbul-Islam militants in Somalia ordered men in Mogadishu this week to grow their beards and trim their moustaches.

"Anyone found violating this law will face the consequences," a Hizbul-Islam militant said, announcing the edict.
But, is growing a beard obligatory under Islam?

Professor Muhammad Abdel Haleem, of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, says it is not.

It is up to the individual whether he lets his facial hair grow or not, Mr Abdel Haleem says, attributing this view to most scholars of Islamic law across a majority of Muslim-dominated countries.

Recommendation

Muslims learn about the Prophet's views on facial hair not from the Koran, but through hadith - or sayings - attributed to Muhammad.

One such hadith, related by Muslim scholar Sahih Bukhari centuries ago, stipulates: "Cut the moustaches short and and leave the beard."

The Prophet Muhammad is believed to have had a beard and those who insist that devout Muslims grow beards argue that they are doing no more than asking the faithful to emulate the Prophet's actions.

The question that arises is one of enforcement.

Mr Abdel Haleem says the body of Islamic law at the core of manuals of Muslim practice puts it as a recommendation - sitting in the middle between an order and absolute free choice.

But, he adds, it is "a recommendation nonetheless". >>> | Saturday, June 26, 2010

Abdur Raheem Green: Growing a Beard

Taleban, Pakistan: Männer sollten sich nicht mehr rasieren. Es ist schließlich un-islamisch!

WELT ONLINE: Männliche Bewohner des pakistanischen Stammesgebiets sollen sich nicht mehr rasieren. Das verlangt der regionale Anführer der islamistischen Taliban. Wer sich in den nächsten zwei Monaten keinen Bart wachsen lasse, werde bestraft, verkündete Maulwi Fakir Mohammad. Schließlich sei Rasieren "un-islamisch".

Die Taliban im pakistanischen Stammesgebiet haben allen Männern in der Region ein Ultimatum gestellt, sich gemäß den islamischen Regeln einen Bart stehen zu lassen. „Männer müssen in den nächsten zwei Monaten ihren Bart wachsen lassen und aufhören, sich zu rasieren, oder sie werden schwer bestraft“, sagte der örtliche Taliban-Anführer Maulwi Fakir Mohammad in Khar, der Hauptstadt des Stammesgebietes Bajaur im Nordwesten Pakistans, nach Angaben von Einwohnern. Taliban-Führer fordert Männer auf, Bart zu tragen >>> | 5. Mai 2008

AFP:
Pakistan Taliban Leader Gives Beard Warning: Residents >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe)

”The Tragedy of Modern Britain”
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: While car bombs were being prepared in London and Glasgow, I was visiting the land of the niqab, communities that are in England but not of England, where I was usually the only white person on the street, where the veil and the beard are the norm, and where sharia law holds greater authority than English common law. I was in East London, Bradford, Dewsbury, all bastions of the niqab.

The niqab is the veil which covers the entire face of a woman, except for a slit for the eyes. It has become the symbol of revolt in Pakistan, a tinderbox of Islamic fundamentalism and political instability, where hundreds of young women in black niqabs in the capital, Islamabad, have been challenging the authority of the military Government all year. What they really want is an Islamic state in Pakistan.

I've just been sharing streets and markets with scores of women hidden behind black niqabs, quite a powerful social statement, but these women were in Tower Hamlets in London, Manningham in Bradford, Savile Town in Dewsbury, and in shopping centres in Luton and Leeds. Mind this gap, where trouble brews (more) By Paul Sheehan

Mark Alexander