A Rather Hairy Issue

"He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man."
Much Ado About Nothing act. 2, sc. 1, William Shakespeare

Many postmodern writings deal with the issue of identity, be it from a societal, national or individual perspective. In defining a MUD, this writer had, in earlier articles, described probable behavioural characteristics in identification. However,living in a visual and cultural world, physical appearance also plays a quintissential factor. Is looking like a Muslim important to a MUD?

The impact of visual appearance in the formation of one's identity is of undeniable importance. That said, it is not the domain of this article to address trends in fashion in relation to the Islamic identity; rather it is focused on the presence or absence of a feature central to a male MUD's identity that transcends the short term. In other words, to beard or not to beard is the question.

At this juncture, the writer would like to share his own journey regarding the consideration of facial hair. At various points in time, the writer had experimented growing a first a moustache, then a beard, with varying success. Without launching a full-blown scientific inquiry, the writer had attributed the difficulty of cultivating lush folicle growth to genetics - the earlier attempts at a moustache made one look like an ancient Chinese judicial officer where growth occured only on either side on the upper lip, resulting in what Malaysians refer to as 'misai apek'! Beard cultivation attempts were also only slightly successful, with the scraggly folicles slowly growing, despersed throughout the chin, like a crop plantation experiencing drought. With perseverence, a respectable combination was finally achieved, after much goading and careful pruning.

Physiological challenges were actually rather easily surmountable in comparison to emotional and cultural ones. Firstly, there was the factor of self-trepidation. The following questions arose:

• How would people react to me having a beard? Would they stop being open to me?
• Was I 'pious' enough to grow one? Would I not give the wrong impression if I acted wrongly when I have a beard?
• Do I have to change first before growing a beard? No more watching Baywatch?
• What about many 'pious'/'righteous' men who do not sport a beard? Am I saying I am better?

And so on. Unlike changing one's appearance via clothes and clothing apparel, the beard has a certain constancy to it. It was a big decision. I felt I should do it only if I was sincere in wanting it. I was, so I did.
Did I feel more "Islamic"? Maybe, but I did not know why. Did people treat me differently? Yes, less dirty jokes told in my presence, and sometimes one can feel a certain distance in conversations. However, when I continued acting as I was, things generally reverted to normal, post-aftershock.

It is, however, a MUD's duty, to know the "why". The obvious one is about identity. Most cultures and religions encourages the facial growth:

• Eastern cultures including Egypt, Turkey and India, regarded the beard as a sign of wisdom, status and dignity
• In the Bible, in the Book of Leviticus, it is written: "They shall not make their baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh" (Leviticus 21:5)-
• All married Amish men sport a beard
• In the Talmud (Holy Book of the Jews), it is mentioned "The glory of a face is its beard".
• Sikhs have been commanded in their religious teachings not to cut hair from any part of their body

One may conclude that in earlier cultures, a beard was often a desirable garment for man. The shaving of the beard could be traced to several sources; in ancient Persia, the fire-worshipping Zoroastrian kings adopted the practice.It is said that the beards were common in the Greek civilisation, until Alexander the Great ordered his soldiers to shave in the 4th century BC.Peter the Great of Russia imposed tax on those who wanted to grow his beard. Why all this opposition?

We are bombarded daily by images of young, clean-shaven men who are successful in both work and social life. The beard is portrayed as the anti-thesis of success. The beard has bad press.

The writer posits that those actions were often done as a cultural exclamation mark. It became stronger when the division of the church and state was enacted in the western Renaissance period. The secular movements insisted on the differentiation between the sacred and the profane, and thus relegating the relevance of religion to ritualistic mores that have little if any effect on the economic and political reality. That weakening of the sacrosanct was further spread to the East in the efforts of Colonisation where according to Neil Postman, in his book "Conscientious Objections" argues that the British, masters of the art of Imperialism, mobilised a method of invasion that began with sending in their navy (to colonise), then their army (to stabilise), then their administrators (to control and govern) and finally their education (to colonise the subjugated minds with a secular world-view). Albert Memmi, in "The Colonizer and the Colonized" further states that the coloniser then accuses the colonised of being lazy, timid, unpunctual and inferior, which disturbs and latter as "he admires and fears his powerful accuser". And in wanting to be seen as 'progressive' and rid himself of the perceived indignant traits, the colonised then adopts the coloniser's values and believes that in order to free himself, he agrees to destroy his old self and to start imitating his masters.

Today, this form of imperialism via imitation can be seen in the active promotion of 'the beardless culture'. The emphasis today is on the youth and looking young, unlike previous traditional cultures in which a man's stature is increased through the acquisition of wisdom and the passing of age. We are bombarded daily by images of young, clean-shaven men who are successful in both work and social life. The beard is portrayed as the anti-thesis of success. The beard has bad press.

This 'conforming to the norm' would explain why this writer, living in such place with such a western-dominated cultural outlook, felt the discomfort to start sporting a beard. However, the resurgence of Islam in Malaysia over the last decade has made the bearded look more of a norm, albeit with somewhat of a 'conservative' or even 'radial' connotations. A MUD, however, ignores such considerations as it may cloud one's judgement. A MUD makes his or her case by going to the Quran and the Sunnah.

Let us first consider the opinion of the respected scholar, Yusuf al-Qardawi, from "Letting the Beard Grow, The Lawful and Prohobited in Islam" : "Perhaps of the second opinion, that it is makruh (to shave), is nearer to the truth and more moderate. ... growing a beard may be regarded as commendable but not obligatory, and accordingly, shaving it would be classified as makruh rather than haram. It is true that none of the sahabah was known to have shaved his beard. Perhaps there was no need to shave, and perhaps growing the beard was a custom among them."

The source that this writer have used for many of the information in this article is a book by Dr. Gohan Mushtaq called "Growing a Beard In the Light of the Qur'an, Sunnah and Modern Science". His argument on the last point made by Qardawi is that while the Messenger of Allah p.b.u.h. grew a beard, he commanded his followers to forsake other Arab 'customs' such as burying their daughters alive, drinking the blood of animals and drink alcohol. And to emphasise that it was not just a custom, he quoted the following hadeeth, which also deals with the issue of identity as discussed above:

The Messenger of Allah p.b.u.h. said to his companions: "Be different from the mushrikun (those who assign Allah partners); trim your moustaches and allow your beards to grow." Narrated by Ibn Umar r.a. in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim

A MUD needs to exercise ijtihad (individual reasoning), so the writer closes with a series of hadeeth and Qur'an:

"Cut your moustaches and let your beard grow. Be different from the people of the Book." Sahih Muslim

"Trim the moustache and allow the beard to grow and be different from the Magians (dualist and fire-worshippers also known as the Zoroastrians)." Narrated by Ibn Umar r.a. in Sahih Muslim

"Whoever imitates a people (nation) is one of them." Sunan Abu Dawud

"You who have iman! Enter Islam totally. Do not follow in the footsteps of Shaytan. He is an outright enemy to you." Surah al-Baqarah 2:208

[Muhammad] say [to mankind], 'If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you..." Surah Al'Imran 3:31

Wallahu'alam. Allah knows best.



Gnosis