MAILBAG    

A Hair Raising Question

Dear Sir,

There are some people who encourage the keeping of beards with no moustache. They say it is a Sunnah, a tradition of the prophet Muhammad, and since it is a Sunnah it is AN ACT OF FAITH.

Ali Akbar's book "God and Man" gives a very good description of tribal Arabia during the time of the prophet.

The Arabs, Jews, Christians all looked alike and all wore long jubah and turbans. Being intensely tribal people they developed modes of dress and hairstyle to differentiate each other. The Jews kept their hair in a certain style, others developed certain styles like moustache, or no moustache, small beard or large beard. The interesting thing is that the Quraish (the prophet Muhammad's tribe) had beards AND MOUSTACHE.
 

Another fact, which we can also see with our own eyes, that Red Indians, Mongolians, Eskimos and other Mongoloid races have little or no facial hair.

So imagine sending a Muslim mission to Alaska preaching the virtues of keeping beards to the Eskimos. They will surely complain that God has been unfair to them if they are unable to follow the 'tradition of the prophet' and are thus deprived of extra reward.

God says in the Quran: "…men and women are equal as far as believing is concerned"
Chapter A1 Nissa 4:24:

This simply means that in all matters concerning Faith, men and women are spiritually equal - equal in faith. So how can grow beards be an ACT OF FAITH when women and most Red Indians can never hope to grow beards? So how can men claim extra blessing by growing beards?

A. Ali. Singapore.

This is an important question, which concerns Muslims all over the world. Perhaps readers would like to comment.