Sanctity of Beard
By Ibrahim Mahmood • Jun 20th, 2009 • Category: Misc, Worth A Second Look • 17 CommentsIt pains me when I see very respectable Muslim brothers with long flowing beards, park their huge shining SUV’s right in the middle of the road because they are in a hurry to offer Juma prayers. It pains me when I see such people breaking traffic signals in Ramazan because they are in a hurry to break fast or in a rush to offer Maghrib prayers. I feel pained when I see a noble looking man with a great white beard breaking a queue so that he can be the first one in line. I see respectable man sporting a beard sending his son to Iqra School to become a Hafiz, yet he never had the time to read the Quran. I see another endorsing potato chips as halal and asking four million rupees, three shalwar suits and a pair of shoes for the ad (that’s what someone from the ad agency told me). I can go on and on here as the list is very long but I see………hypocrisy!
Big deal, you may say, we are Pakistanis and that makes us natural hypocrites but why is my anger specifically directed towards men with beards? Now that, is a very valid question and I will try to explain.
It is indeed very unfortunate that a very ‘weak’ Muslim like me needs to explain this but do these people realize that when they decide to keep a beard they are representing something sacred? Do these people know that by keeping a beard they are under obligation to God that their words and actions which should be inline with the teachings of Islam? Do they forget their obligation to humanity is first and foremost? Does their Islam absolve them of their duties to their society? Are they setting an example for other to follow?
So why can’t a “good Muslim” be a “good person” first, I ask? Unfortunately, Muslim scholars, thinkers and philosophers over the ages have only stressed upon our obligations to Allah while understating or altogether neglecting obligations to humanity. Only a few reformers like Abdus Sattar Edhi and Dr. Zakir Naik really stress that in order to be a good Muslim one has to be a good human first. As usual, these thinkers have often been labeled as non-believers by “enlightened ones”, for speaking something unconventional.
Do we really need some divine signal to make us realize that parking cars properly should also be considered as a Sawab? Or, that patience is virtue cherished by Islam? Or, that by stopping on a red light we are following yet another teaching of Islam; discipline?
Lets not embarrass ourselves anymore……lets think !!!!
Trackback URL
|
|
|
Click For More Articles By Ibrahim Mahmood
All posts by Ibrahim Mahmood
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Agreed on most points.
About that Ad Junid Jamshed featured in—-well I think asking for money in return for appearing in the Ad for me is not unethical—although I heard otherwise i.e. Junaid Jamshed’s friend is Marketing Manager for the said Brand and hence Junaid Jamshed was roped in to clear the misconception and that he didn’t charge anything–Anyways truth is best known ti Allah.
You mentioned Abdul Sattar Edhi who might be a good humanitarian but his Beared mind you is –well —I would suggest you to do some reaserach on him–he has some starnge thoughts about Religion.
Mr. Kashif, thanks for your comments….i have done a lot of research on Edhi Sahib in my opinion there is certainly no other great humanitarian to rival him in Pakistan, atleast….this thoughts are never ’strange” rather it is us who bar ourselves from thinking…..the whole purpose of the articles is make us all think !!!!
Dear Ibrahim,
why only single out the bearded men? i know a person with beard should respect the jewel he is wearing
but
is the being without beard a licence to do everything?
like wrong parking? breaking, traffic signals and waiting lines? listening to music? watching movies with nudity in them?
lust for money, impatience, greed, are found in all humans you are a human arent you ? so you might understand what i mean here.
if i am not mistaken then we all are humans, which means that non of us is an angel, so non of us is perfect so we all can make mistakes , then why a person with a beard is more culpabale?
an old man without beard can have illegal sex with a girl half his age , it is called moderation or within the norms of a liberal society,
but if a bearded old man marries a young girl to fullfill his desire in a lawfull manner he is scorned for marrying a girl young enough to be his daughter
silly point you have highlighted here, if you wish to stress upon being good humans, it should be irrespective of a beard,
there are non muslims in pakistan, they have no importance for beard, does this mean they dont need to be good humans?
a dissapointing and a very biased article ! and unfortuantely this reflects the mindset of most of the pakistanis,
Best Regards
hey !
women dont have beard by nature how come they dont have to be good humans? this is very unfair to men !
i thought in our culture men were the privileged class, when did this revolution came?
oh ! now i understand ….. why Nawaz Sharif is clean shave…. its because of his black deeds but zardari has a mustache thats not as good as beard but its better than being clean shaved and mustache is closer to a having a bread, his deeds are blacker than NS,
where do you live Ibrahim? in your mind?
this is like saying that all sikhs wear a turban, the sikhs who wear turban should respect it , therefore any sikh who has parked his car at a wrong place has no right to wear a turban as he has insulted his turban and ultimately the eldest Guru Nanak whose tradition all the sikhs follow by wearing a turban
Hi Ibrahim,
If keeping beard alone makes a man a better Muslim, wow then i think plenty of them are there in whole world. Some of them park cars in middle of streets while some kill Pakistani soldiers
Agrees with Muhammad Ali Sajjad!
>>>>>>>>>>>>I feel pained when I see a noble looking man with a great white beard breaking a queue so that he can be the first one in line.
ibrahim didnt you feel any pain when you saw a man with a WHITE beard,( it means that the person is old because young men dont have a white beard) standing in a line ,
how come all the other people including you DID NOT show some noblity and put the old man at the front of the queue,
did everyone in the line including you, had a dose of anesthesia that everyone had all sensation blocked, or was it too much to ask for? is it too much to sacrifice your place for an old man?
why dont you take some responsiblity for being a good human ?
is it only upon the bearded to be noble?
why associate nobility with a beard?
>>>>>>>>>>I see respectable man sporting a beard sending his son to Iqra School to become a Hafiz, yet he never had the time to read the Quran
yeah right !
its like i have never been to school so i cant send my son to school
can i do this?
>>>>>>>>>>>>I see another endorsing potato chips as halal and asking four million rupees
whatever Junaid J said was on his behalf, he did not gave a fatwa, did he?
it was JJ’s will to charge as much as he wanted, it wasnt like he put a gun on someone’s forehead to extract money, he quoted his price and the chips company paid it……….whats wrong with the entire process?
had this been someone else , some one without a beard, everyone would have praised him for haveing high standards or for being a good business man
>>>>>>>>I can go on and on here as the list is very long but I see………hypocrisy!
are you not doing what you are condeming?…….hypocrisy?
why such a double standard ?
grow up man!
Thank you guys for all your comments….i was really expecting an onslaught !
so i am happy that i made you think …now one by one i try to answer….
Mr. Ali Sajjad your sentence “unfortuantely this reflects the mindset of most of the pakistanis”….makes you a minotiry….’nuff said !
Arias, i am not talking about our so called leaders, who by the way, supposedly represent the masses…you are missing the whole point and so do you johann….read again please.
Mr. Hassan Amin, thanks for the disagreement…i appreciate that.
Arias again, you again missed the point….please read again….besides your comments about JJ to which i agree and to whom I apologize for writing about…this was really uncalled for….
Thanks once again, all of you for your critical review !
>>>>>>>>>>>….i was really expecting an onslaught ! so i am happy that i made you think …now one by one i try to answer….
this (the above lines) is what I was expecting from you Ibrahim
there was no onslaught of answers
but i am sad you didnt think about what the comments # 3 4 5 7 are saying
and you didnt answer any question,
if i have missed your point why dont you elaborate IT for me? time to stand by and defend your words
simply placing someone in a minority group or asking to read again is not enough !
or are you afraid to face the reality shown to you in the above mentioned comments?
sochay bagir bolna………yeh kaun si numbri hai?
Dear Ibrahim,
NO Sir ! “’nuff said” is not enough for me, i would expect a more detailed explanation this time around, not a two worded rude response,
Best Regards,
PS.
by saying “makes you a minotiry” and “thanks for the disagreement”
you have admitted being biased and having a double standard
Ibrahim:
I agree with you that practising Moslems ought to put in a greater effort to do good for the society as it our religious responsibility as Moslems. In fact, as per Islams Holy teachings, only a good human being can be a good Moslem.
What I disagree on is that the lack of civic sense is not just a characteristic of bearded men, but rather an attribute common to majority in our country. And by the way not all bearded men are fanatic Mullahs.
Muhammad Ali Sajjad:
there’s no reason to be offended.
Dear Hassan Amin (@ 11)
i couldnt agree more with you,
this is exactly what i am trying to stress upon, that we all humans we all can make mistakes every time, yes everytime .
as you said “the lack of civic sense is not just a characteristic of bearded men”, it could be anyone
Best Regards
PS.
its not about offence, but when in a conversation it just might seem rude to respond to somebody like this, if Ibrahim choses to not to respond at all , it’s entirely up to him, if he is happy , then i am happy
The author makes a valid point. Just by growing an Islamic beard, some people do get the illusion of some sort of moral authority and a licence to get away with more worldly trivial and frivilous rules and trampling upon basic civic and ethical sense. Unbearded people who do about the same atleast make no pretence of being holier than thou. Not that they get off the hook but, yes, it is unfair to generalize the view of all religiously bearded men to be bigots.
Very factual and near to truth article.
guys, i never wanted generalize the bearded people nor do i imply that anywhere in the article….the point is that indeed we are all humans but the people with beards have more responsibility when they opt to keep a beard because it make them stand out from the crowd….on the same note it does not mean that anybody without a beards can get away by breaking the rules…..so i ask you guys that many bearded people (unfortunately) brand others to be non-muslims so easily without even thinking, is this right ? and who gives them this right ? when will we start taking responsibility for our actions ?
right~!
You mean one who dnt have beard is un holy ?
this is simple a bullshit, why you trying to say that you are infidel and a person with beard is only Muslim.
Because Quran says “Deen ma mukamal dakhil ho jao”
if you attach beard with religious then you are calling yourself infidel :s
senseless arugements and senseless article