By Samina Qamar, MD, Dodge City, Kansas
There was a time in the history of the Pakistan Army when special permission had to be obtained from the GHQ if an officer wished to grow a beard. Then came a time when we had beards and beards everywhere.
Afghanistan’s Taliban used to measure beards of people and punish those whose whiskers were shorter than required. Those unkempt beards were reflective of their ideology. Just as there was opposition to the use of a toothbrush, similarly, opposition to shaving and refusing to appear attractive to the world is our way of expressing our being virtuous. All this is a part of the pseudo-Islamic ideology of life which has evolved over the past 400 years and which has nothing to do with the message of economic and social justice of the Qur’an. What a shame that the glorious message of the Qur’an has been lost in the trivialities of toothbrushes and beards. As Iqbal said,
“Haqqeqat khrafaat mein kho ga’yi
“Yeh Ummat rawayaat mein kho ga’yi “