..why is it considered so important.
I know what you will say, that the Prophet(PBUH) had one. but so did Abu Jehal, and the other people of his times. it was rather a cultural thing than a religious one. and then when we look at it there is one famous hadith. i can not remember it correctly but it goes something like this: “dont make yourself look like jews and christians”. now we all know that the orthodox jews have big beards. so we should have the opposite i.e. no beards at all.i doubt that teh Quran has ever mentioned. given the type of importance that it has acquired among the muslims there should have been a ayah or something. but it is not there.
I have a theory. we give it so much importance because it is an easy job. simply put we look for short cuts into heaven. why try hard when we could go there just by having a beard. if it does not lead us directly into it then atleast it gets us closer, right?
can someone please explain. please try to answer my question. dont just give me the fazeelats and everything associated with beard. repeating the questions:
if it was a cultural thing why is it given so much importance? and for that matter why do we give so much importance to cultural things. for example, dates are a part of Arab culture. nothing grows except dates there. and so it is not so hard to understand why muslims at that time ate dates. that was pretty much the only fruit available.
2)Aint we following Abu Jehal too when we have beard?
Actually, the broader topic of why Muslims have historically interpreted cultural practices of Arabs and prophet as religious is an overlooked subject and rarely discussed.
..why is it considered so important.
I know what you will say, that the Prophet(PBUH) had one. but so did Abu Jehal, and the other people of his times. it was rather a cultural thing than a religious one. and then when we look at it there is one famous hadith. i can not remember it correctly but it goes something like this: "dont make yourself look like jews and christians". now we all know that the orthodox jews have big beards. so we should have the opposite i.e. no beards at all.i doubt that teh Quran has ever mentioned. given the type of importance that it has acquired among the muslims there should have been a ayah or something. but it is not there.
I have a theory. we give it so much importance because it is an easy job. simply put we look for short cuts into heaven. why try hard when we could go there just by having a beard. if it does not lead us directly into it then atleast it gets us closer, right?
can someone please explain. please try to answer my question. dont just give me the fazeelats and everything associated with beard. repeating the questions:
1) if it was a cultural thing why is it given so much importance? and for that matter why do we give so much importance to cultural things. for example, dates are a part of Arab culture. nothing grows except dates there. and so it is not so hard to understand why muslims at that time ate dates. that was pretty much the only fruit available.
2)Aint we following Abu Jehal too when we have beard?
3) why do we look for short cuts in to heaven?
Lot of things from arab culture became part of the religion. Prophet Mohammed never deviated from the decent part of Arab culture and that became sunna
There is also a hadees whcih prohibits men from imitating women and vice versa
The point is this that Sunna is not fardh, but disliking sunna (one does not have to adopt it, but one can always respect it) is a major sin
Jaanaan,, last statement was a genral statement. I am not saying that you said that. In fact your psot is a very well articulated post. Thanks
Really? Oh look, you have two legs. And two hands. And hopefully 2 well-functioning kidneys.
You're such a pansy. Stop trying to be like us girls and get your own identity.
How come you didn't mention the waxed body, Lipstick, Breasts, and Monthly dilemmas?
Bad attempt at sarcasm.
As for the beard, just because something was cultural, doesn't mean it can't be part of religion also. The moment you say such a thing, its that exact moment when you've detached religion from worldly affairs. When infact, if one studies Islam they find that Islam = Religion + Worldly affairs, including cultures. You can't differentiate the two. A true inquirer should pay heed to that.
jaanaan, the hadith u presented is incomplete....
it says "differentiate yourselves from the jews and christians... grow the beard and trim your moustache"....
its the second part that actually differentiates u....
yeah he is a muslim. his name is a yousaf estes, a christian convert and now a muballigh. there are videos available of him. he once came to our univesity to present a lecture, so i have seen him live too. he is funny too.
[quote]
The point is this that Sunna is not fardh, but disliking sunna (one does not have to adopt it, but one can always respect it) is a major sin
[/quote]
try telling that to the local talibans in the tribal areas of pakistan
[quote]
Jaanaan,, last statement was a genral statement. I am not saying that you said that. In fact your psot is a very well articulated post. Thanks
[/quote]
I'm choking on my coke. You're telling me that Islam is tied in with world affairs? And yet, if the issue of a woman wearing jeans comes up, its people like YOU who oppose it the most. If anyone has a problem with living in THIS world, its people of YOUR SORT.
I really liked this part of your post. One thing though I would not say it became part of the religion but part of the culture of the muslims of Arabia or cultural norms of the muslims that were not deemed against Islamic principles. But these two sentences of yours have a lot of meaning to it. Well said.
Really? Oh look, you have two legs. And two hands. And hopefully 2 well-functioning kidneys.
You're such a pansy. Stop trying to be like us girls and get your own identity.
PCG, what was that all about for??
The hadees I gave reference of was not fabricated by me so dont challenge me for that
And also, it is asked that women should not immitate men also.
Hadees does not say or mean that men are better then women.
I'm choking on my coke. You're telling me that Islam is tied in with world affairs? And yet, if the issue of a woman wearing jeans comes up, its people like YOU who oppose it the most. If anyone has a problem with living in THIS world, its people of YOUR SORT.
Islam is not tied in with world affairs. You are picking up your own interpretations of what I said.
I think that you are in a bad mood today for some reason.
