Zakat is specifically mentioned in the holy Quran so it is part of the religion beyond doubt. Hijab and beard are just opinions of some jurists as far as I'm aware.
The logic/reason behind keeping a beard is to look different from the mushrikeen. It makes a person look more of a man, it's good for the skin as shaving can make the skin rough.
As for the beard reaching the chest, Allah has not made islam to be a burden. The length and style of the beard dont matter IMO, as long as it's hair on the face.
Same goes for hijab, there are different styles of putting it on, as long as it's hijab.
(Don't make islam too hard for believers, dont discourage. Questions come from people who are seeking.)-- anonymous.
Islam may daarrhee hay
Daarhee may Islam nahee
(Shoaib Akhtar on Geo TV)
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*Originally posted by MyStiCaL_MisS: *
The logic/reason behind keeping a beard is to look different from the mushrikeen. It makes a person look more of a man, it's good for the skin as shaving can make the skin rough.
As for the beard reaching the chest, Allah has not made islam to be a burden. The length and style of the beard dont matter IMO, as long as it's hair on the face.
Same goes for hijab, there are different styles of putting it on, as long as it's hijab.
(Don't make islam too hard for believers, dont discourage. Questions come from people who are seeking.)-- anonymous.
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Im not convinced, alright, maybe in that time there was a logic behind keeping beards to show that you are not a mushrik, but what the logic behind it now now, in religious sense?
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*Originally posted by MyStiCaL_MisS: *
The logic/reason behind keeping a beard is to look different from the mushrikeen.
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This has been debunked many a time.. but here goes again.. ever seen the Amish beard??
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Same goes for hijab, there are different styles of putting it on, as long as it's hijab.
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I believe there are numerous how-to's on the length, style, coloring etc of beards and hijaabs.. some want even the face to be covered..
Islam is easy.. the 'scholars' make it hard cuz they have to make living too.
Spock, the reason was and is the same, but as an individual when you start to have one(i dont know if you do or not), you would feel that you are following the sunnah, and you will have an inner satisfaction.
PA, no i dont know what Amish beard is, what is it?
And as for the how to's well IMO theyr not a big deal, as long your covering and look different from the mushrikeen.
Blindly following the scholars or anyone is not right, agree with that.
Actually, Islam becomes easy for those who follow it to the letter…The more you follow it, the easier it becomes…
Some people find praying in front of Kuffar a very hard thing to do, so should we stop praying when it’s time to pray because ‘we are shy and it’s hard for us to pray in front of them’?
Similarly, the beard has been deemed a very important aspect of Islam, so should we stop growing it because ‘we are shy and its hard for us to grow it because we will seem out of place’? Same with the Hijab…
If image consciousness is more important for a Muslim than carrying out the commands of Allah :swt: and the Messenger of Allah :saw: then truly, we must think what kind of Muslims have we become…
An average westerner has no qualms about walking semi naked in front of a crowd at a beach or swimming pool, yet our Muslim brothers and sisters find it hard that they should follow the commands of Allah :swt: and the Holy Prophet :saw:…
Sure Islam is easy, and indeed, its simplicity is its easiness, but to become image conscious and then abandoning the commands is only going to take out its simplicity and replace it with self consciousness…Then out goes the easiness and simplicity and in comes the suave, clean shaven Muslim, paranoid and confused…
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*Originally posted by Lajawab: *
Sure Islam is easy, and indeed, its simplicity is its easiness, but to become image conscious and then abandoning the commands is only going to take out its simplicity and replace it with self consciousness...Then out goes the easiness and simplicity and in comes the suave, clean shaven Muslim, paranoid and confused...
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What's image conciousness got to do with whether there is any religion keeping a beard or not? I mean, what is religious about keeping some hair on your face? Can you just explain that part to me first, let's forget about what anyone else is doing.
OK,
Here’s what the Quran states:
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“O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you.” (Quran 4:59)
“O ye who believe!* Obey Allah and His Messenger,* and turn not away from him when ye hear (him speak).” (Quran 8:20)
“O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered.”(Quran 8:24)
“What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger (and taken away) from the people of the townships,- belongs to Allah,- to His Messenger and to kindred and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; in order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you. So take what the Messenger gives you, and refrain from what he prohibits you. And fear Allah: for Allah is strict in Punishment.” (Quran 59:7)
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Read closely the italicised parts. Now, as for following Allah :swt: and the Messenger :saw: is concerned, how do we follow Allah :swt:'s commands to the letter? By following the Quran because we are Muslims.
And as for following the Messenger :saw: is concerned, how do we do that? By following the Sunnah as ordered in the Quran.
So, when the Quran is telling you to follow the Messenger :saw:, what is the Messenger :saw: saying?
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(1) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said “I have no connection iwth one who shaves, shouts and tears his clothing eg. in grief or affication.”
- Reported by Abu Darda (R.A.) in Muslim, Hadith no. 501
(2) The teachings of Hadhrat Ammar Bin Yaasir, Abdullah Ibn Umar, Sayyidina Umar, Abu Hurairah and Jaabir (R.A.), indicate that ALL used to keep beards that were one fist length or more. Hadhrat Jaabir (R.A.) had said: “We used to grow long beards and only during Hajj and Umrah did we trim them to the required length (i.e. fist length).”
(3) Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Umar (R.A.) relates that: “He who imitates the kuffar (non-believers) and dies in that state, he will be raised up with them on the Day of Qiyamat (Judgement).”
(4) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) says: “Trim closely the moustache, and let the beard flow (Grow).”
- Narrated Ibn Umar (R.A.) in Muslim, Hadith no. 498
(5) “Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) ordered us to trim the moustache closely and spare the beard” says Ibn Umar.
- Muslim, Hadith no. 449
(6) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam)said: “Act against contrary to the polythesists, trim closely the moustache and grow the beard.”
- Reported by Ibn Umar (R.A.) in Muslim, Hadith no. 500
(7) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said “Trim closely the moustache and grow the beard.”
- Reported by Abu Hurairah (R.A.) in Muslim, Hadith no. 501
(8) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: “Anyone who shaves has no claim to the mercy of Allah”
- Reported by Ibn Abbas (R.A.) in Tibrabi
(9) Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Umar (R.A.) used to cut that portion (which exceeds the grip of the hand) of the beard.
- Tirmidhi
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Well I can see there's a big difference in what it says in the Quran and what other people have stated in hadiths. I wonder why?
Doesn't it occurr to you that if it was a matter of such importance it would have found it's way into the Quran to keep a beard rather than "somebody reported this" or "somebody reported that"?
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*Originally posted by Mr Xtreme: *
Well I can see there's a big difference in what it says in the Quran and what other people have stated in hadiths. I wonder why?
Doesn't it occurr to you that if it was a matter of such importance it would have found it's way into the Quran to keep a beard rather than "somebody reported this" or "somebody reported that"?
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That's a very weak argument...Nowhere does it say in the Quran how we should pray, pay the Zakat, do Wudu, so does that mean we abandon these things?
^ Could it possibly mean that these things are not necessary to be a righteous person, please God or enter Heaven? After all the Quran is the last and complete word of God isn't it?
Prayer, Zakat or wudu at least seem relevant to religion but what does facial hair growth have to do with it?
Seminole: Try becoming the president of a firm on a high school degree. You can, but you’d have to have pleased the owner of that company in some extraordinary way to achieve that…
Xtreme: Is that really what Islam is all about? You pick and choose according to your understanding of ‘relevance’? You pick and choose as it suits your needs and demands?
Following the Messenger :saw: means just that, following him in everything as closely as possible…
extremely weak argument and has been debunked numerous times.. Muslims have to ‘follow the Prophet’ in how he embraced monotheism and rejected Polytheism or disbelief… very much like Muslims have been told to ‘follow’ Ibrahim, another true Prophet of God..
However people with rigid mindsets and myopic views will always attempt to limit Islam to some ritualistic cult based on obscure and outdated scholarly rulings concerning trivial issues like how high to wear your shalwar or how long to keep your beard..
A high school degree does not pretend to be the last word in education, never mind from God. My point here is that there are better ways to please God than following meaningless, cultural habits like growing facial hair. And BTW, most Mulsims pick and choose what they follow, you just happen to be more literal than some. But I doubt you have multiple wives or live in a clay hut with a thatched roof and no indoor plumbing. Do your earthly posessions consist of a camel, a horse, some weapons and an ass? Is your pillow stuffed with palm leaves? Have you led battles or killed people?
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*Originally posted by Spock: *
Can someone please explain the logic behind keeping a beard? Everything is Islam has a logic to it.
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First thing we need to understand is, Is everything in Islam logical? A very 'logical' argument one of my teacher gives is that Islam has nothing logical in it! For example, to start with namaaz you wash your face, arms and feet. Now if your body passes some air, you'll have to wash ur face, hands and feet again, everything which you just washed but not the part of the body which released air. Do you think its logical?
If you start observing things you'll find out that there is almost nothing logical in Islam. Logic of the whole thing is just that Allah wants it this way.
Its all about Love, the True Love (Ishq-e-haqeeqi). And Love has no Logic.
how hard is it to understand that the prophet ordered us to grow a beard? now no one is making it as important in islam as tawheed or risalat, or akhira. but the point is that in islam nothing is trivial. there are important issues and then there are not so important issues. both must be obeyed.
with regards to claims that we should only follow the prophet in the way he embrased tawheed rejected shikr, then islam will resemble christianity. where praying once on sunday is enough to land you in heaven and the rest of the week you are free to be animal. islam is not called a way of life for no reason. there really are rules for every thing.
tell me one more thing, how many times does it say in quran to clean after yourself after you answer the call of nature? and to use water when to clean you self. but we still gotta clean ourselves after going to bathroom otherwise we cant pray. (well for hadith rejecters, they can say its only in hadith that tells us how to do istinja, and ignore that) but no matter how many arguments they present, if they do not properly do istinja, their prayers will be invalid. so here you go. islam really is not hard, but with false arguments people make it impossible to follow the truth.
PA: Debunked by whom? By what scholars? By what school of thought? Is Quran the ultimate authority in living your life as a Muslim? Do you become a Muslim by simply believing in monotheism? Does being a Muslim also entail being a certain identity or can you have your nipples pierced, have tattoos, not pray as perscribed by the Holy Prophet :saw:, take drugs and smoke and still be following the Prophet (saw)? After all, these things are not forbidden in the Quran, are they?
Agreed, the message of Quran is monotheism and observance of the commands of Allah :swt:, yet being a Muslim entails being much more than just a set of commands for you carry out. Being a Muslim entails having a definitive identity and set of behaviours that have been set forth in the example of the Holy Prophet :saw:, and one which we are commanded to follow by our book, the Quran.
The Quran while guiding the spirit, also guides us to the example of the Holy Prophet :saw: whose example was to guide the body itself. The example of the Prophet :saw: tells us to differ from the Kuffar in looks too. Does it say anyplace in the in the Quran that we can’t wear the star of David or a Cross? No, but the example of the Holy Prophet :saw: tells us to differ in our appearance too, so people recognize you as a Muslim, not as some Hindu or Christian…
Sure, you can follow monotheism as is ordained in the Quran, but it would sure look strange if you walk down the street with a red Mohawk and a spider web tattooed on your face, and if people ask you, hey what faith are you? You can proudly exclaim “I am a Muslim who believes in the oneness of God and my friend, you should embrace Islam for it is the true religion.” Quite a funny scenario…
Seminole:
Having multiple wives is a choice and an option, living in a clay hut or a marble palace is an option, having a car or a camel is an option and so on and so on…None of these things are either commanded nor are they Sunnah…As for leading in battles and killing enemy of Allah (swt) is concerned, well, I should be so lucky, but who knows…Maybe Allah (swt) will grant me that honour to face His enemies and lay down my life for Him…
What better ways to please God than following the commands of God and His Messenger (saw)? I mean, I am so devoted to God, I am so enamoured by God and so piuos that what I’ll do is I’ll create a statue that depicts Him and dance around it…My friend, there are prescribed ways in which you can please God, and stepping out of bounds is not pleasing to Him at all…The Quran states about a people, who thought that whatever they were doing was a great good, but that good fell outside the realm of their faith and all of them were seized with a terrible punishment…
The matter is not about facial hairs, it is about following the Prophet :saw: in everything he did, including growing the beard and keeping your shalwar higher than your ankles…If following the Prophet (saw) entails doing that, than that is what is best, for a Muslim…
is that the only way to learn? the qur’an wasn’t sent down to the scholars.. it was sent down to ALL humanity, to read, understand and recieve Allah’s message.. so I don’t have to go too far to debunk a silly theory like “you have to emulate the prophet in the manner he brushed his teeth or walked or talked” as it’s nonsense.. I have NOTHING in the Qur’an that instructs me to emulate the Prophet’s daily chores not to mention the lack of undeniable proof of what exactly DID he do in terms of actions like these, therefore i’d leave it for those who trivialize religion by pursuing non issues like these.
YES without a doubt. Isn’t it yours?
Yes that’s one of the requisites.. keeping a beard is not.
hahah clutching at straws now are we? I don’t find anything that says that piercing would make one a non-muslim, or a tattoo for that matter.. nor do I find that not keeping a beard will throw you out of the circle of Islam.
well that’s just your point of view.. u can hold it till eternity.. still doesn’t change the fact that the Qur’an never instructs us to emulate the Prophet’s daily chores or his lifestyle viz a viz his dress sense, grooming and/or his hygine regimens.
Yes and that example is of following Allah Alone.. I don’t need a scholar.. here I’ve shown what taking the Prophet as an ‘example’ really means.
Once again.. u can believe in whatever you want.. the Qur’an doesn’t delve in such nonsense.. u cannot ‘differ’ in looks from kuffar.. as they are humans too.. what u need to ‘differ’ in is the belief in Allah as they reject Allah and u should accept Him.. What you are doing is just emulate a culture.
Lajawab, you’re an intelligent person but yet at times you sound so childish.. do u think every Jew or Christian today roams around with a big sign on their head declaring their religious affiliation?
is it funnier than someone suffering from an inferiority complex trying to emulate an Arab, the complete head covering and beard in place trying to utter as many arabic phrases in their daily life as possible thinking they are somehow more ‘religious’ now??