Adil Najam
Given all the discussion about cricket and Islam (here), sooner or later we will come to beards and cricket and whether beards of a certain length or style are ‘religiously intimidating’ for some (related story here).
I thought I would pre-empt the discussion by sharing some images of a few ‘great beards’ of cricket. Readers are, of course, welcome to add to the list. You can also look into Joshua Bartlett’s blog to get more information about men’s grooming and the products often used for it.
For that it seems to me that the obvious choice is one of Pakistan’s most graceful batsmen ever (and that is saying something!) Saeed Anwar. He is also generally considered a mentor to many of the more religiously inclined players in the current Pakistan team.
His, however, is not the only set of religiously motivated set of facial hair to adorn cricketing fields. One of my all-time favorite cricketers and all-time favorite famous persons is former Indian Captain Bishen Singh Bedi. His fine-looking facial hair and head-dress – and of many others – were also clearly religiously-motivated and a constant expression of his faith.
By way of disclosure I should add that I occasionally sprout facial hair of my own but am mostly clean-shaven. But as a deep and committed adherent of people’s right of expression (how can a blogger not be that!) I stand committed to defend people’s right to facial hair, whether they are grown for stylistic elegance or religious expression.
The issue here is not of facial hair. People may keep facial hair all they want.
The issue here is about Inzimam and his gang of mullah thugs forcing people to pray when they don’t want to and making their selection to the squad dependent on this…
In addition to this, we have the issue of intimidation of non-muslims and minorities in the team by Inzimam and his gang of Mullah thugs… Pakistan’s cricket team was once a national unit embodying all Pakistanis.
In any event, this entire thing is against the spirit of Islam itself… remember La ikrah fid deen?
I think it has already been suggested but the problem is not the beard, but the assumption of high moral ground that sometime comes with keeping a beard.
I have no idea whether Saeed Anwar takes the high moral ground or believes himself to be a better Muslim compared to his colleagues. If he does, and does so because of his beard then that is problematic. However, it is too simplistic to blame beard for this attitude of moral high being, which is attained by the self claimed religious few. One has to just see the disdain with which many alleged mullahs (and I use the word very loosely because I do not want to describe such people as Islamic scholars) treat people who question their belief system and their theatrical ways of promoting the religion. Nevertheless, this ground of high morality based on appearance is not just the domain of Muslim theatrics but also of other religions.
I believe Saeed Anwar has a complete right to grow a beard and if it is for his religious beliefs then good for him. We all should have a right to practice our religion freely and express it. However, it should also be acknowledged that the people who do not have beard also have the right not to do so and this does not in anyway make them a Muslim lacking in some domination.
Hamza, you are right. I had forgotten Viv Richards had a beard. As, of course, did Wasim Raja who died recently.
It’s interesting that the discussion has drifted from the earlier article pertaining to the influence of ‘beards’ in the Pakistan cricket team. There is absolutely nothing wrong with growing a beard for religious reasons. The worry with the Pakistani team is that the more religious members may try to force everyone in the team to be more public in their religion.
Coming back to the topic though, I remember sir Vivian Richards keeping some form of beard.
Yahya and bhindi, your opinions on this are interesting. While I myself do not keep a beard, I don’t think others should be discriminated against just because they have one. It is probably true that a lot of Muslims keep it as a badge on their sleeves but even if they do (which most of them dont), then they STILL have the right to do that.
Also, we always keep coming back to the same point…..beards are not exclusive to Islam! Please tell me the name of one Judeo-Christian figure who did not have a beard.