Salafists belong to a puritanical Muslim sect that has become associated with violent jihad. Now there’s a group of Egyptian Salafists that’s trying to persuade other Muslims to grow beards to show their devotion to Allah. But you won’t believe their bizarre twist on Muslim tradition.
The Egyptian Gazette has the details:
These Salafists are calling for a million men to be bearded before the holy fasting month of Ramadan which starts in August.
“This freedom is a fruit of the January 25 revolution. In the presence of the [now disbanded] State Security Police under Mubarak, asking Egyptians to grow beards was like dreaming of touching the moon,” says Sheikh Safwat Hegzai, a Salafist cleric.
… Sheikh Mohamed Hassan, a veteran cleric with strong Salafist leanings, has lauded the campaign, hoping that 80 million Egyptians (this would include all Egypt’s women and children too) grow a beard like the Prophet Mohamed.
Secularists and liberals have denounced the campaign for a million Muslims to grow beards, saying the timing of such a campaign could lead to a rift in Egyptian society.
We would imagine that a nation of 80,000,000 bearded women will, indeed, cause a rift. It will also cause burqa sales to skyrocket.
Source: Egyptian Gazette
