Islam and pubes
I found this surprising: the Sunnah (the words of Muhammad as written down by his companions the Sahaba, which have become the second source of Islam law after the Qu’ran) requires adult Muslims to remove their pubic and armpit hairs approximately at least once every 40 days. I find it strange that Muhammad thought about this: why?
I think the removal of the hair is supposed to make you ‘cleaner’ in the eyes of God. But that doesn’t make much sense if you believe God gave you that hair in the first place. Likewise with the debate surrounding the necessity of growing a beard: why the hair splitting? What could possibly be so important about a beard? A little further off, but still connected to the issue of cleanliness, is the debate about the necessity of circumcision. Look at some of those arguments: “the procedure isa removal of a part of the body that does not grow back, and it is done as an act of worship. This makes it obligatory, the same as the amputation of a thief’s hand.” Doesn’t that seem like some pretty twisted logic?
Possibly relevant posts:
- Finding a barbershop (4/2/2007)
- is a family blog possible? (12/8/2001)
- Reading, the undergrad way (10/3/2005)