Reciprocal behaviour

Submitted by Rebecca Moulds (United States), Mar 24, 2008 at 09:00

Dear Colin,

I agree with you that Charles and Camilla looked like "absolute nincompoops" dressed in their Muslim garb, but I have to disagree with you about the shaving off of beards. Beards can be extremely flattering, and do not necessarily imply that the wearer is radically Muslim--- especially if the wearer is not Muslim.

A non-Muslim man sporting a beard is not considered a radical. My brother, for instance, has a rather grand beard, but he is not Muslim or radical. However, I do understand your thinking, because many of the radical Islamists do sport beards, and rather bushy ones at that, and it is often a blatant statement of the wearer's leanings.

A beard is a rather personal ornament, but a headscarf on a non-Muslim woman is another matter altogether. It's a difficult area, because when a moderate Muslim man, who has shaved his whole life, one day becomes radical in his thoughts, often he does grow a beard to confirm this, as I have seen in Indonesia and Egypt. This is a signal to other radicals that they are in the same club. That's not saying, however, that all beard-wearing Muslims are radicals, but it's hard to differentiate the moderates from the radicals. Shall we ask them to wear signs?

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