THE STORY OF MY BEARD

by Dr. Shahid Athar

Last week, at the peak of my holiness, I shaved my beard which I have had for the last 15 years. I am not so sure why I did it, maybe it was in protest to Taliban action of measuring Muslims piety by the length of their beards, or the picture of Salman Rushdi with a beard not conforming with his freedom to defame the Prophet of Islam and his family. Certainly it was not due to the desire of my wife, for her husband to look young, or for my patients' and office workers for a younger looking doctor.

My first 10 years of post-puberty life were spent in a Muslim country. I used to shave daily as it was assumed that only religious Muslims kept a beard, and I was not.

Nearly 30 years ago when I came to the United States, I was surprised to observe that many non-Muslims here such as musicians, hippies, professors, shrinks and Rabbi's had beards. So out of fashion, I started to experiment on my face with different shapes and sizes, and the length of my beard.

With my beard, certain strange things happened to me. My friends out of respect started to elevate me out of proportion, expecting no mistakes from me and some even considered me a religious fanatic and detested me. I became a holy person to few devout friends, some even kissed my beard and kissed my hand while turning deaf to what I was saying or writing. My views were modern and liberal, and did not match with my conservative beard, so some thought I must be a hypocrite. When I looked at my bearded Muslim colleagues, for some it was the final complement to their beautiful Islamic personality and for others, the beard was all they had. Classical examples of two extremes again are of Taliban and Salman Rushdi.

Thus when I shaved my beard, there were those who were obviously pleased such as some of my family members, my office workers, and my patients'. However, those who were scared of a bearded Muslim were really pleased. One such friend asked me, "is this a message"? I replied to him in his own tone, "no I am still a terrorist. In fact more dangerous now". I used to be Osamabin Ladin, and now I am Saddam Hussain. One older patient had an interesting comment. He said "Doc, you look naked without your beard", and indeed, I did feel naked.

The west's fear of bearded Muslims is unfounded. Two years ago, I was in an European airport and the customs lady looked at my beard and asked me if I was Iranian. I asked her how did she get that idea since my passport was American, and my birth place was India. She told me that I have an "Iranian beard". These "Islam-phobic" westerners do not acknowledge that many of the known terrorists in the world not only are not Muslims, but have clean shaven faces such as Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, and the IRA in Ireland, or even home grown terrorists like Tim McVeigh.

Those friends who objected to my shaving my beard were the ones who did not like me with or without it, so it did not matter. Some commented that I look 10 years younger, but did I add 10 years to my life? I did not.

I observe that many friends who love me truly, continued to love me without my beard. Though in their hearts, some of them felt that I would have never shaved.

My decision to grow back my beard will not be because some friends or family members would like me with my beard, or for the demand of some of my patients' that I should look more dignified, nor the beard being a religious symbol, but the question I ask myself, "how do I want to look when I am finally being laid to rest in my coffin"? I looked at my former picture with a full beard and a mirror now, and the answer is obvious. I will be fully clothed.