Welp, I guess those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th weren't "America's Taliban" after all. Apparently you must be able to actually grow a beard to be a member!
More than 280 peach-fuzzed men have been dropped by the Taliban's security force due to the fact that the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law says men must have a beard of at least fist length.
Mohibullah Mokhlis, the director of planning and legislation at the ministry, told a press conference in Kabul that ‘281 beardless officers were identified, confirmed and dismissed' from the country's security services in the past 12 months.
‘The hairstyles of 450 military mujahideen were corrected to comply with Sharia law,' he added. ‘And some who repeated the [hairstyle] violation were sent to military courts.'
The Taliban has prohibited barbers in several provinces from shaving or trimming beards, claiming that the edict aligns with Sharia law.
It is mandatory for Muslim men to have a beard that is at least the ‘length of a fist', according to Islamic law, which is strictly upheld by the Taliban.
Trimming one's beard shorter than fist length or shaving it entirely is considered haram in Afghanistan, where the beard is considered ‘a distinctive feature' given to men to ‘set them apart from women' by the ‘divine wisdom of God'.
The Taliban when they see a beardless man:
It begs the question though: What if you simply cannot grow a beard?
Former Taliban security forces told The Telegraph that they had been dismissed for shaving their faces or not being able to grow a sufficient beard.
‘I cannot grow a beard, and they constantly called and harassed me,' one officer who was recently sacked said. ‘Around three months ago, the commander told me that I could no longer stay in the unit because of my beard.'
‘I joined them for financial reasons, but throughout my year with them, I faced lots of harassment over my inability to grow a beard. They would say I wasn't a true Muslim,' he said.
So you're just cut from the team then? That's all it takes?
I mean, Allah made me this way, bro! How'm I supposed to change that? You want me to get plugs or something?
Nah, I'm perfectly content with this beautiful scruf I got going on right now.
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