Men without beard look like women,Turkish preacher says

Sheikh Murat Bayaral  from Turkey.(COURTESY)

By.Riyaq Ahmed

NAIROBI—A preacher based in Turkey has urged men to grow beards to differentiate them from women.

Murat Bayaral, was speaking on a TV show, Faith Medreseleri on Sunday. He slammed men without beards.

“One of the two body parts that separate men from women is the beard,” he said.

“If you see a man with long hair from far you may think he is a woman, if he does not posses beard,” Murat noted.

However, the criticism of beardless men has brought backlash.

Magdalena Kirchner, who is a fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center, said that believes like Murat’s are not uncommon.

Kirchner went on to add that preacher Murat’s beliefs revealed the Turkish Government’s desire to create a ‘bottom-up pressure against the secular way of life without having to impose legal constraints.

In October, Nassim Abdi from Sydney made headlines when he slammed his parents for letting his siblings listen to music in the car and dance at home.

“My parents encourage them to listen to music, dance and to make videos and post it online,”  he said.

Another preacher from Sydney, Umm Jamaal ud-Din, criticised women who choose to pluck their eyebrows.

She said it was sinful or haram for women to pluck their eyebrows, even if they believed it was hygienic.