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And like similar cases in the past, this one will no doubt be cast as a rights issue instead of a public health issue. But DeVeaux ultimately lost his case, and so there is hope that common sense may prevail: the issue with both the beard and the hijab involves safety; must the safety of all be compromised to accommodate Muslim practice? From Bloomberg, with thanks to Nicolei:
Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Philadelphia police officer Kenneth Wallace, a nine-year veteran of the force, is serving his second month-long suspension for refusing to shave.Wallace, a 31-year-old Muslim, has asked for an arbitration hearing to challenge the department's 1/4-inch limit on the length of beards. Muslim city workers sued Philadelphia, the fifth-largest U.S. city, beginning in February to challenge grooming and dress codes they claim violate their rights to religious expression....
Muslim emergency workers have challenged grooming policies in cities including New York, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, saying the Koran and other religious teachings require the wearing of untrimmed beards or head coverings.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, who Islamic groups say is the only Muslim running a U.S. police department, softened decades-old rules in August 2003 to allow some beards. He has refused to budge on a requirement that whiskers be no more than a 1/4-inch long and neatly trimmed, said Corporal Jim Pauley, a department spokesman....
Two months earlier, Johnson told the paper that the police department was a ``paramilitary organization'' requiring neatness and uniformity. Johnson declined to be interviewed for this story. Pauley said the department doesn't keep track of the religious beliefs of the 6,400-member force....
Discrimination complaints from Muslim Americans rose 70 percent to 1,019 in 2003, the latest year available, with 234 in the workplace, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said last year. Complaints picked up after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings of four jetliners by 20 Muslim terrorists....
Women on the Philadelphia force are still barred from wearing the scarf known as khimar or hijab, which many Muslims believe is mandated by Allah to show their modesty. Kimberlie Webb, the 43-year-old Philadelphia police officer represented by Thorpe, is suing for the right to wear the khimar.
Webb became a Sunni Muslim two years after joining the Philadelphia force in 1995, according to her federal lawsuit. The department denied her requests to wear the khimar, made in 1998 and again in 2003, and threatened Webb with disciplinary action unless she removed the covering at work, the suit said....
Department officials said the scarf posed a safety risk because it could be grabbed by a suspect. Newspapers and Muslim Web sites reported on Webb's complaints through 2003. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in her favor that November and urged the department to relax its rules....
Philadelphia fire officials, too, cite safety to justify their department's ban on beards. Curtis DeVeaux, a firefighter who was suspended without pay in February for refusing to shave, plans to appeal a Pennsylvania judge's decision last month to uphold the rule....
Fire officials argued that DeVeaux's beard might disrupt the seal on his respirator. DeVeaux, 25, said he converted to Islam in 2000 and shaved to join the department the following year. He sought an exemption from the rule last year after speaking to firefighters in Washington who wore beards and were using the same equipment.
``It's the practice of Muslim men to grow their beards,'' said DeVeaux, who now installs satellite-television dishes for a living. ``I love the job, but I have to adhere to the rules of my beliefs.''
Posted by Robert at October 19, 2005 10:10 AM
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It is not a requirement for Muslim males or females to grow beards. This is just more Islamic fluff.
Posted by: DCWatson![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 19, 2005 10:25 AM
These poor Moslems can't catch a break.
What the various American governmental entities (including the armed services) should do is pass laws whereby, in the event of a Islamo-cultural practice conflicts with an American law or regulation, the applicable Sharia code prevails over the American law.
Voila! Then everybody's happy, including even the Moslems.
Can't a frog in the pan get any peace and quiet around here anymore?!
Posted by: Shaughn at October 19, 2005 10:26 AM
Re: "Complaints picked up after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings of four jetliners by 20 Muslim terrorists.... "
Gee - do you think there's a reason here?
DC Watson:
Re: "It is not a requirement for Muslim males or females to grow beards"
I thought the women stopped at mustaches.
Posted by: johnb at October 19, 2005 10:38 AM
"the applicable Sharia code prevails over the American law."
-- from a posting above
Muslims have attempted in various Western countries to have the Shari'a applied to the resident Muslims. They have done so in Ottawa, in a celebrated battle, by pushing for Muslim family law to apply.
Perhaps they should be accommodated in one area. If it were to be proposed to apply the Hudud, the system of criminal punishment, were to apply to Muslims, and Muslims alone, that might offer a salutary lesson to Muslims and Infidels alike. So if a non-Muslim steals he goes to jail, but a Muslim simply has a limb lopped off. You want Islam to apply, we give you -- Islam. One wonders how long enthusiasm for the application of Shari'a will apply, and just how appealing those Da'wa campaigns will be.
at October 19, 2005 10:42 AM
A few years ago when acrylic nails were popular and a lot of female health care workers were wearing them, the false nails were banned for health reasons.It was determined that the nails harbored bacteria which could cause infections in patients which is what lead to the ban. There were no lawsuits filed, the patient's health and safety was put first.The bottom line is if you want to work in healthcare you cannot wear acrylic nails. Many jobs have standards for grooming and dress, if you cannot meet those standards you do not belong in that job.If you want to wear a beard or hijab find a job outside of healthcare or the police department.
Posted by: Roxane at October 19, 2005 10:42 AM
Well lets see; Christians are not supposed to display any reference to their Christian beliefs in public schools-- IE students, and teachers, no wearing of crosses ETC. How would a muslim attend a public school wearing a hijah, or khimer. At what age does a muslim male start wearing a beard? when he is old enough to grow one? Some races are unable to grow beards.
No reference to Christianity is suppose to be displayed on or in public buildings. Los Angeles County was sued by the ACLU in the past few years because there is a tiny cross on the counties logo that was designed over 100 years ago.
Police officers and fireman are public employees paid by governments. Today the ACLU is trying to stop public employees from displaying any reference to Christianity on their uniforms, in their police stations, in their fire houses,in their public squares, and parks. And yet here they are defending muslims to display their religious beliefs.
Am I missing something here? Somebody please tell me if I am. I humbly accept any responces.
Posted by: Mackie at October 19, 2005 11:29 AM
Hugh:
Minor correction - it was the Ontario government in Toronto where the Sharia controversy took place and not federally in Ottawa. Quebec, another provincial government, had earlier also banned Sharia.
Posted by: johnb at October 19, 2005 11:33 AM
"Am I missing something here? Somebody please tell me if I am. I humbly accept any responses."
-- posted by Mackie
I've had the same feeling of vertigo for the last couple of years. In matters Islam, Western societies seem to have tossed the docking ropes of reality, common sense, and self-preservation onto the dock, shrugged their Judeo-Christian shoulders, and let the ship drift away.
It's all so unreal, what's happening. To me, reading Jihadwatch.org/Dhimmiwatch.org is like taking successive hard slaps to the face, posting-by-posting.
Unabated, SLAP, SLAP, SLAP take this you loser infidel SLAP you can't stop us SLAP we're a religion we're exempt SLAP SLAP SLAP we've got State and the MSM what do you have infidel SLAP SLAP we have academe too you moron SLAP you're paying $30K a year on tuition and your sons probably love Islam by now SLAP you worthless Dhimmi you SLAP SLAP pay the Jizya and please shut the hell up SLAP!
These tricky Moslems are relentless. And organized. Where is this senseless drifting taking us? Will there be a giant waterfall at our destination?
Posted by: Shaughn
at October 19, 2005 12:11 PM
What a waste of the public's tax dollars to fight these lawsuits. When you wear a respirator, which firemen and other emergency response personnel have to don, you need a seal. There can be nothing to break the seal between your skin and the gasket of the respirator. No beards. Any manufacturer of these products (MSA, North) notes this in their literature. If there's a break in the seal, smoke or contaminants can get in. The rescuer is then breathing bad stuff, endangering his health and the victim's health.
How can it be that this continues to be an issue that goes to court??
Posted by: kelley at October 19, 2005 12:17 PM
DC Watson sez: "It is not a requirement for Muslim males or females to grow beards."
That's a good one, DC. And I almost missed it, too. Of course, the women should be allowed to grow beards. After all, "if you've got it, flaunt it." No plucking of the eyebrows, though. That has to be strictly forbidden.
Posted by: texan at October 19, 2005 12:41 PM
An employer, even a public one, has every right to set the terms and conditions of employement, the basic one being, that I will hire you, but you can't do this or that, and your behavior must be within these parameters while on duty.
A beard acts like a masque, and men hide behind beards, just like women hide behind hijab.
OT, I just posted Here
Cornelius says:"; the Democrats are the purveyors and prime beneficiaries of multiculturalism and political-correctness, constructs that are ruining my country."
To which I replied:
Really, but it was political correctness and muliticulturalism that served as protection for Jews and blacks. So what do you suggest that we go back to the good old days of demonizing, marginalizing and excluding Jews and blacks, or lets go back to the good ole days of the 19th Century and the anti Irish, Anti Italian, anti East European socially acceptable bigotry of the "Nativists".
Do you care to relegitimize anti semistim and Jim Crow?
I don't.
There is a problem but it needs to be discussed rationally and intellilgently, because there is a greater problem, called unintended adverse consequences.
The words poltically correct and multiculturalism are brooms that sweep too wide a swath, and such sweep into the dustpan peoples and groups whom you don't want swept up and thrown inthe dustbin.
There are other forums on the internet, whose posters are majority antisemitic and racist, such as the Phorae and Stormfront, and they too rant against political correctness, multiculturalism and classify as enemies of their civilization, not just hispanics, blacks, gays, feminists, pro choicers but also Jews, in fact their priority list of "enemies" puts Jews at the top.
Posted by: Nariz at October 19, 2005 1:14 PM
"Ken Wallace" What type of Muslim name is that?
Posted by: helox at October 19, 2005 1:22 PM
"Ken Wallace"? a muslim. Now that's scary, they are now hiding behind western names !!
Is the Pope really a christian? Who knows...
at October 19, 2005 2:05 PM
Bob Roberts: [singing]
Some people must have.
Some people have not.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.
Some people will work.
Some simply will not.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.
Like this: It’s society’s fault I don’t have a job.
It’s society’s fault I am a slob.
I have potential no one can see.
Give me welfare. Let me be me!
Hey, Bud, you’re livin’ in the Land of the Free.
No one’s gonna hand you opportunity!
Some people must have.
Some never will.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.
at October 19, 2005 3:13 PM
The Muslims...give them an inch(really 1/4 inch) and they will take 10 miles. The no-beard rule was modified in August, 2003, to allow 1/4 inch beards, by a Muslim police commissioner, no less. In addition to neatness and uniformity, a long beard or hijab could be easily grabbed in a confrontation and make the officer more vulnerable. These rules should not be changed, however, I bet that they will be. It seems like the Muslims always win these cases. The only case of loss for a Muslim seems to have been the woman in Florida who wanted to wear a full burqa while having her photo ID made for her driver's license.
Posted by: maryrose at October 19, 2005 3:17 PM
"we've got State and the MSM what do you have infide"
The Muslims don't merely have State and MSM -- they have our popular culture -- which is made up of minions of ordinary people --, firmly dominated by PC.
Jihadwatch readers & agreers and their type are still a small minority in the West
Posted by: Dr. Pepper at October 19, 2005 4:28 PM
I visited Philadelphia this summer for the first time in 25 years. I was struck not only by the many muslims I saw in the city (not a whole lot but way too many considering that I never saw any 25 years ago) but also by how sloppy and ungroomed they look. For people who claim to want to adhere to their religious convictions, cleanliness is apparently not next to godliness in their practice.
Posted by: 3812Michelle at October 19, 2005 4:42 PM
What islam says about the beard,
http://www.islam.tc/beard/beard.html
at October 19, 2005 6:28 PM
Conclusion
Thus, a Muslim who shaves or shortens his beard is like a hermaphrodite, his Imamate near prohibition, his evidence is not valid, he will not have the right to vote or being voted for. Shaving and shortening the beard is the action of non-believers. Imam Ghazzali (RA) says: "Know that the key to total bliss (Saadah) lies in following the Sunnah and in emulating the life of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) in ALL that issues from him, and in ALL his doings even if it concerns the manner of his eating, rising, sleeping, and speaking. I do say thisin relation to rituals in worship ONLY because ther is no way neglecting the Sunnah reported of him in such matters - but what I say INCLUDES EVERY ASPECT of his daily life." (Kitab al Arbain Addin, Cairo 1344, p. 89). Furthermore, in the Holy Qur'an, Allah told Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) to say:
"Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Quran 3:31)
at October 19, 2005 6:39 PM
OK, I'm a citizen who calls 911 to recue me from a disorderly perpetrator. A bearded Muslim cop shows up and gets his beard yanked, thus allowing the perp to gain control of the cop's service weapon. The perp now shoots the cop and then he shoots me and the women across the street.
I'm in a burning building and a bearded Muslim fireman shows up. He finds me but then collapses from smoke inhalation. We both burn to death.
We're on a flight that has a cabin depressurization event at 39,000 ft. The bearded Muslim captain and co-pilot don their oxygen masks but they don't seal at that altitude. Both pilots pass out and we hit the ground at 600 MPH.
Posted by: Hulegu Khan at October 19, 2005 6:40 PM
OK: Your daughter just got gang-raped by a bunch of Mohammedans who just happened to lurk in the park where she was jogging.
You call 911 and the - Islamic cops- pop up. Later on you find out that these very same cops are directly related to the guys who raped your daughter....
write the rest yourself!
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at October 19, 2005 7:41 PM
Hulegu:
Tell the perp you won't identify him if he shoots the muslim cop and just leaves.
With the muslim fireman, since you know he's toast anyway, deck him and get the mask/oxygen.
I hope you have a pilot's license.
Posted by: 3812Michelle at October 19, 2005 7:42 PM
Brother, I love this article...
Posted by: jsla at October 19, 2005 7:59 PM
If that muslim woman, Kimberlie Webb really follows her Islamic teachings, than she should quit her job, stay at home and only venture out of her house if accompanied by her 'muhrim' (a male relative) fully garbed in that sack with only her eyes showing.
at October 20, 2005 4:26 AM
Post above should read:
We're on a flight that has a cabin depressurization event at 39,000 ft. The bearded Muslim captain and co-pilot are seen to have deliberately asphyxiated the passengers to guarantee they wouldn't have any troubles from them...
Just prior to donning their oxygen masks they are seen exchanging elated smiles and the co - pilot says to the pilot:
"Can you believe that Allah so wonderfully blinded these stupid kaffir? Even after 9/11, even after they found thousands of our pious brethren plotting their annihilation in mosques across their land, even after Hasan Akbar threw grenades and killed his commanding officers, even after James Yee was caught smuggling classified documents out of Gitmo to give to the Syrians, even after the depths of Muslim sedition began to be uncovered in every Muslim community in America, they continued and continued to hire Muslims into their security forces -- to be "baggage handlers" at the airports -- they even stepped up efforts to hire Muslims who hated America to mistranslate the communications of great emirs like Osama Bin Laden -- Even in the face of all of that, their leadership continued to refer to Islam as a religion of peace (giggles at this -- they can hardly contain their glee at the thought of infidels being so gullible...) and they actually hired us!!! two beard wearing Muslims to pilot a plane... What a laugh...! All is possible if Allah wills it!"
and the pilot says
"Allah u akbar -- !!! Allah u akbar !! All you say is true! It is a great day! Now let's point this plane towards the downtown skyline, and let's do Allah's bidding!"
at October 20, 2005 12:29 PM
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