Not that this has anything to do with Islam. “Men brace for ‘beard patrols’ in Iraq’s IS-held Mosul,” by Jean-Marc Mojon, AFP, June 1, 2015:
Baghdad (AFP) – Every time he looks in a mirror, Laith Ahmed is worried. As of Monday, the young Iraqi’s hopelessly hairless chin could land him in an Islamic State group jail.
The jihadist group has handed out leaflets in their stronghold of Mosul in recent weeks announcing that full beards become compulsory on June 1 and explaining why shaving is punishable.
“My facial hair is just slow to come out for my age,” said the 18-year-old, who like others in this story did not give his real name for fear of retribution.
“I’m scared because they deal ruthlessly with anyone who opposes or ignores their instructions,” he told AFP from Mosul, the de facto Iraqi capital of IS’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
“My work in a bakery means I have to leave home every day and interact with Daesh militants,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist group.
Mosul is Iraq’s second city and used to have a population of around two million before IS swept in a year ago and made it their main hub.
Unlike some of the other cities IS conquered in Iraq, Mosul still holds a large civilian population, making any air campaign difficult.
The group made Mosul a laboratory for its state-building experiment, not just a military bastion but a city where it regulates everything from education to the opening hours of shops.
“What hairdressers do today, shaving and trimming men’s beards, is an accessory to sin,” reads the leaflet, which quotes a selection of hadiths, or sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, supporting the claim that he banned shaving.
“Thanks to our brothers from the Islamic police, an order has been issued for the shaving of beards to be banned and violators to be detained,” it says.
– Human shields –
Nadhim Ali, a 30-year-old taxi driver from the eastern side of the city, said he has never been able to grow a beard or even a moustache because of the bad skin rashes he gets.
He said he submitted medical reports on the matter to the religious police. “They didn’t care… One of them told me I’d better stay at home if I shaved.”
Moslawis are essentially trapped in their city.
Anyone wishing to leave needs approval from IS and has to deposit documents proving ownership, usually of property or a new car which will be seized if the applicant does not return by an assigned deadline.
“So just for ensuring my family’s livelihood, I can choose between getting sick and risking lashes or arrest,” said Ali.
The Taliban in Afghanistan had so-called “beard patrols” that could send men to jail for three days to a week simply for having trimmed their beard.
Mosul residents said a tougher beard policy imposed by IS one year into the group’s occupation of the city was a ploy, not a sign of renewed religious zeal.
“We all know what Daesh is trying to achieve with these unacceptable laws on women wearing the veil and men growing beards,” said a teacher, who gave her name as Umm Mohammed.
“They want to make everyone a human shield… With military operations (to retake Mosul) looming, they want to blend in with the population,” she said.
Air strikes by Iraqi and US-led coalition warplanes have targeted IS positions and hideouts in the Mosul area since August 2014 but any effort to reclaim control of the city has yet to begin in earnest.
A former member of the security services who still lives in Mosul said IS militants had been adopting a lower profile in recent months.
“For example, IS members lately have been using more and more regular, unmarked civilian cars. They’ve ditched the military vehicles and flags,” he said….
Yes, they’ve been quite inconspicuous:

Angemon says
Should have left when you had the chance, Ali. Enjoy the caliphate.
spot on says
Libs would say, no problem… all he needs a sex change operation and a burqa.
Brian says
What about butt cheek hair (anal hair)…I wonder is that inspected too?
tilda says
And when they figure out it’s sunna to shave pubic hair will they have pubic hair patrols?
Add lining the eyes with kohl, and it could make for some interesting interactions.
Bamaguje says
But not every man is hairy enough to have full beard.
Baucent says
I understand the Prophet preferred the beard style with the shaved upper lip. The particularly zealous muslim tend also to prefer this style. You could probably design a chart that correlates facial hair level with Islamic fervor. From clean shaven (secular muslim), moustache (an Iraqi favorite in Saddam’s time), trimmed beard etc.
Could be a useful tool at airports.
abad says
Isn’t that the Amish style of facial hair for men??
Don McKellar says
Truly a cult that controls all aspects of your life, crushing individuality and personality. Right down to punishment for making they wrong personal grooming choices! Insanity.
Don McKellar says
Hey, maybe Mr. Spencer can feel safe about a vacation in the Islamic State? At least the beard police won’t zero in on him for a flogging!
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
“the leaflet … quotes a selection of hadiths, or sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, supporting the claim that he banned shaving.”
Incomplete journalism. Quote the quotes. Inquiring minds want to see the hadiths (are they sahih?).
“Moslawis are essentially trapped in their city.”
Aha, so a resident of Mosul is called a Moslawi.
Mosul is the Liverpool of Iraq.
Champ says
Aw, murder & mayhem is not a sin but cutting your whiskers is? Got it! o_0
Richie says
and Islam requires women to shave their public hair, so they look like little girls. I assume thats so when Muslim men have sex with a woman, they can imagine they are raping a little girl
Lucretius says
There’s an idea for an enterprising IS businessman–collect women’s pubic hair shavings and create stick-on Islamic beards for the hard-growers.
abad says
LOL
Angemon says
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone in the IS actually did what amounts to taking a “Jackass” stunt seriously.
More Ham Ed says
Dirty beards.
abad says
Really, just how do those Muslim men do it? Grow full beards when they obviously don’t have the testosterone in their bodies to make them, well, real men? Are they all wearing fake beards made from camel hair, Crazy Glued to their faces?
lmao
dumbledoresarmy says
I foresee somebody making a lot of money from the concoction of convincing, natural-looking fake beards for the hair-challenged so they can avoid attracting the negative attention of the inevitable beard police.
Further thought: where is MAD magazine to do a suitably satirical “take” on this scenario? Infidel cartoonists the world over should be gleefully going to town on this one. And instead of chiding their cartoonists and satirists for being meean to the pooor, poor persecuted Muslims, Infidel states should be *hiring* them to pour on the ridicule…and providing heavy-duty protection so they can do it in safety.
The Islamic State – and for that matter, the whole perpetually-enraged prancing, sneering, unendurably-puffed-up-with-pride Ummah – is sinister, and deadly-dangerous. But – exactly like the defunct Third Reich was in its time, and like nasty North Korea even now – they are also mind-bogglingly bizarre and absurd and need to be (from a safe distance) mocked and ridiculed, up hill and down dale.