By Maha Sulaiman.
Benghazi, 24 February 2016:
In the aftermath of the liberation of Leithi and other Benghazi districts, there reports of IS . . .[restrict]fighters shaving off their beards and changing into jeans and T-shirts in a bid to try and blend in with the crowd and escape.
One report doing the rounds this evening tells of a women who went back to the family home in Leithi and was then seen by soldiers to emerge a little while later with a clean-shaven young man, her son. Questioned, he said that he had been hiding in the house for several months and had not dared go out.
His story did not convince so he and his mother were taken in for further questioning. Investigations led the authorities to believe that, far from hiding all these months, he had been with the so-called Islamic state (IS) and when they had fled had shaved his beard and changed clothes, hoping to evade detection.
There is speculation that a lot of IS beards in Benghazi are coming off at the moment. It is, however, in marked contrast with the situation in Sirte.
There, IS have again decreed that shaving of beards is forbidden, that moustaches must be trimmed and that those who continue to wear trousers or jeans – in their view highly suspect anyway – must wear them cut above the ankles.
This is not the first time that IS has issued such a declaration – and the fact that it has had to be repeated indicates that it has been ignored. Those who ignore the ruling this time, IS warned, will be severely punished – that goes too for any barber who dares trim a hair on any man’s beard.
IS seemingly enjoys handing out severe punishment.
Like Qaddafi beforehand, it also enjoys making changes just to show that it is in power. Earlier this month, it reportedly announced that the weekend in Sirte had changed from Friday and Saturday to Thursday and Friday. Ironically the only country in the world where the weekend is Thursday and Friday is Shiite Iran.
Saudi Arabia used to have a Thursday-Friday weekend, but changed it some years ago to Friday-Saturday to bring it in line with all other Muslim countries.
Beards have always been optional in Saudi Arabia.
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