A beard does not make a Muslim

Jalees Rehman eloquently argues, in a Huffington Post article, that when it comes to religious matters one should not "judge the book by its cover." The Muslim societies and communities, more than any other group, puts greater emphasis on the individual looks rather then a person's actions. This is very common  in communities with historic links to tribal  traditions and cultures. For example South Asian and Arab societies, which had, and to some extent still consist of, tribal cultures and totemic norms. Those societies tend to lean towards religious dogmas rather than the practice prescribed in the religion.

For instance the men in Muslim societies are often judged by their beard. Jalees Rehman in his article uses a Latin phrase "barba non facit philosophum," meaning a beard does not make a philosopher. That phrase being so relevant to Muslims, he discusses the role of beard in Muslim men, and argues that: 

Many Muslim scholars feel that the Islamic tradition encourages Muslim men to have beards. While the Quran itself does not directly link piety with having a beard, over time, many Muslim communities have developed a vague expectation that pious or devout Muslim men ought to have beards.

This attitude of Muslim communities and their leading scholars is asserting a notion that a person cannot be pious, or that him being compassionate and charitable is of no value, unless he can back it up with a beard.

Mr. Rehman also makes a point that we as people are intellectually lazy and we tend to take the easy route in judging others. We do not focus on people's characteristics such as compassion or humility since

such "inward" characteristics are difficult to ascertain during passing encounters, while the presence or absence of a beard is much easier to determine.

He argues that it is not just the men, but also women, who have to face the piety dilemma of appearance. It is the women in a head-scarf or a fully covered burqa, who are perceived to be of the highest morals, while inversely the ones without any sort of covering are often despised upon.

Jalees Rehman rightfully makes a point that Muslim communities, especially in the west, waste their valuable time and resources over such shallow matters. Rather than looking at piety with a lens of appearance, Muslims need to take a saner approach, or just not judge at all since that is "God's domain."

Instead Muslims need to focus on the greater issues that impact their communities. It is vital for them to become politically active and take part in all social and political matters.  Surely they will find problems, and underlying issues in their communities, that as a Muslim they are obliged to fix - and so they should.