Shaving Hair and Beards in Early Islamic Egypt: An Arab Innovation?

Sijpesteijn, Petra M.

doi:10.1080/09503110.2018.1425809

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…20 The shearing of a forelock also signified the vanquishing of an enemy whose life was spared or that someone had a debt to repay. 21 Shades of these meanings are apparent in the regulations of non-Muslim (dhimmī) hairstyles. The Pact of ʿUmar, which included regulations regarding the appearance of non-Muslims, stipulated that these communities were forbidden from parting their hair in the manner of Muslims and were required to shear their forelocks.…”

Section: Shaving Men's Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…18 Drawing on early Arabic texts, Petra Sijpesteijn suggests that the forcible cutting of the forelock "symbolized submission to a disciplinary regime, social control, and obedience." 19 The Quran, for instance, mentions grabbing or shearing the forelock as a humiliating practice. 20 The shearing of a forelock also signified the vanquishing of an enemy whose life was spared or that someone had a debt to repay.…”

Section: Shaving Men's Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hair and Hat Ritual Shaming Punishments in Nineteenth-Century Iran

Vejdani

2023

Iran. stud.

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This article considers three temporary and reversible penal shaming acts in nineteenth-century Iran: the shaving or cutting of hair, irrespective of gender; the shaving or cutting of men's facial hair; and the forcible removal of headgear or the coerced wearing of silly headgear. Drawing on anthropological, historical, and sociological studies of hair, this study argues that hair and hat punishments embodied elements of ritual, sexuality, social control, and marginalization. In order to understand the meaning of these penal acts, the article looks at general taboos around hair and head exposure alongside licit and voluntary forms of cutting or shaving hair. Illicit sex, heresy, and alcohol consumption were recurring moral crimes most often associated with such forms of humiliating punishment. Since restoration of honor was not the sole prerogative of the government, these punishments were often carried out by those acting on behalf of a religious authority or individually and collectively by ordinary subjects outraged by a moral violation.

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Section: Shaving Men's Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Shaving Men's Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%