As we all know Osam bin Ladin has a new video out and all the kewl kids are talking about it.
I'll leave others to discuss the content of what he said and talk about the other thing everybody has noticed.
Did Nick Arojo get a hold of him and tell him to lose the old grey beard look? That look ain't happening with the young folks.
Is he in a power struggle with younger members of al Qaeda?
I decided to look a little closer and see what Muslims say about trimming and dying a beard.
And what I learned is kinda interesting. Join me after the fold.
First off among the more conservative there are directives that the mustache can be trimmed but the beard should not. So it's notable to see Osama with a trimmed beard.
Others have said that it can be trimmed but you must leave it fist length or longer. I don't know about you, but Osama's beard looks a little short to be fist length, if you factor in the length of his chin.
And finally, and here's the interesting bit, It is allowable to trim the beard during Hajj and Umrah.
Now like most of you I didn't know off the top of my head what exactly that meant.
So I looked a little deeper.
In Arabic the word `Umrah is derived from I`timar which means a visit. However, `Umrah technically means paying a visit to Ka`bah, performing Tawaf [Circumambulation] around it, walking between Safa and Marwah seven times. A performer of `Umrah puts off his Ihram by having his hair shaved or cut.
What this is saying is that after performing specific rituals in Mecca, a devout Muslim pilgrim may have his hair cut or shaved.
Got that? Whoever is behind the video included the dog whistle statement that Osama had recently been back in Saudi Arabia, home of Cheney and Bush's bestest friends. How'dja like them apples?
And about the dye, well you're not supposed to do that either, though many famous Muslim leaders have done so.
I found this interesting tidbit from The NYT blog
Abdel Meguid al-Zindani of Yemen, Osama bin Laden’s friend, former teacher and fiery Muslim cleric, had a beard dying habit of his own, using henna to turn it red and symbolize piety
So vanity, blasphemy or political strategy may account for the dye job.
Here's an interesting take on the dying of hair for Muslims from The Righteous Path website (pdf). Apparently the only allowable colors for dye are henna (red) and saffron (yellow).