According to the World Tribune, the latest demand inflicted upon the captive population of Mosul by their ISIS overlords is a ban against shaving male beards. The terror state has decreed that beards are mandatory under sharia law.
The order was revealed on the Facebook page of “Mosul Eye,” described by the World Tribune as “a local historian who has been secretly documenting ISIL’s activities in Mosul since the militants overran the city in June 2014.” These anonymous reports are generally considered reliable.
An ISIS leaflet posted by Mosul Eye described the portions of sharia law that supposedly forbid shaving, and promises “punishment” for those who disobey the order. Punishing the disobedient is an aspect of civic administration the Islamic State takes very seriously. International Business Times adds that the ISIS leaflet claims that only “effeminate” men would eschew wearing a long beard.
The World Tribune notes the beard order is not unique to Mosul. Similar edicts have been issued in other captive cities, and Islamist groups other than ISIS have imposed no-shaving decrees in areas they control, prominently including the Taliban of Afghanistan. The Taliban even developed various methods of measuring beards for acceptable length. Female militants have chipped in by developing special beard shampoos for the male fanatics in their lives.
This association between radical Islam and big beards has led to an extreme aversion to beards in countries worried about Islamist takeovers. (The clinical term for fear of beards is “pogonophobia,” as the World Tribune helpfully explains, before embarking on a review of beard-related lunacy throughout history.) Some Afghans were even said to become apprehensive around bearded American soldiers, as those chin curtains evoked traumatic memories of fascist Taliban goons.