A Muslim paramedic has been commended this week, after he made the gesture of shaving off his beard to protect people during the coronavirus pandemic.
Taking to Facebook, Shumel Everest Rahman, who hails from Newcastle in England, shared a before-and-after photograph of himself standing in front of an ambulance. In one, he was sporting facial hair, while in the other he was clean-shaven.
Recently, this nurse was seen breaking down in tears after a hellish shift during the pandemic:He captioned his post: "After a lot of thought and much deliberation, I’ve decided to shave my beard off. This is to allow the respiratory equipment to fit properly. This is not a step I have taken lightly, my beard is not just part of my identity but of my religion. I’ve had a beard for well over a decade and I can’t remember the last time I shaved."
He continued: "This is was not a simple yes or no answer, however this is exceptional circumstances, totally unprecedented and a unique situation. I’ve shaven off my beard to protect my patients, my colleagues and my family. One of the greatest acts is to save someone’s life. This simple act may help do that. You can save lives by staying home and protecting the NHS, letting us get on with our job."
According to Al Islam.org, having the correct facial hair is an important tenet for Sunni Muslims. One of the Hadiths (a collection of scholarly works attributed to the prophet Muhammed), states that men should: "Trim [their] mustaches short and grow the beard."
Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a number of anxieties among men about how hygienic facial hair is during the outbreak, especially since a recent study allegedly found that men with beards carried more bacteria than canines.