Islam is not about turban and beard

Malaysia's Federal Court today, Wed July 12, dismissed the appeal of three students who were expelled from school for refusing to take off their turbans (serban in Malay) nine years ago.

Islam is not about turban and beard, the Federal Court's panel of three judges led by Court of Appeal president Abdul Malek Ahmad said. The panel was unanimous in their decision that not everything that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did or the way he did it, is legally or religiously binding on Muslims, or even preferable and should be followed.

The practice of wearing a turban was of little significance from Islam's point of view, what more in relation to under-age boys, said justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad in his written judgement read in court by a deputy registrar.

Abdul Hamid said the Al-Quran "makes no mention about the wearing of turban. I accept that the Prophet wore a turban. But he also rode a camel, built his house and mosque with clay walls and roof of leaves of date palms and brushed his teeth with the twig of a plant."

"Does that make riding a camel a more pious deed than travelling in an aeroplane? Is it preferable to build houses and mosques using the same materials used by the Prophet and the same architecture adopted by him during his time?" he asked.