Beard ban’ for PIA staff chided --Will TALIBAN approve this??

[roopesh]

Saturday, February 21, 2009
‘Beard ban’ for PIA staff chided


LAHORE

NOTED religious scholars have condemned the Pakistan International Airline administration for banning its employees from having beards, terming the move as violation of the constitution and fundamental rights.

In a joint statement on Friday, Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Jamiat-e-Ittehadul Ulema President Maulana Abdul Maalik, JI naib ameer Chaudhry Aslam Salimi advocate, JI Sindh ameer Asadullah Bhutto, Idara-e-Muarif Islami Director Hafiz Mohammad Idris, Jamia Naeemia Principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi, JIU, Punjab, President Maulana Abdul Jalil Naqshbandi, JIU, Karachi, president Maulana Abdul Rauf, Agha M Mansoor and Maulana Syed Mahmood Farooqi have said the PIA was trying to please Washington by banning its male cabin crew from having beards.

They said, PIA administration, in a recent notification, had announced reviewing its policy regarding beards, and it forbade the male cabin crew from growing beards and they could have goatees only. They said Pakistan was an ideological country, having 99 per cent Muslim population, and the PIA administration’s new policy was a stark violation of Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and an attempt to please the West. The Ulema said that most of the western countries had adopted anti-Islam policies like France where Muslim girls were not allowed to wear headscarves.

 

[DarkStar]

This policy review is for cabin crew only. Not many cabin crew that grow beards that I have seen, although i am not aware of any statistics in this regard.

A needless ban, and a needless response by the celebrity Ulema.

 

[Omar1984]

I dont understand why they would ban beards. Pakistani government tries too hard to be like Turkey.

 

[roadrunner]

I suppose they're catering for the non Muslim clients. It's an image thing.

 

[DarkStar]

Why ban, when a small internal notification to managers is all that is needed?

There are many unspoken rules in business organisations, that are understood. An ugly man/woman has every right to be an air steward/ess, yet you would normally find an aesthetically pleasing person in the job. Its the nature of the industry.

To go to the length of banning something sounds a bit extreme, and provocative in the current climate.

 

[TopCat]

Instead of banning they could impose some kind of beauty tips on beard. Some people just dont trim them nicely so that they can be presentable as well as religious.

 

[Al-zakir]

That just not rite. It almost insult to the beard. Are they forgetting it's a sunnah? A man should be allow to keep the bread as long as it's neat and trim. Pakistan is a Islamic republic for god sake. I hope this won't provoke unnecessary tension. Why try so hard to become secular..........

 

[Evil Flare]

Why dont this issue raised on Media ?

 

[ARSENAL6]

If British Airways did that it would be infridge in staffs legal right for religious belief
What I don't get is PIA a pakistani national airways (Which lead to Pakistan being MUSLIM country) is why they choose to ban the beard.
We should be encouraged times of anti-islam grwing in the west for the example of banning of headscarff in France as metion from the first poster.

Yes I will grant you that having the beard, you must keep it clean and the length is differne school of thought.
Bear in mind though keeping the beard is wajib Its not compulsory but its nessarly for muslim adult males to have one. The legnth of it is open to debate

However to bring things closer to the agument the issue is not forcing people to grow a beard its telling people not grow one at all and I think this is a step backward for PIA to do that aswell as Pakistan for having this issue.
It should never had come up, you are either free to grow one or not,
not because some Non-muslim disapprove of it.
No one should tell anyone what to do.

 

[roadrunner]

It's a business. If PIA's customers were all Saudi Arabian, they would probably make the beard compulsory.

As their clientelle may be predominantly non Muslim, or Muslim but not of the kind that cares about beards or not, they see it fit to target that audience.

They probably don't need to proclaim to the world they're banning beards, but they're a business whose customers obviously, in general, do not care for beards, and so they're doing this. They wouldn't be doing this if their customers would be outraged by it.

It's a calculated policy change.

 

[DarkStar]

Why dont this issue raised on Media ?

The issue was raised in the media by the afore mentioned celebrity scholars, which is how we got to know about it. See the link in the beginning.