Discussion with In-House Scholar
Why do we have hair from Islamic perspective?
The word hair and sensing along with understanding within ourselves.
in Arabic share the same letters and are from the same root word.
Sha-a-ra ش-ع-ر root word = شعر
hair = شعر
(awareness- ( sensing along with understanding from within = شعر
(sensing and feeling from outside - (Hess = حس
Quran
يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّا أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ ﴿البقرة: ٩﴾
They seek to deceive God and those who believe,
but they deceive none but themselves,
though they are not aware (2:9)
( aware= sensing along with understanding from within)
فَلَمَّا أَحَسَّ عِيسَىٰ مِنْهُمُ الْكُفْرَ قَالَ مَنْ أَنصَارِي إِلَى اللَّهِ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ نَحْنُ أَنصَارُ اللَّهِ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَاشْهَدْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ ﴿آلعمران: ٥٢﴾
When Jesus felt disbelief on their part, he said,
“Who are my allies towards God?”
The disciples said, “We are God’s allies; we have believed in God,
and bear witness that we submit.” (3: 52)
Relationship between شعر (Sha-a-ra) and hair :
In humans on earth, the growth of hair,
is symbolic of growth, awareness
(sensing along with understanding from within) and feelings
Hair شعر in arabic, which comes from the root meaning of sensing/feeling,
does not have any feeling/sensing in itself.
But its root which is inside the head has feelings/sense.
That is why when you pull hair, you feel/sense pain in the roots of the hair,
which is inside the head.
In men, from the age 30 onwards, hair starts receding.
This hair line receding condition , in front of the broadened forehead ,
is symbolic of the area of prostration.
In actuality,meaning, prostration, is cleared from the apparent awareness
( sensing along with understanding from within).
And for ladies, because they are generally under Hijab,
And the whole head and hair is under Hijab, and is not visible,
which, in itself is symbolic of the fact stated above.
And practically her awareness,
( sensing along with understanding from within)
is under a veil ( Hijab )
Meaning, that she can realize, the spiritual hijab.
And it is expected from ladies,
to realize Godly/Divine Hijab and higher awareness.
For Men, because the hair is visible,
the hairline starts receding,
which is symbolic, for the same reason.
We are taking into consideration ,female and male in public.
Hence, the level of awareness,in regards to woman,
which is to be realized thru Allah by woman, is never visible.
A Good example from The Quran is Maryam (a.s)
The realization she received from Allah, the direct contact and Speech with Allah,
The direct Laws from Allah, direct orders from Allah,
to direct meals from Allah.
This is Awareness, beyond Imagination.
Over all, a woman who practises properly,
has hair but is not visible,
meaning, she has that awareness, but it is exclusive
and personal for herself.
Even, the awareness gained by Maryam (a.s)
was not gained by her Son Isa ( a.s),
The Salah given to Maryam was the same Salah for Mohammad (pbuh),
which consists of,Ruku ( bowing), Sujda ( prostrating), Qunoot.
The reason men have beard,
Which is symbolic of the awareness شعور which they have received and realized,
And those divine matters, are to be expressed from the area of the mouth.
Whereas woman do not have the responsibility
to express/state what they have received.
Woman’s responsibility is to guard/ safe guard.
Woman is precious and dear to God.
What she realizes is between her and God.
And it is not necessary for her to disclose it.
And is entirely Hijab (veiled)
Woman, entirely means Hijab,
Hijab means, something that I cannot figure out, just like that.
Unless I enter it.
That is why, we have to be Mahram with woman.
To be Mahram with inside of the Woman.
Inside of a woman, over here means,
The divine awareness which is given by God to her
and what she has achieved thru God
and later is explained to the man.
But man and the symbol for men are the prophets,
And prophets are obliged to express and state,
what they have understood, to people who are fit and capable.
Hence the hair شعر around the mouth area,
is the external symbol that covers the
surrounding area of the mouth for expression.
Also for this reason, a woman is not responsible for
Amr beh Marouf va nahy az Monkar ,
( stating enjoining for good and forbidding evil )
And is a male responsibility.
Woman were actually not supposed to do anything,
but gain and achieve divine understanding and awareness,
But unfortunately this did not actually come into effect.
In hajj, the shaving of the head in men,
is an external symbol of the divine hijab he enters,
meaning the status and understanding,
which is the result of ascending towards Allah, in meraj,
I, as a man, clear “my” total awareness from my head,
which is, the real meaning of Subhan Allah.
Meaning , I put aside and destroy ,whatever definition and awareness,
I had about Allah and his works,
And ready to receive renewed understanding and awareness.
Since the palms of the hand and feet, fingers, and forehead,
Are used for Sujdah ( prostration) don’t have hair,
And is supposed to realize “Rabi Al Ala ”
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Hadith
In a conversation with Imam Sadiq (a.s)
( In regards to the blessings which God has bestowed to Human)
Imam Sadiq (a.s) mentioned:
Look and ponder, on what good far sightedness has been in the creation of hair and nails
From this point that, there are from the things that grow and increase
In a manner that it needs to be constantly reduced،
They are free from sensitivity
So that humans do not feel pain by shortening them
Where as, if hair and nails,were of that, that had sensitivity
Humans would have been confused, whether to shorten them, or pluck them off
or to leave it for it to grow long.
And so it would weigh heavy on them, or by enduring the pain and grief,
which bothers them to cut it short.
Mafzal said: Why aren't they created in such a manner,
where, it would not grow that long, so that it would require shortening?
Imam Sadiq mentioned:
God has blessing for humans, which humans are not aware of and do not know about
So that he may be give thanks. Know that the aches and pains and diseases of the body
Along with the growth of hair from its bed, and growth of nails from fingers
Exits and leaves from the body
From this point, humans have been ordered to,
shave their head and cut their nails every week
So that hair and nails, grow faster, and by its new growth
Aches and pains of the body also goes out of the body
But when it grows long, it is displaced
And its growth decreases. and as a result,
the fluids of pain and diseases stay imprisoned in the body
and creates pain and diseases in the body.
Bihar Al-Anwar, Vol 3, pg.76