Damaturu, Nigeria — Hundreds of bearded Muslims in different parts of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, went about shaving their beards to avoid being killed by security men at the heat of the Boko Haram conflicts which resulted in the death of over 700 people, amongst them, persons presumed innocent.
The mass shaving began after it became clear that bearded men, irrespective of their ideologies, affiliations, occupations or ages, were not safe at the heat of the crisis.
Many adherents of the Islamic groups Ahalil-Sunnah Waljama'a and Izala shaved their beards and pulled down their trousers below their ankles to avoid death in the hands of security men who were said to have regarded every bearded man as a member of the radical sect because the sect members wear beards.
Bearded men were often detained and subjected to questions by security men while some were said to have been killed on sight.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state Isa Azare did not answer calls when our correspondent wanted him to respond to the matter. A senior police officer, who didn't want to be named, however, said: "Bearded men were questioned because some members of the sect were moving back to town from their enclaves on Tuesday and Wednesday while there were desperate attempts by security men to curtail them".
Sheikh Muhammad Sani Yahaya Jingir, the national chairman of the Council of Ulamas of the Jama'atul Izalatil Bidah Wa'ikamatis Sunnah, said in an interview Monday that those Muslims that shaved their beards in order to escape the security operatives did nothing wrong against their religion. "What they did was right and I acknowledge their indulgence", Sheikh Jingir said, pointing out that rather than killing innocent people because of beards, security operatives should have ensured that the members didn't return to town.
Sheikh Jingir said Prophet Muhammad had enjoined good Muslims to allow their beards to grow and reduce the sizes of their moustache which, according to him, attracts "enormous reward from Allah" and wondered why security forces used such feature in identifying Boko Haram followers.
"It was a serious security failure... We hope this will never be repeated because ordinarily, they (security men) should have used their expertise to identify members of the sect instead of descending on innocent people. If beard is the criterion for identifying the culprits, it then means millions of Muslims, not only in Nigeria but around the world, would be killed innocently", Sheikh Jingir said.
Muslims, especially adherents of the Ahalil-Sunnah Waljama'a and the Izala shaved their beards and started wearing longer trousers to avoid attacks or being mistaken for the sect by the forces. Although, keeping beards, wearing turbans and nisfusaak (trousers above the ankle) are part of a prophet's Sirah, which was recommended for every Muslim to emulate as best as he can, and viewed by the Ahalil Sunnah and the Izala as deeply spiritual tasks, the security forces view this outlook as the identity of the Boko Haram members.
Malam Nuhu, an Imam at the Potiskum motor park mosque, said he was compelled to shave his beard for fear of being killed. "I also directed those close to me to do so because you can only practise religion when you are alive," he said.
Musa Mohammed of Sabon Fegi Damaturu said his mother cried profusely to force him to remove his beard, saying a friend was killed in Maiduguri because he had beard. The chief Imam of Damaturu, Uztaz Hudu, enraged by the development, has called for an investigation into it.
A serving Permanent Secretary in the Borno State Civil Service, Engineer Zarami Dungus, was among those who reportedly shaved their beards to avoid falling victims of the situation. The police told our reporter who was arrested in the heat of the crisis to shave his beards too, saying, "If you don't shave, we cannot guarantee your safety".