Shaving off a beard may trigger indecent thoughts in other men who look at them, a Turkish cleric said on television earlier this week, causing backlash online.
Clean-shaven men, the cleric suggested, "cannot be distinguished from women" and can therefore cause "indecent thoughts," Murat Bayaral said on private religious station Fatih Medreseleri, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
“Men should grow beards. One of the two body parts that separate men from women is the beard," Bayaral said.
"For example, if you see a man with long hair from afar you may think he is a woman if he does not have a beard. Because nowadays women and men dress similarly. God forbid! You could be possessed by indecent thoughts,” he added.
The comments sparked a flurry of opinions across social media with many describing the logic as “absurd”. [The New Arab] Read more
