The importance attached by other races to the hair of the head seems
among the Muhammadans to have been concentrated specially in the
beard. The veneration displayed for the beard in this community is
well known. The Prophet ordained that the minimum length of the beard
should be the breadth of five fingers. When the beard is turning grey
they usually dye it with henna and sometimes with indigo; it may be
thought that a grey beard is a sign of weakness. The Prophet said,
'Change the whiteness of your hair, but not with anything black.' It is
not clear why black was prohibited. It is said that the first Caliph
Abu Bakar was accustomed to dye his beard red with henna, and hence
this practice has been adopted by Muhammadans. [320] The custom of
shaving the chin is now being adopted by young Muhammadans, but as they
get older they still let the beard grow. A very favourite Muhammadan
oath is, 'By the beard of the Prophet'; and in Persia if a man thinks
another is mocking him he says, 'Do you laugh at my beard?' Neither
Hindus nor Muhammadans have any objection to becoming bald, as the
head is always covered by the turban in society. But when a man wishes
to grow a beard it is a serious drawback if he is unable to do it;
and he will then sometimes pluck the young wheat-ears and rub the
juice over his cheeks and chin so that he may grow bearded like the
wheat. Among the Hindus, Rajputs and Marathas, as well as the Sikhs,
commonly wore beards, all of these being military castes. Both the
beard and hair were considered to impart an aspect of ferocity to
the countenance, and when the Rajputs and Muhammadans were going
into battle they combed the hair and trained the beard to project
sideways from the face. When a Muhammadan wears a beard he must have
hair in the centre of his chin, whereas a Hindu shaves this part. A
Muhammadan must have his moustache short so that it may not touch
and defile food entering the mouth. It is related that a certain Kazi
had a small head and a very long beard; and he had a dream that a man
with a small head and a long beard must be a fool. When he woke up he
thought this was applicable to himself. As he could not make his head
larger he decided to make his beard smaller, and looked for scissors
to cut part of it off. But he could not find any scissors, and being
in a hurry to shorten his beard he decided to burn away part of it,
and set it alight. But the fire consumed the whole of his beard before
he could put it out, and he then realised the truth of the dream.