What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore the emerging requirement for shaving among converts to Judaism in early Islamic sources.

January 24, 2026

Shaving Hair and the Maintenance of Confessional Boundaries in Jewish Sources from the Early Islamic Period

Key Points

The aim is to explore the emerging requirement for shaving among converts to Judaism in early Islamic sources.
Analysis of Jewish legal texts from the early Islamic period
Comparison with Byzantine and Muslim legal practices
Contextual interpretation of confessional boundaries
Identification of new shaving requirements for converts
Connection established between punitive shaving and Jewish law
Noted cultural prohibitions against imitating other communities' hairstyles

Abstract

Abstract In the early Islamic period, a new requirement for converts to Judaism emerges in Jewish legal sources: shaving the head and paring the nails. In one of the versions, facial hair is also explicitly mentioned. In the present article this requirement is examined in the context of punitive shaving of head and facial hair, which also first appears in the same period. These Jewish sources are studied with the broader background of such requirements in Byzantine and Muslim law, and additional demands not to imitate hairstyles prevalent in other confessional communities.

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