Ask Ali: To shave or not to shave?

Ali Al Saloom offers tips and advice for living and working in the UAE.

Dear Ali: Does facial hair have anything to do with status? Do you earn respect by having it here in the UAE? RT, Abu Dhabi
Dear RT: That's an interesting question indeed. Let me break it down first by saying that "beard" in Arabic is "lehyah".
Having lehyah or not won't necessarily be the first thing that anyone will judge or suggest that someone has a certain status.
I have an expat friend whose wife won't kiss him unless he's clean-shaven, and I certainly don't want to advise a husband to give that up. But in our culture, hair is viewed as a sign of maturity, because hair generally grows as you grow; it's a good sign.
We also relate it to wisdom, because religious figures in all the religions are known for their beards: the Prophet Mohammed, as well as the prophets Moses and Jesus. If I shaved my beard off, my family and friends wouldn't turn against me, but they would probably tease me to let me know of their disapproval, even if it looks good. That said, I've had a beard since I could grow one.
Our preference for facial hair goes back to the Prophet Mohammed, who advised Muslims to keep a beard no longer than a fist from the chin. You might see some men with long beards around town. We call these men "muttawas" - again, this is not a must for all muttawas, but in many ways these signs on any Muslim man represents their devotion to their beliefs.
I want to emphasise that we don't disrespect men without facial hair. Had you asked me this question 20 or 30 years ago, I would have said that you might face weirder looks from people who might not appreciate the lack of a beard, but this attitude has changed for the better.
Dear Ali: Is there a specific meaning to the name of the mountain Jebel Hafeet? What does the word "Hafeet" mean? Also, are the hot springs there real or artificial? AS, Abu Dhabi
Dear AS: A beautiful mountain such as Jebel Hafeet deserves our attention.
"Jebel" means "mountain" and the possible origins of "hafeet" come from a few different sources. One is the word "khafa", which means "hidden". But the word is also derived from "hafa", which means to welcome someone. In fact, hafeet is the past tense of hafa.
Anyone who has visited the grand mountain in Al Ain, the second largest in the UAE after Jebel Yibir in Ras Al Khaimah's Hajar Mountains, knows that it's a most welcoming place, offering amazing views of the oasis and surrounding desert. Our ancestors would tell us all the time about welcoming people from the other side of the mountain, showing their hospitality to these new arrivals who had to walk through such harsh ­conditions.
The walking is behind the strangest possible origin of the word hafeet. "Haafi", which is a derivative of hafeet, means to "be barefoot." So maybe those stories my grandparents told us about walking uphill both ways and barefoot were true.
The hot springs are indeed real. They began beneath the mountain and, over thousands of years, developed into the channels and pools that we bathe in today.
Ali Al Saloom is a cultural adviser and public speaker from the UAE. Follow @AskAli on Twitter, and visit www.ask-ali.com to ask him a question and to find his guidebooks to the UAE, priced at Dh50.