While some in the media are looking to vanity … slyly suggesting Osama bin Laden may have had botox as well as some Grecian Formula … Jihad Watch once again has a more intelligent analysis:

The Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence forbids men and women to dye their hair black “except when the intention is jihad…as a show of strength to unbelievers” (‘Umdat al-Salik e.4.4). Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, in his The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, says essentially the same thing: “Some of the early Muslims, including some sahabah [companions of Muhammad] such as Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amr, al-Hassan, al-Hussein, Jarir, and others permitted the use of black dye. Some scholars, on the other hand, do not consider the use of black dye as permissible except during time of war, when the enemy might be impressed by the fact that all the soldiers of the Muslim army look young.”

There’s a further explanation today on the http://www.jihadwatch.org home page:

OBL is not a member of the Shafi’i school; the Wahhabis adhere to the Hanbali school, and the Deobandis (the dominant sect among the Taliban) are Hanafis. But this is not just a Shafi’i view: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, in his internationally influential The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, says essentially the same thing: “Some of the early Muslims, including some sahabah [companions of Muhammad] such as Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amr, al-Hassan, al-Hussein, Jarir, and others permitted the use of black dye. Some scholars, on the other hand, do not consider the use of black dye as permissible except during time of war, when the enemy might be impressed by the fact that all the soldiers of the Muslim army look young.”

Does Osama’s dye job mean that he is going to participate personally in jihad warfare? Not necessarily. But it could be another signal that an attack is imminent.

Meanwhile, the TV talking heads will continue to tut-tut about Osama’s vanity, and remain utterly clueless about what is most likely really going on here. Keep talking, fellows.

Putting the enemy’s actions in the proper cultural context is one of the most important tools we have: OBL certainly understands us, and leverages our weaknesses against us. It certainly makes much more sense for OBL to be sending a signal … a sign of encouragement that Jihad is at hand … than for him to be concerned about western ideals of vanity. Informed citizens should not wait for their daily newspaper or nightly news cast to get the right perspective; seek out sites like Jihad Watch and the Counter Terrorism Blog for the straight scoop.