Preacher says men should grow beards to 'separate them from women', prevent 'indecent thoughts'

A Turkish preacher has copped backlash after he said men without beards sometimes cannot be distinguished from women and can cause people to have "indecent thoughts".

The Islamic speaker, Murat Bayaral, was speaking on TV show Fatih Medreseleri.

“Men should grow beards. One of the two body parts that separate men from women is the beard," Bayaral said.

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"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.

He said also there is no need for men to receive permission from their wives in order to shave their beards, Newsweek reports.

His criticism of beardless men has brought backlash.

Magdalena Kirchner, who is a fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center, said that comments like Bayaral's are not uncommon.

"Turkish debates on piety and modesty reoccur frequently," she told Newsweek.

Kirchner said Bayaral's beliefs revealed the Turkish Government's desire to create a "bottom-up pressure against [a secular] way of life without having to impose legal constraints".

Many Islamic scholars say that it's not obligatory for Muslim men to wear beards, and there is nothing in the Quran that suggests men must grow their facial hair.

However extremists in countries such as Afghanistan and Somalia have demanded their followers grow a beard, and threatened men who refuse to do so.

Turkey was traditionally one of the countries where it was possible to see prominent religious scholars close-shaven.