The Ruling on Shaving the Beard and Clarifying Its Status
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And the hair of the beard.
The Shaykh:
Yes, we mentioned that the hair of the beard carries a full blood money (diyah). If someone harms his beard such that it is lost in a way that it does not grow back, he owes a full blood money.
The questioner:
Is there any guidance from the Honorable Shaykh for those who shave their beards with their right hands? If he will live his life shaving it every morning, and it has a right in the law of Allah and a full blood money, just like the soul, just like his head?
The Shaykh:
This clarifies the status of the beard for a man, that it is one of his organs, and that Allah adorned him with it and made it a distinguishing feature between the male and the female. So if someone harms it in a way that the hair of his beard is lost and does not return, he owes a full blood money. These are the ones who disbelieved in the blessings of Allah upon them and fought the beard, so they began shaving it and removing the beauty of their faces and their manliness, for nothing other than that they imitate the disbelievers in this.
Or because they imitate women in this. This is a despicable trait, and this indicates the deficiency of the minds of these people and the deficiency of their manliness and nobility. For the difference between men and women is the beard, and Allah made the beard beauty for men and adornment for them, and an organ among their organs. It has great benefits, and preserving it is among the sunnahs (recommended practices) of the Prophets. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had a great beard, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) advised to preserve the beards, honor them, let them grow, let them hang down, and leave them as they are, so that they remain in the state in which Allah created them as beauty for the man and adornment for the face. But these people were deprived of this blessing, so they removed it and turned from manliness to what resembles womanliness. Yes.
The questioner:
If one sees that shaving it is more beautiful and better, can he be accused that this is a sign of hypocrisy or of hatred for some of what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought?
The Shaykh:
If he hates the beard, this is hatred for the sunnah (recommended practice) which is among the sunnahs of the Prophets, and this is a sign of hypocrisy or of disbelief, may Allah protect us from it.
The questioner:
I seek refuge in Allah.
The Shaykh:
As for if he shaves it out of imitation without thinking, without thinking that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated for us its preservation and honoring because he is ignorant of that, then this does not reach the level of hypocrisy, but he becomes a fool, one of the foolish imitators who imitate people without insight. Otherwise, the fitrah (innate natural disposition) of a man distinguishes between the shaven man and the bearded man; he finds in the bearded man a luster, beauty, and awe, whereas he does not find this awe and this status in the hearts for the shaven man.
And his finding this attractive, finding shaving the beard attractive, is as Allah the Exalted said:[Fatir 35:8] And as the poet said: "A person is judged in the days of his trial until he sees as good what is not good." Yes. May Allah reward you and increase your reward, and may Allah reward you with good.
And the hair of the beard.
The Shaykh:
Yes, we mentioned that the hair of the beard carries a full blood money (diyah). If someone harms his beard such that it is lost in a way that it does not grow back, he owes a full blood money.
The questioner:
Is there any guidance from the Honorable Shaykh for those who shave their beards with their right hands? If he will live his life shaving it every morning, and it has a right in the law of Allah and a full blood money, just like the soul, just like his head?
The Shaykh:
This clarifies the status of the beard for a man, that it is one of his organs, and that Allah adorned him with it and made it a distinguishing feature between the male and the female. So if someone harms it in a way that the hair of his beard is lost and does not return, he owes a full blood money. These are the ones who disbelieved in the blessings of Allah upon them and fought the beard, so they began shaving it and removing the beauty of their faces and their manliness, for nothing other than that they imitate the disbelievers in this.
Or because they imitate women in this. This is a despicable trait, and this indicates the deficiency of the minds of these people and the deficiency of their manliness and nobility. For the difference between men and women is the beard, and Allah made the beard beauty for men and adornment for them, and an organ among their organs. It has great benefits, and preserving it is among the sunnahs (recommended practices) of the Prophets. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had a great beard, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) advised to preserve the beards, honor them, let them grow, let them hang down, and leave them as they are, so that they remain in the state in which Allah created them as beauty for the man and adornment for the face. But these people were deprived of this blessing, so they removed it and turned from manliness to what resembles womanliness. Yes.
The questioner:
If one sees that shaving it is more beautiful and better, can he be accused that this is a sign of hypocrisy or of hatred for some of what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought?
The Shaykh:
If he hates the beard, this is hatred for the sunnah (recommended practice) which is among the sunnahs of the Prophets, and this is a sign of hypocrisy or of disbelief, may Allah protect us from it.
The questioner:
I seek refuge in Allah.
The Shaykh:
As for if he shaves it out of imitation without thinking, without thinking that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated for us its preservation and honoring because he is ignorant of that, then this does not reach the level of hypocrisy, but he becomes a fool, one of the foolish imitators who imitate people without insight. Otherwise, the fitrah (innate natural disposition) of a man distinguishes between the shaven man and the bearded man; he finds in the bearded man a luster, beauty, and awe, whereas he does not find this awe and this status in the hearts for the shaven man.
And his finding this attractive, finding shaving the beard attractive, is as Allah the Exalted said:
Then is one to whom the evil of his deed has been made attractive so he considers it good [like one rightly guided]? For indeed, Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills
أَفَمَن زُيِّنَ لَهُ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ فَرَآهُ حَسَنًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، شرح زاد المستقنع (حلقات إذاعية)|171 من 194|كتاب الديات|باب ديات الأعضاء ومنافعها|الفوزان — youtube.com (6:42)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.