The Ruling on Shaving, Trimming, and Dyeing the Beard Black
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is shaving the beard considered one of the major sins? I hope you will clarify the ruling on trimming the beard, because we see some who claim to be scholars doing so, and they argue that it does not contradict letting the beard grow, and this has become widespread recently.
Answer:
Shaving the beard is forbidden. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it and commanded that the beard be left to grow. However, the criterion for a major sin does not apply to it, because no fixed punishment, threat, anger, or curse has been established for it. It is prohibited and forbidden, but it does not fall under the criterion of a major sin; it is a sin and forbidden.
Except according to the opinion of those who say that persisting in a major sin, or persisting in a minor sin, turns it into a major sin. From this perspective, if one persists in it, treats it lightly, and commits it openly, it becomes a major sin. As for trimming the beard and messing with it, this is not permissible.
It is forbidden to touch the beard by shaving, cutting, or plucking. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that it be left to grow, let down, washed, and honored. The meaning of these correct words is to leave it without touching it: not by cutting, not by shaving, and not by plucking. Likewise, the beard should not be dyed pure black if it contains gray hair. The gray hair should be changed, but not with black, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Now they are messing with their beards, cutting them and dyeing them black, and messing with them because Satan incites them to this. I advise them to leave it white; that is better than dyeing it black. Even though it is a recommended practice to change the gray hair, it should be done with something other than black. Leaving it white is better than changing it to black, because changing it to black is forbidden, and leaving it white is at most disliked, a disliked act of a lesser degree.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is shaving the beard considered one of the major sins? I hope you will clarify the ruling on trimming the beard, because we see some who claim to be scholars doing so, and they argue that it does not contradict letting the beard grow, and this has become widespread recently.
Answer:
Shaving the beard is forbidden. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it and commanded that the beard be left to grow. However, the criterion for a major sin does not apply to it, because no fixed punishment, threat, anger, or curse has been established for it. It is prohibited and forbidden, but it does not fall under the criterion of a major sin; it is a sin and forbidden.
Except according to the opinion of those who say that persisting in a major sin, or persisting in a minor sin, turns it into a major sin. From this perspective, if one persists in it, treats it lightly, and commits it openly, it becomes a major sin. As for trimming the beard and messing with it, this is not permissible.
It is forbidden to touch the beard by shaving, cutting, or plucking. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that it be left to grow, let down, washed, and honored. The meaning of these correct words is to leave it without touching it: not by cutting, not by shaving, and not by plucking. Likewise, the beard should not be dyed pure black if it contains gray hair. The gray hair should be changed, but not with black, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Change this gray hair and keep it away from black.
غيروا هذا الشيب وجنبوه السواد.Now they are messing with their beards, cutting them and dyeing them black, and messing with them because Satan incites them to this. I advise them to leave it white; that is better than dyeing it black. Even though it is a recommended practice to change the gray hair, it should be done with something other than black. Leaving it white is better than changing it to black, because changing it to black is forbidden, and leaving it white is at most disliked, a disliked act of a lesser degree.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { أَفَأَمِنُوا مَكْرَ اللَّهِ فَلا يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ اللَّهِ إِلا الْقَوْمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ } — islamhouse.com (1:02:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.