The Disagreement Regarding the Beard

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

Fatwa No. ( 2196 ):

Q: The beard is a sunnah (recommended practice) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and there are many people: some shave it, some pluck it, some shorten it, some deny it, and some say: it is a sunnah (recommended practice) for which its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished. And some fools say: if there were any good in the beard, it would not have grown in the place of the pubic hair, may Allah disfigure them. What is the ruling on each of these differing people? And what is the ruling on one who denies a sunnah (recommended practice) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
A: The authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) indicates the obligation of letting the beard grow, allowing it to hang down, and preserving it, and the prohibition of shaving it and cutting it, as in the two Sahihs from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Cut your mustaches short and let your beards grow, and be distinct from the polytheists.

قصوا الشوارب وأعفوا اللحى، خالفوا المشركين

, and in [Sahih Muslim ], from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Trim closely the moustache, and grow beard, and thus act against the fire-worshippers.

جزوا الشوارب وأرخوا اللحى، خالفوا المجوس

Sahih Muslim 260

, and these two hadiths and what came in their meaning from hadiths all indicate the obligation of letting the beard grow, preserving it, and the prohibition of shaving it and cutting it, as we mentioned. And whoever claims that letting it grow is a sunnah (recommended practice) for which its doer is rewarded and its leaver does not deserve punishment has erred and contradicted the authentic hadiths; because the default ruling for commands is obligation, and for prohibitions is prohibition, and it is not permissible for anyone to contradict the apparent meaning of the authentic hadiths except with a proof that indicates diverting them from their apparent meaning, and there is no proof that diverts these hadiths from their apparent meaning. As for what al-Tirmidhi narrated, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

the Prophet used to take something off the side and the bottom of his beard

أنه كان يأخذ من لحيته من طولها وعرضها

Mishkat al-Masabih 4439

, it is a batil (invalid) hadith with no authenticity from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because there is a narrator in its chain who is accused of lying. As for one who mocked it and compared it to the pubic hair, he has committed a great munkar (what is wrong) that necessitates his riddah (apostasy) from Islam; because mocking something indicated by the Book of Allah
or the Sunnah of His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is considered kufr (disbelief) and riddah (apostasy) from Islam; due to the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic):

⁽⁶⁵⁾ And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?" ⁽⁶⁶⁾ Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals.

قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ (65) لاَ تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ

[At-Tawbah 9:65-66]

the verse. And we ask Allah for guidance, success, and safety from misleading trials for us, for you, and for all Muslims. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.

Source www.alifta.gov.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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