How do I respond to my father who orders me to shorten my beard?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

The questioner : May I ask a question, if you please? My father, meaning, he argues with me about the beard. He tells me to trim it. I tell him it is not permissible. He says, "It is not permissible?" He tells me to bring him scholars who trim the beards. He says, "How are these people scholars?" So what is the answer?

The Shaykh : Yes, the answer to this is to say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

And let the beards grow and trim the mustaches

وفروا اللحى وحفوا الشوارب

Let the beards grow long. It is well known that we are commanded to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), not to follow so-and-so and so-and-so.

But if the Truth had followed their inclinations, the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them would have been ruined. Rather, We have brought them their message

وَلَوِ اتَّبَعَ الْحَقُّ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ لَفَسَدَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ بَلْ أَتَيْنَاهُم بِذِكْرِهِمْ

[Al-Mu'minun 23:71]

It is well known that as long as we have a text from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him),

For it is not possible

فإنه لا يمكن أن

we do not argue with the action or statement of anyone against the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So, you say to your father: "My father, we are commanded to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and we are not required to follow so-and-so and so-and-so. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says:

And [mention] the Day He will call them and say, "What did you answer the messengers?"

وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُ مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

[Al-Qasas 28:65]

. And He did not say: 'What did you answer so-and-so and so-and-so?'"

The questioner : Yes, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : And you respond to him with verses like these, and I think your father, if Allah wills, will be convinced.

Source سؤال من حاج 1407هـ - 1 — binothaimeen.net (51:27)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

Flag this fatwa