What is the ruling on trimming a beard that is not proportionate?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : And regarding the issue of wearing something on the night that is not beautiful, even if it is hypocritical, you find the brother doing it and beautifying it for the sake of this razor.
The Shaykh : If a beard grows in a way that is not proportionate, as the questioner mentioned, then the One who grew it is Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It is not permissible for a person to change the creation of Allah in a forbidden manner. If Allah has forbidden something, it is not permissible for you to take it. It is known from authentic texts that shaving the beard is forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said and said So a person must shave his beard unless he loves to choose the path of the polytheists over the path of the prophets and messengers.
If he considers that, then he has what he chose. But if he wants the path of the believers, the messengers, the caliphs, and the Salaf of this Ummah, then it is obligatory for him to let his beard grow. If we open the door and say that a person, if he sees something in his beard that he dislikes, may trim it and beautify it, if we open this door, a person would trim it, for example, from one side, then the other side would become heavier, so he would trim it from that side which became heavier, then the first side would become heavier, so he would trim it from there, then the second side would become heavier, and so on, until the beard is gone while he is in the process of trimming it. It is like what is said about the fox: it wanted to divide a rabbit and another animal in the meat between them, so it put the meat on the scale, and made one side heavier than the other. When it saw that one side was heavier, it ate from it so that it would equal the second side. But it ate and broke the balance, so the second side became heavier. So it ate from it to equal the second side, but it broke the balance. It kept eating from this side and that side until all the meat was gone.
So those who try to equalize their beards in this way, as they claim, will remain with their beards without realizing it.
And it is obligatory for a person to be patient. As is well known, the beard does not grow all at once; it grows in parts, part by part, until it is complete. So let him be patient, let him seek help from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and let him strive for what happens to him if he dislikes this. And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) rewards the patient.
The Shaykh : If a beard grows in a way that is not proportionate, as the questioner mentioned, then the One who grew it is Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It is not permissible for a person to change the creation of Allah in a forbidden manner. If Allah has forbidden something, it is not permissible for you to take it. It is known from authentic texts that shaving the beard is forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
Cut the beards and trim the mustaches, and oppose the Magians.
وقر اللحى وحف الشوارب خالف المجوسOppose the Magians, let the beards grow, or refuse the beards and trim the mustaches.
خالق المشركين وفروا اللحى أو أبوا اللحى وحبوا الشوائبIf he considers that, then he has what he chose. But if he wants the path of the believers, the messengers, the caliphs, and the Salaf of this Ummah, then it is obligatory for him to let his beard grow. If we open the door and say that a person, if he sees something in his beard that he dislikes, may trim it and beautify it, if we open this door, a person would trim it, for example, from one side, then the other side would become heavier, so he would trim it from that side which became heavier, then the first side would become heavier, so he would trim it from there, then the second side would become heavier, and so on, until the beard is gone while he is in the process of trimming it. It is like what is said about the fox: it wanted to divide a rabbit and another animal in the meat between them, so it put the meat on the scale, and made one side heavier than the other. When it saw that one side was heavier, it ate from it so that it would equal the second side. But it ate and broke the balance, so the second side became heavier. So it ate from it to equal the second side, but it broke the balance. It kept eating from this side and that side until all the meat was gone.
So those who try to equalize their beards in this way, as they claim, will remain with their beards without realizing it.
And it is obligatory for a person to be patient. As is well known, the beard does not grow all at once; it grows in parts, part by part, until it is complete. So let him be patient, let him seek help from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and let him strive for what happens to him if he dislikes this. And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) rewards the patient.
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1402هـ - 8 — binothaimeen.net (1:04:32)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.