In some Islamic countries, soldiers are forced to "shave their beards," and if they do not do so, they are punished and thrown into prison.

The questioner : In some Islamic countries, joining the army... when he finishes his university or secondary education, it is obligatory for him to enter the army, and it is obligatory for him to shave his beard, and if he does not do so, he receives punishment and... prison for a year or six months; is this considered... does he have to shave his beard or not?

The Shaykh : Is it considered what?

The questioner : It is the punishment.

The Shaykh : I understood everything; is it considered what?

Another questioner : A dire necessity, a dire necessity.

The questioner : A dire necessity that forces him to shave his beard?

The Shaykh : This question is repeated. When you say: "Is it considered a dire necessity to shave?" you mean he shaves it himself. I say there is no dire necessity that obligates him to shave his beard himself; rather, they shave it from him against his will. Do you see the difference?!

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay; so he does not shave it, rather they shave it from him.

The questioner : If he does not do so, a court is held for him...

The Shaykh : ... We must distinguish between the two matters. I know that if he does not come to them shaved as they wish, they will punish him; either by shaving his beard against his will as they wish, or by throwing him into prison. Is this correct or not?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So we do not say, "Is there a dire necessity for him to shave his beard?" It is not permissible for a Muslim to shave his beard; meaning, he takes the razor and shaves his beard himself, or he goes to the barber to have his beard shaved, for example. Why? Because this disbelieving general imposes that on him. He says to them very clearly—and this happened in Syria with one of our sons-in-law: "I do not shave my beard, do what you want." So what did they do to him? They sent three army personnel to him. You know, perhaps a large part of the army in Syria is Alawite or Nusayri, and the majority is Sunni. When these three personnel came to this son-in-law of ours wanting to shave his beard against his will, he said to them: "Spare us your evil, otherwise you will not be able to shave my beard except after a battle breaks out between me and you. Spare us your evil, for you are of us—meaning, of the people of the Sunnah." So they retreated to their chief, who was Alawite, and apologized that we cannot perform this task because the man is determined. So he sent Alawite personnel to him, and he entered into a battle with them, and he suffered from them what quelled the anger in his heart, but ultimately they overpowered him, tied his hands, and shaved his beard against his will, then imprisoned him. So the chief imprisoned him, detaining him for as long as I do not know, two or three weeks. And the beard began to grow, the Sunnah of Allah in His creation. So he was released from prison, and there he was with his beard grown. So he forced him—again—a second time, and he was saying: "Do what you want." Then it became easy for him to contact a high-ranking commander who was close to him, so he told him the story. This high-ranking commander contacted the senior officials there, so they issued a decision that they would not interfere with the personnel regarding the beard; whoever wished to keep it would keep it, and whoever wished to shave it would shave it. And this is how it happened on the day I was in Damascus.
And in my belief, if there were individuals among the Muslims who are strong in their faith and in their conduct, and they stood firm and did not shave themselves as many do under the claim that this is a dire necessity—here there is no dire necessity; because they either oblige him to shave, or they oblige him against his will, meaning; in that case, from the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, if a Muslim falls between two evils, he chooses the lesser and the lighter of the two evils. There is no doubt that a Muslim shaving his beard himself is a great evil, and less than that is them shaving his beard against his will, and this is what is called a dire necessity here, whereas in the first case there is no dire necessity. And my purpose in saying this is: if there were in these armies, whose system is still based on some disbelieving laws that oblige army personnel to shave their beards, if dozens of Muslims stood firm like this person I mentioned earlier, the army commanders would be forced to change this system; especially since this system is not a general system in all the armies of the country.
It was decreed for me to travel to Europe about twenty years ago, so I was riding in a car with some of our brothers, and we were ascending the Alps in Switzerland. We saw military cars with army personnel on them, and they had beards. So I asked how this is possible? He said: "Here the soldiers have freedom; whoever wishes to shave shaves, and whoever wishes to grow it grows it, and they are disbelievers, so Muslims are more deserving of this, if the system does not reverse and the army commander does not oblige every soldier to shave his beard, rather to shave it." So the steadfastness of some youth toward this disbelieving law will ultimately lead them to change this system, which is adopted from a disbelieving system. The answer is clear to you, if Allah wills.

The questioner : ... .

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : This disliked act contradicts...; it is not permissible; because this is a sin, and the father is usually shaved, and therefore he wants his son to be like him. And if he is bearded, it is very normal for him to ask his son to go against his father...