Continuation of the answer to the question: Is it permissible to trim the beard?

The Shaykh : For this reason, I say that these texts present in the Book and the Sunnah must be understood as the righteous Salaf understood them. Once we know this, we return to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , . This is an absolute text, like those texts I mentioned earlier, upon which the one referred to previously based the legitimacy of congregational supplication after the prayer. These are general texts. Also, in the present day, there are those who argue against the permissibility of trimming the beard absolutely. Why? Or what is their evidence for that? The absoluteness of his saying (peace be upon him): . Here we return to our solid principle, which protects us from deviating to the right or the left. We ask: How did the Salaf understand this absolute text, which some of the Khalaf now understand in its absolute sense? If a man were blessed with a long beard that he let drag on the ground, it would not be permissible for him to take a single hair from it. Why? Because he (peace be upon him) said: . We say: The righteous Salaf were not on this absolute understanding. Our evidence for this can be cited through two proofs: one negative and the other positive. As for the negative, it is that it is not reported from any of the righteous Salaf that he had a long, long beard that attracted people's attention. If such a phenomenon existed, as the jurist scholars truly say, like Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), the motivations to transmit it would have been present, and that is not the case at all. Whereas now, in contemporary history, we find many reports, and I have seen some pictures of a man whose beard either drags on the ground or he puts it in a bag. I also saw a picture of a strange-looking creature of yours, placed on a wall about four meters high, resembling the roosters known to us, with its tail reaching the ground. This is one of the wonders of creation. This is the negative proof: that it is not reported, to our knowledge and what we have seen. And I know that when I say it is a negative proof, it is not as strong as the positive proof mentioned below, but it is at least sufficient to be a corroborating narration for the positive proof I will mention. This positive proof is that it is established with a sound chain from two eminent Companions that they used to take what exceeded a handful, and Imam al-Sunnah, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), received this from them, so he used to take what exceeded a handful. Those were Abu Hurayrah on one side and Abdullah ibn Umar on the other. And among the useful scientific curiosities is that these two Companions are among the narrators of that absolute text . So here it is correct for me to say that the report is not like the eyewitness account, and what is seen is not like what is heard. These people undoubtedly saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when they heard, at least, his saying: . At least they lived with him. As for Ibn Umar, he lived with him for many years. As for Abu Hurayrah, he lived with him for three years and more. So I believe, especially regarding Abdullah ibn Umar, who is truly known as the most worshipful of the people, excuse me, the most worshipful of the Companions, and it reached him to a type of independent legal reasoning that led him to exaggeration in worship, contrary to his father, Umar al-Faruq (may Allah be pleased with him). If we see this Companion avoiding an order that those who came after him, who transmitted the hadith from him and his like, use as evidence by the generality or the absoluteness mentioned in the hadith, while he contradicts this absoluteness, then the report is not like the eyewitness account, and what is seen is not like what is heard. It is impossible for Ibn Umar, this worshipper and ascetic, to see the Messenger (peace be upon him) with a long beard and not take from it, as some of the later scholars claim, to contradict him. This is an impossible matter. Therefore, we say: Since these two Companions understood the hadith as restricted, I infer, and this is the answer to the first part of your question, I infer that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from it. But I do not say he used to take from it, because the matter requires a text. Just as it is not permissible for any scholar who derives an issue from the Book of Allah, or from the Sunnah, or from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by derivation, to use as evidence for this derived issue a hadith that is not sound. If I were allowed to use as evidence something like this, I would say: Imam al-Tirmidhi narrated in his "Sunan" from one of the Companions, perhaps Ibn Umar, I do not remember with certainty now: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from its width and length." But the hadith is very weak; therefore, we turn away from it and dispense with using it as evidence, relying on this derivation which agrees with the scientific principles, especially the Salafi principle I alluded to earlier. And in my opinion, with this we have answered the question. The summary is: There is no soundly narrated text from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he used to take what exceeded a handful, or that he used to take from it absolutely, except that very weak hadith. But this taking is taken from those who saw him and those who narrated from him his saying (peace be upon him): . And this is sufficient.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.