Do we say that the sunan of fitrah in humans were customs in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and thus they are a matter of excellence?

The questioner : There are those who say that the apparent sunan in humans, such as the beard and the garment, were merely a matter of custom in the life of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They claim that it is not obligatory for a person to grow his beard and follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) except as a matter of custom, and that following it is a matter of excellence, not an obligation?

The Shaykh : Meaning, it does not go beyond being one of the excellences.

The questioner : Just that and nothing else. So what is the ruling on that?

The Shaykh : No, it is not like that. Listen, listen. The question is like this, because he...The questioner : You have a question, and others do too?

Another questioner : A second question.

The Shaykh : This is it. You have a question for yourself, so keep it in mind. What is it? How is it? As for us, we spoke with the professor there that we do not impose on people that you must ask like this; no, do not ask like that. Every question has an answer. He asked like this! How did it turn out for him? And you ask in your own way. You do not enter into his way, and he does not enter into yours. Yes. . And in my opinion, in any case, the answer to this question, which some thought was not like this, will likely include the question that was raised and the one that will be raised. First, it will be raised, so be patient for a little while. The truth is that this issue is among the trials that have befallen the Muslim world from among its specialists. Yes.
Abu Layla : And not from among its common people.

The Shaykh: Yes.
Abu Layla : Repeat it, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : I say that this trial has befallen the Muslim world not from among its common people, but from among its specialists. The specialists are those who sometimes teach the common people strange ideas that deviate from Islam. The reason that drives them to this deviation is not scholarly ijtihad for one reason or another, as we mentioned earlier, but rather an attempt by these specialists to make Islam conform to the desires and material requirements of the present age. If the motive for them were ijtihad from the Book of Allah or the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, there would be no harm; he would be rewarded in any case. But that is not the driving force behind this. This is an introduction. We say that some have stated that the issue does not go beyond being a matter of excellence, of the recommended things, where one who wishes does it and one who wishes leaves it. In my knowledge, there is another group that tells you that it is the same whether you do it or leave it. I say these are many, and the best of them are a group of good people who are saying that this is a recommended matter and an excellence. This means they have left the door open for the worshippers who want to draw near to Allah by following the Messenger (peace be upon him) in what he did and what he commanded. As for the others, they have demolished all the evidence that you will hear and abolished it absolutely, equating the shaving of the beard and throwing it to the ground. They did not look to the guidance of the Messenger, but to the guidance of the chosen ones, the righteous prophets and messengers. History, and I do not say only Islamic history, does not know of a prophet who was clean-shaven. Our Qur'an is sufficient as proof: . So the prophets were bearded. Is it not sufficient for it to be clear in the mind of the Muslim that he should follow the prophets in his dress and appearance, led by the Master of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? Yes, by Allah, this is sufficient. What about the matters that confirm the obligation and the fard nature of growing the beard, not that it is recommended or an excellence or a confirmed sunnah or one of the obligations that some schools of jurisprudence distinguish between obligations and fard? No, those evidences confirm that growing the beard is among the fard, and its violator commits a major sin. When you hear these evidences, the statement the professor mentioned, that they say it is an excellence, becomes scattered dust. And a fortiori, the other statement I mentioned, that they say it is the same whether you shave or grow it. First of all, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is a hadith. A second hadith: a man came to the Messenger from the side of Kisra, clean-shaven. He said to him: . He said: "My Lord." Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And in a narration: . He said: "My Lord." He said: . And he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: . So the intention was to oppose the disbelievers only, as a general method, a general principle, a prescribed matter in Islam. And I give you a simple example that some may deny. You may see some of us wearing a watch on the right hand, not the left. Is it fard? No. Is it sunnah? No, because there was no watch in the time of the Messenger for us to say it is sunnah. So, opposing the disbelievers: the disbelievers invented it, created it, refined it, and made it this size and this ease of use, and placed it on their left hands. So, applying this hadith: , meaning the Jew and the Christian grow old as the Muslim grows old, it is the Sunnah of Allah in His creation: . So the Muslim shares with the disbeliever in gray hair, and he did not do that; this is the creation of Allah. Yet Allah, through His Prophet, says to this Muslim: Oppose the Jews and Christians. Dye your gray hair so that you are distinguished by your dye from these disbelievers. What about another dye that Allah dyed you with and dyed every man in the world, which is a creation for him, the beard? The disbeliever comes and opposes the will of Allah and shaves his beard. Then you come and imitate him and agree with him, opposing the command of the Messenger on one hand, and agreeing with the Jews, Christians, and Magi on the other. He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: . He mentioned trimming the mustache in it. In another hadith: , he added growing the beard to trimming the mustache. So this hadith gives us a new ruling that invalidates the statement of those people who say this was a custom in the pre-Islamic age and the Messenger approved it, and it is sufficient if you do it, and if you wish, leave it. We say: No. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that growing the beard is from the fitrah, which he described in the Noble Qur'an: . Have you seen if a man opposed the fitrah in the five things? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . What do you say about a person to whom Allah created a beard and he throws it away? To whom He created a mustache and he throws it away? To whom He created nails and commanded him to trim them, but he does not trim them, opposing the fitrah? To whom He created pubic hair and he leaves it as it is, and it is a substitute for the beard that grows from above, so it grows for him from below? What do you say about a person who opposes the fitrah of Allah in these characteristics? Is this a human or a wild animal? His nails are like those of a predator, his armpits are like two other beards that he does not pluck, and there is another beard between his thighs. This is opposing the fitrah, meaning opposing the fitrah of Allah, which in modern expression today means opposing humanity. This is a wild beast. It is not fitting for him to live among people. And without a doubt, every one of these acts has its weight. For example, the one who plucks his armpit preserves the fitrah. The one who shaves his pubic hair preserves the fitrah. The one who trims his mustache preserves the fitrah. The one who shaves his beard opposes the fitrah. So this fitrah must not be changed. Why do Muslims change it like this? The custom of the disbelievers is like this, and the disbelievers adorn themselves like this. We have forgotten the Shari'ah of Allah in all these texts and started to say that there is nothing wrong with this reality. This is a sad reality. It used to be, and now it has become a custom, so if you wish, do it, and if you wish, leave it. Although I know that some people draw near to Allah by shaving beards. You do not know this, and I will inform you of it, and you will agree with me. How is that? What does the one afflicted with shaving his beard do on Friday? What does he do on the festival? What does he do on the day he marries his wife? Does he not hasten to shave his beard on Friday, and shave it on the festival, and when he wants to meet people, he greets them with his face showing like the face of one of the most beautiful girls? All of this is changing the creation of Allah, changing the worship that Allah prescribed, just as some other people do. I do not know if this custom is with you or not; I saw the opposite recently with us in Syria. When a person dies in a house, and all of them shave their beards, they grow them, they leave them. What does this mean? This is sad. Yes, the sunnah has become a sign like sadness. Rather, it has become an obligation that the Muslim should preserve, and he does not do it unless he is struck by a calamity. This exists with you.

The questioner : It exists. Similar to it. We do not know if you took it from us or...

The Shaykh : The sweetest of the two is bitter, but I saw, just two or three days ago, that we prayed over a funeral. I saw the bereaved man had shaved his head and was clean-shaven, I swear by Allah. Then the condolers came and kissed him three times. I realized the secret behind that: they wanted to kiss the hair, but nature rejects it; it does not settle well. Therefore, it must be clean-shaven. I saw this just two days ago. All of this is a cause, or its cause is deviation from the Sunnah, sometimes in knowledge and sometimes in practice. It is not that they do not know; you see people today, their wives and daughters are displaying their adornment. Does any Muslim say it is permissible for a woman to go out uncovered and exposed? No, they all know that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: Most women today do not wear the jilbab. Is that ignorance of the Shari'ah? No, but it is negligence in applying the Shari'ah. When we go to visit graves, we do not see a grave raised according to the Sunnah, with the grave level with the ground, and so on. Instead, it is built up, with a niche, surrounded by iron, and so forth. There are mosques built over graves, and Allah has cursed those who take mosques over graves. This is a known Shari'ah, but it has been abandoned and left, becoming a forgotten thing, for two reasons we mentioned earlier. The first is the silence of the scholars and their shortcoming in fulfilling the obligation of teaching and reminding. The second reason is following desires and whims, and imitating the disbelievers who enslaved us in our own lands. So we ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to teach us the Sunnah of our Prophet first, and to inspire us to act upon it second. Now, bring the question you have left, if there is still room for a question.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, if we want to say, "We are not keeping you waiting," you have kept us waiting, that is enough. (Everyone laughs) And so it was said, and we move on. Please, go ahead.