Is it permissible to remove the hair on the cheeks, and what is the ruling on trimming the beard (the issue of the permissibility of trimming the beard beyond a fistful)

The Shaykh : As for taking from the beard on the face, it is not permissible, because the hair that grows on the cheeks is part of the beard. As for taking the hair that grows on the neck, it is permissible, because it is not part of the beard. As for taking from the beard itself, there is a detail: what exceeds a fistful is permissible, and otherwise, it is not.

The questioner : Is this general, meaning as a general ruling?

The Shaykh : I do not think it is anything other than this.

The questioner : Or is it specific to Ibn 'Umar?

The Shaykh : I am speaking about Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) now. This ruling is not specific to Ibn 'Umar, and Ibn 'Umar does not stand out among the Muslims with a ruling that the Lord of the Worlds has made specific to him.

The questioner : This is his action...

The Shaykh : Yes, but it cannot be said that this ruling is specific to him. Do you have a question related to what he used to do? No problem, it is possible. But to say that it is specific to Ibn 'Umar, no. First, this was not established from Ibn 'Umar alone, but it was also established from Abu Hurayrah, and from more than one of the Tabi'un. In fact, one of them, Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Nakha'i, said: "They used to take from their beards." When a Tabi'i speaks in the plural "they," who does he mean? The Companions. So, we have many texts indicating that taking from the beard was not something Ibn 'Umar did alone without the Companions. And what you may hear from some Saudi shaykhs that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take from his beard is a statement that has absolutely no basis. Rather, one of them said it, and then he said, "Give me your hand and walk," and the people were oblivious and walking along. There is no hadith, not even a fabricated hadith, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take from his beard. Rather, this kind of statement comes from a wrong understanding, and then this understanding becomes a statement, and then this statement becomes a narration. And the people, as the Exalted said: They are in heedlessness, unaware. The original subject is the well-known hadith: "Let your beards grow." This is an absolute text. We return to the issue of the fistful. Do you see this? This is a very, very, very important rule. This is an absolute text. The rule is: every absolute text, or every general text, should remain in its generality or absoluteness unless something comes that specifies it if it is general, or restricts it if it is absolute. Some shaykhs, especially the later ones, looked and did not find a text that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from his beard. And I say with them the same thing, but I add to them what follows.