Was Ibn 'Umar's action in trimming what exceeded a fistful of the beard in accordance with the Sunnah, or was it his own independent reasoning? And is trimming it permissible?

The questioner : The Shaykh says: Regarding the second question.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Was Ibn 'Umar's (may Allah be pleased with him) action in trimming what exceeded a fistful from his beard in accordance with the Sunnah, or was this his specific independent reasoning? And what is the ruling on trimming what exceeds a fistful?

The Shaykh : Yes, there is no practical Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding trimming the beard or not trimming it. We have only two things: The first is his (peace and blessings be upon him) command to let the beard grow. The second is what is established from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who is one of the narrators of the hadith commanding the beard to be let grow. Ibn 'Umar's action is viewed by some scholars not as his independent reasoning, but as an application of what he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) doing. It is said that this is Ibn 'Umar's independent reasoning only if he were interpreting the hadith, meaning the hadith discusses a theoretical matter of legal rulings, not a practical matter that he saw with his own eyes throughout his life accompanying the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). To put it more clearly, 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) whenever he sat with him. He saw his beard either left in its natural state, with nothing taken from it, or he saw him taking something from it. If we assume the first case—that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not taking anything from his beard—then it would not be for Ibn 'Umar to contradict the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while seeing him (peace and blessings be upon him) with his own eyes, not through narration or transmission from others, but seeing with his own eyes that he did not take anything from it. In that case, he would have contradicted a Sunnah he witnessed with his own self.
This is the furthest thing from someone like Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who is known by all scholars to have been among the most eager—if not the most eager—of the Companions to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This was even in matters where some of them differed from him, indicating his extreme diligence in following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), even in ordinary matters, even in matters where no aspect of worship is apparent in them. It is well known that he (may Allah be pleased with him) was seen once intending to go to a place to urinate, and he was asked about that. He said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) urinating in this place." So his matter reached the point of following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) even in such an issue where it does not appear that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended that place or intended to urinate in that place deliberately, but rather it appears that it happened to him by chance. With such a person, Ibn 'Umar sought to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in such an action.
And this, as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentions, is contrary to what is known about his father 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to prohibit following the traces of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated in his Musannaf with a sound chain that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) went out in one of the years of his caliphate as a pilgrim, and he stopped at one of those stations. He saw some people taking a path and following it, so he asked: "Where are these people going?" It was said to him that they are intending places where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed. So 'Umar addressed the people and said: "O people, whoever among you catches up with prayer in any of these places, let him pray, and whoever does not, let him not follow them; for what destroyed those before you was their following the traces of their prophets." 'Umar prohibited this following, while his son 'Abdullah saw that this following is part of the Sunnah, or part of the recommended matters for which its doer is rewarded.
The point of this is that it is very, very far-fetched that Ibn 'Umar saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not taking anything from his beard at all, and then he insisted on contradicting the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in this Sunnah. Especially since there is a general text: ; so how would Ibn 'Umar contradict this general text unless he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) clarifying by his action that this generality is not intended? Therefore, with such a matter, the people of knowledge say: "The narrator is more aware of his narration than others." So Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is the one who narrated to us this hadith: ; so either this command is in its absolute and comprehensive sense, or the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) took upon himself to clarify it by his action and practice. This is what Ibn 'Umar followed. It is established from Ibn 'Umar in al-Muwatta' that he used to take from his beard what was less than a fistful, and that was not only in Hajj and 'Umrah = -- and peace be upon you -- =, but also in other times.
So in summary: We consider that the scholars who went to the position of limiting the letting of the beard grow to a fistful looked at Ibn 'Umar's action as an action that conveys to us what he witnessed the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) doing. Because we know that he was the most eager of people, or among the most eager, to follow him (peace and blessings be upon him) in his actions, it is extremely far-fetched that he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not taking from his beard, and then he contradicted him by doing the opposite.
Other than that?