Advice from the Shaykh to one who shaves his beard to let it grow.
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The Shaykh : Allah the Exalted said: [Saba 34:13] As long as your Lord has blessed you and your wife with a righteous daughter, if Allah wills, and you have protected yourself through her and she has protected herself through you, this requires gratitude from you to your Lord. It appears that a group of people heard from you a promise, or something like a promise, that you would let your beard grow, which you used to throw on the ground. They are waiting for you to fulfill it. Is there an obstacle in your case, I mean a reason? I believe there is an obstacle; it is not possible. I cannot imagine that you are a believing Muslim man who knows that letting the beard grow is obligatory and that shaving it makes one an open sinner, unless there is an obstacle. But this obstacle might be something that comes to your mind as a material reason. It is not necessary for the obstacle to be material; it could be a psychological obstacle. There is an obstacle from the self, and it is the self that prevents one from obeying Allah, meaning following the commands of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Otherwise, if our Lord had commanded us through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to shave our beards and we did not shave, we would say, "By Allah, it needs a movement; we need to get a razor, a sharp, keen razor, and put our chin against the chin of our beard and put our face in front of a mirror. This requires work." But the issue is the opposite. Your Lord is telling you, "Just as I created it for you, leave it." Which is easier: this reality, or that image we described? This is easier. Why do we make the easy difficult and the difficult easy? There must be something, but the thing does not necessarily have to be material, as we said; it is psychological. Do not say there is nothing, because you would be being arrogant, for there is no effect without a cause, especially if the effect is what? If the effect is contrary to the Shari'ah, then it is...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... it is sufficient ... .
The questioner : He will not bear ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, did I tell him there is a reason? He said there is no reason. I told him it is not reasonable; there must be a reason. But I am interpreting his words now. I will tell him that perhaps he understood that there is a material reason, meaning that he is an employee, for example, and his boss, etc. But no, there is a psychological reason; there is a psychological reason.
The questioner : ... Abu 'Abdullah wants to bear ... .
Another questioner : Yes ... his eye
The Shaykh : O my master, we want ... .
Work, O family of David, in gratitude.
اعملوا آل داود شكراThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... it is sufficient ... .
The questioner : He will not bear ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, did I tell him there is a reason? He said there is no reason. I told him it is not reasonable; there must be a reason. But I am interpreting his words now. I will tell him that perhaps he understood that there is a material reason, meaning that he is an employee, for example, and his boss, etc. But no, there is a psychological reason; there is a psychological reason.
The questioner : ... Abu 'Abdullah wants to bear ... .
Another questioner : Yes ... his eye
The Shaykh : O my master, we want ... .