Leaving the beard, and the innovation of what exceeds a handful of it.

The Shaykh : I will say that the religious innovation we wish to illustrate with this is not something we need to look for among what is well known, but we want to mention now, as they say in this age, to put the dots on the letters. We had drawn attention to the fact that some scholars who follow the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are the ones who fall into this deviation. However, I want to draw attention to the path by which one of us can rely when we say that this part of the general text has not been acted upon. What is the path? The people of innovation have accustomed us to the fact that when we deny an innovation to them, we do not doubt, but we are certain that it is an innovation, they say, "Do you have a hadith forbidding that?" We are not in need of denying every innovation with a specific text; rather, we are content with two things. The first is the generality we mentioned earlier in some authentic hadiths. But the reality is that arguing with this generality carries the fear that it may include what we have included in other generalities. Therefore, we must combine this with the criterion to know that this part has not been acted upon. What is the criterion? There is no doubt that there are some matters transmitted to us that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or those after him did not do so. But this is very rare in reality. Do you remember, for example, in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Jabir, as I recall, that he said that there was no adhan for the two Eid prayers in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor congregational prayer, or something similar? This is a negation of what is the case today in some countries, where Muslims gather in the mosque or in the prayer hall that has been revived in some Islamic countries, and praise be to Allah, they are gathered. So the prayer is not established while they are gathered unless one of them says, "The prayer is congregational" or something similar, even though this has been explicitly stated in the authentic hadith that it was not the case in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So such explicit negation of an innovation that contradicts the Sunnah is very rare in reality. So what is the path to know that this part of any general text we claim is an innovation, despite being within the general text? It is what is known or called by the scholars as induction (istiqra'). And this induction is undoubtedly something that cannot be accomplished or identified by anyone but the people of the Sunnah, rather the people of hadith who study hadith and whose constant habit, day and night, is research in the books of the Sunnah. These people are able, due to their study of the Sunnah in its three categories—verbal, practical, and tacit approval—to say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not do such and such. And they cannot say that it was reported, nor even that it is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not do this. But we know that from our tracking of the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and the presence of indications there. When these indications speak about a certain worship, and then we do not find in all these indications anything that suggests that this part, which is covered by the general text, was associated with it. For example, regarding the generality of his saying (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) , many hadiths have come speaking about the characteristics of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), his description, and his character, and so on. Among that is that he used to trim his mustache, as Ibrahim (peace be upon him) used to do. And these reports do not address at all that his beard (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) was long or short. We mention what is ours and what is not ours; these reports do not speak of anything of this. But we say that the fact that a man has a short beard is predominant in some Arab countries and hot countries, and the opposite is exactly as observed regarding some other cold countries, where the predominance is of a large, thick, and long beard. So a short beard is something that does not draw attention, unlike a long beard, especially if its length means an excessive length that draws attention. Our discussion has reached mentioning the criterion to know that the Salaf did not act upon a part of a general text. We said there may be a narration that alerts us that that part was not acted upon, and we gave an example of this with the hadith of Jabir in Sahih Muslim that there was no adhan for the Eid prayer in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), nor congregational prayer, nor anything of that sort. Such an alerting negation of something that people have innovated—such a text is rare in its existence. Given the multitude of innovations that have spread and overflowed, how can we know that a part of the parts of the general text has not been acted upon? We mentioned that this can only be known by the people of hadith who have spent their lives getting to know what the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) was upon in his life. And I say now, in another expression, we benefited this from the words of the Imam, truly Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, when he was asked: Is it possible to know a fabricated hadith without referring to the chain of narration? He answered in the affirmative, but his answer is almost theoretical and not practical, except for some people, and this is very, very few. He said, "Yes, the one in whom the Prophetic hadith flows in his veins like blood, and who has a taste for knowing the speech of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), this one can know whether a hadith is fabricated or not without returning to the chain of narration." There is no doubt that those who live their lives day and night with the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) become possessed of knowledge in addition to the knowledge of the chain of narration. They become possessed of knowledge in addition to the knowledge of the chain of narration. And let us express it as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed it in the hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim . And as it came in Sahih al-Bukhari from the hadith of Abu Juhayfah al-Sa'idi, that he asked Ali ibn Abi Talib: "Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) give you, O people of the House, something of knowledge that the people did not?" He said, "No, except what is in the sheath of my sword." And he brought out the hadith of the virtue of Medina , and so on, and except the blood money and wounds. Then he said, and here is the point, "And except understanding which Allah grants to a servant in his book." This understanding is capable of rising and falling. So whenever the Muslim deepens his study of the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), which explains the Noble Qur'an, he rises. And whenever he distances himself from it, he falls. This first one is the one who is able to say that this matter, despite being within the generality of the text, was not acted upon by the Salaf. This is the criterion. So when we come to the previous example, we do not find at all, neither among the Companions, nor the Tabi'un, nor the Imams of independent legal reasoning, anyone who explicitly states that the beard of anyone from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) down to the present was long, meaning that they worship Allah the Exalted by leaving it in its natural state and its length. On the contrary, we find the explicit statement from some of the famous Companions that they used to take what exceeded a handful. And we find the Imam of the Sunnah, Imam Ahmad, also saying that and doing that. And we find the Hanafi school, in particular, explicitly stating that. And so, when we study this history laden with good, and we do not find anyone saying that the beard of such and such a Companion exceeded a handful, we do not find either except some generalities that are not a text regarding what we are currently discussing.