The Shaykh's advice to young men who shave their beards and imitate women.

The Shaykh : Therefore, our advice to you is that you should care more about your own state than you care about the matter of your daughters, if that expression is correct. You must intend, from this very moment, to repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from this trial that men have fallen into: imitating the disbelievers on one hand, and imitating the girls on the other. Perhaps one day you will hear the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning, let them grow their beards and do not cut them, and leave them as Allah created them. This hadith must reach the core of your heart, the innermost part of your heart, and you must adopt it as part of the Shari'ah that you believe in and are eager to act upon. Cut the mustache from here, so that the lips are visible, but leave the beard as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created it. As we mentioned earlier, some adornment is permissible within certain limits, and by doing so, you will escape two problems. The first problem is one that currently exists in your place: you are imitating the girls. The second problem is that you are imitating the disbelievers and the wicked. The disbelievers are well known; they brought us the calamity of shaving the beard. In some Syrian countries, they shave both the beard and the mustache, just as the French who occupied Syria did, unlike the English. The English shave their beards but grow their mustaches, while the French shave both their beards and mustaches completely clean, just like girls and women. Islamic countries did not know the practice of shaving the beard before, except in one case: if they wanted to humiliate a person and mock him, they would shave his beard. Look how much the times have changed! What was considered a form of mockery in the past has become a form of adornment today. Do you see how it is? So, may Allah reward you. From now on, you intend to free yourself from violating the Shari'ah and from troubling yourself every day or two by shaving. You stand in front of the mirror, or you go to the barber, but not our friend, right? So you know that shaving the beard has a very ugly meaning. There is no doubt, O Abu Rayid, that you do not doubt, just as we do not doubt, that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as He said: correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Now, as mentioned in the Qur'an, man and woman were created, and there are clear differences between the male and the female, one of which is that the man has a beard and the woman does not. When a Muslim stands in front of the mirror, and among the supplications narrated from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he used to say: The scholars say that the inner state is more eloquent than the spoken word. It is not necessary for the man to come and say, "By Allah, my Lord, I have sinned by growing a beard." No one says that; that would be explicit disbelief. But since the inner state is more eloquent than the spoken word, the Muslim must then free himself from this ugly calamity. Instead of saying, "My Lord, as You have made my creation good, make my character good," you created me with a beard, and here I am, going to throw it on the ground and trample it with my foot. This is one of the ugliest things that Muslims have been afflicted with. Therefore, if Allah wills, in the session we invited you to earlier, there are some other people who have questions, and we will gather with you and them, and you will be their imam in that you have grown your beard in front of them, if Allah wills—may Allah preserve you—at eleven fifteen.