What is the limit for letting the beard grow?

The questioner : I would like clarification from our Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good. Some of the brothers asked about shortening the beard. I let it grow, but I shorten it. To what extent, for example, should one leave it? Some people shorten it, for instance. Please clarify the matter of shortening for us?

The Shaykh : You mean it is not about shortening the beard of the father, but rather it is a general question, is that what you want?

The questioner : Yes, yes, it is not about the father.

The Shaykh : Since this is a new question and it has been raised, we must answer it. We say: Shortening the beard has limits, and we can take this limit from one of the narrators of the hadith mentioned earlier . One of its narrators, from among his Companions (peace be upon him), was 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. He used to take what was below the handful; he would grasp his beard, and whatever exceeded that, he would cut. As for cutting from above that, he might do so, as we read in the biography of one of the narrators of the hadith, who said, "I memorized something that no one else memorized, and I forgot something that no one else forgot." They asked him, "What was it?" He said, "I memorized the entire Qur'an. I cannot say now whether it was in one night or a few nights; the matter was extraordinary in any case." They asked him, "What did you forget?" He said, "I stood in front of the mirror to take what was below the handful, but I took what was above it... So, it is only permissible to take what is below the handful. This is a dispensation that came from this noble Companion, and we do not know of anyone who contradicted him."