The harms of participating in parliaments, including shaving the beard.

The Shaykh : We return to the previous question, which is a trial that many who are committed to the Sunnah face. In fact, those who are committed to the Sunnah, and indeed to the obligatory in this time, are few, especially among those who seek to establish the Muslim state by entering parliaments. Most of them are found to be like the Christians, with shaved beards. And whoever among them has a beard according to the Sunnah, meaning a fistful, is forced to trim it and take from it, and take from it until it is in the style of the majority of Syrians, "the best of beards is a sign." This is all conforming to the atmosphere they belong to, with the intention of establishing the Muslim state. So many Muslims, or most Muslims today, do not grow beards, influenced by Western culture and the disbelieving Western customs. Few of them apply his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: meaning they do not shave them. But these who do not shave their beards are two groups at opposite extremes, as we mentioned earlier regarding some of the categories previously mentioned. One group lets them grow completely, no matter how long, even if it drags on the ground, claiming that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: as an absolute text. And others, who are the majority of those who escaped the calamity of shaving, escaped the calamity of shaving but want to conform and approximate in the society in which they live.
We see in some parties, and I am not in need now to name them, that you do not find in them a legal beard. You find in them men with beards, but either in the style of the majority of Syrians or slightly better, but they do not make their beard according to the Sunnah, which is the fistful, as will be explained later, so that it is not said that this is one of the extremists, or as they call it today, one of the fundamentalists. This is a new name. Who invented it? The disbelievers, so that they mislead all people, both Muslims and disbelievers.
The Muslim who wants to realize in himself the saying of his Lord: does not deal with this example with half-measures. He knows, for example, that the righteous predecessors who saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with their own eyes and spent much time with him, and much in his gatherings, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take a beard of the length of half an inch or six inches or two inches. Rather, his beard was dignified. And the specification of this was by the practice of the righteous predecessors, Ibn 'Umar, Abu Hurayrah, 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah, and the like of these predecessors.
So the Muslim is the one who surrenders the leadership of his mind, his thinking, his emotions, and his desires, in general, to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. But this surrender, and here is a very important matter, even though it was previously explained in the issue of purification and upbringing, this surrender is only accompanied by knowledge. And what knowledge? The correct knowledge derived from the Book and the Sunnah. How do we know how the predecessors were? Did they let their beards grow no matter how long? Even if it dragged on the ground? We have seen pictures of beards longer than their owner. Have you seen this? You have not seen this. This is one of the wonders of Allah's creation, the beard longer than its owner. Why? Because the length of the head is what, twenty inches? Five, twenty inches, and he drags his beard tens of inches on the ground, so his beard is longer than his stature. This, of course, is not a Muslim, but he did this for the sake of gaining material wealth. Wonders of creatures. Have you not heard of this today? Some Europeans who know how to eat the shoulder and how to collect money bring a very strange creature, whether it is a human or an animal. They bring a dwarf and display him, and they open a venue for viewing this strange creature for what? An entry fee of so many dinars or dirhams or the like.
So this is a man who lengthened his beard until it exceeded his stature. You see, this is the intended meaning of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying.

The questioner : Peace be upon you

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
You see, this is the intended meaning of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: meaning from two aspects, the negative and the positive. Is the intended meaning to let it grow so that its owner drags it on the ground, or is the intended meaning to let it grow as he pleases? Neither this nor that. So it is not permissible to let it grow absolutely such that it fills his chest and belly and may drag it on the ground as we mentioned earlier. Nor is it letting it grow to the extent that pleases the Muslim man. No, neither this nor that, but rather they surrender in surrender.
You see now in some Islamic countries that the beard has become a stamp, a stamp at the bottom of the chin, and it has become a symbol for a group of Arabs or for a people among the Arab peoples. This is not a beard, my brothers. It is all shaved like this, and only a black stamp remains here. This is not the intended meaning of letting the beard grow. Then whatever pictures you want, it goes up, etc. The standard became half an inch or an inch. The important thing is that it is not permissible for the Muslim to follow his desire, but rather he surrenders to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So it is necessary for us to know how the beard of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was? Did he let it grow with absolute freedom?
Or did he take from it? We do not know.
If we stop at the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and do not take the intermediaries who saw the Messenger as a way to know what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was like, we do not know whether he took from it or not. But is this negative position the one that the Muslim should take to know this truth, or does he seek help in knowing it from those who lived with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for a long time? This is the way.
So now the question has come, and it is known from its asker that Ibn 'Umar used to take from his beard. So does Ibn 'Umar take from his beard absolutely? The answer is no. He used to take what was less than a fistful. What grew beyond the fistful, he cut it.
You see, Ibn 'Umar, who is cited as an example in his exaggeration in following his Prophet, Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Do you think he would take from his beard without seeing his Prophet, his role model, and his example doing that? This is impossible. It is possible for one of us who has a respected shaykh who is lenient that he does not imitate him in that, because he is not infallible. But the infallible Prophet lives with his Companions who were willing to sacrifice everything precious they had for him, especially Ibn 'Umar, about whom strange narrations have come. Sometimes he sees his shirt in the cold winter with the buttons undone. Why are you like this, O Ibn 'Umar? I saw the Messenger of Allah like this.
He comes to a tree and pours water in it. Why? I saw the Messenger of Allah pour water in it. He takes his camel and circles with it in a place. Why? He said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Glory be to Allah. These are actions that fall under the category of habits. When we studied there on the roof, these have no relation to worship. But due to the prevalence of his love for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he followed him even in matters of habits. Similarly, for example, Anas ibn Malik says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was invited to food from a gourd. Do you know what a gourd is?

The questioner : The gourd.

The Shaykh : Ah, the melon is good. He said, "I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) picking out the melons." By this, he means that this watermelon contained melons, and perhaps some meat, or maybe other greens that are not mentioned. But his statement that he saw him picking out the melons means there was something else in it. He said, "So when I saw him picking out the melons, I began to gather the melons and place them in front of the Messenger (peace be upon him)." This is part of the honor this noble Companion showed to his noble Prophet. What did Anas say? He said, "So I have loved melons ever since the day I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) love melons." Do you see? If the Companions were like this, and we find that Ibn 'Umar would take from his beard, and let us suppose that his Prophet did not take from his beard—it is impossible for this to happen. Then we say, "No, it is not impossible; he is not infallible; he is a human being who makes mistakes and hits the mark." Well, this is a possibility, and even if it is a very weak possibility in my criticism and opinion, he is not alone in this regard. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) also used to take from his beard. And these are authentic reports. But before I proceed, what is narrated about Ibn 'Umar is reported in two ways. The first way is that he used to take from his beard during Hajj and 'Umrah. This is correct, but it does not mean that just as one of us who performs Hajj or 'Umrah shaves his head, this does not mean he never shaves his head at all, or that he shortens his hair, this does not mean he never shortens his hair at all. But this is considered one of the rites, so any pilgrim maintains either the shaving, which is better, or the shortening, which is permissible but less preferred. So the report that says Ibn 'Umar, when he performed Hajj or 'Umrah, does not mean that when he did not perform Hajj or 'Umrah, he did not take from it. And the evidence is that another authentic report came from him that he used to take what was less than a handful's worth, absolutely. So the report that mentions Hajj and 'Umrah is an explanation, as al-Shawkani says in some matters other than this, that this is part of that. Because taking from it on the occasion of Hajj and 'Umrah is part of taking from it, as we said, from our hair, whether in the season of Hajj or not. Then comes after this clarification the generality from Abu Hurayrah, not the restriction to Hajj and 'Umrah. Then comes from some of the Salaf, and this is mentioned in the Tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, that they used to take from their beards. Indeed, Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi narrates in his book *Shu'ab al-Iman*, and I saw it in the book in manuscript form, and now it has been printed, praise be to Allah. He narrates with his sound chain from Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Nakha'i, who is a Tabi'i, saying, "They used to take from their beards." And the strange thing is that we do not see the opposite of all these reports from any of the Companions that he used not to take from his beard. We do not find this at all. So the best of things is the middle, and the love of extremes is wrong. We do not say that it is obligatory to let the beard grow to its full length, no matter how much Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has blessed it, or that we take from it as we please. Because the intention is to realize His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: This is the answer to that question, knowing that a response like this has been recorded recently, but I think, as some of our companions say, that no matter how often the question is repeated and the answer is repeated, there must be some new benefit.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.