Is it permissible for me to shave my beard if my mother orders me to do so?

The Shaykh : This reminds me of a story that happened to me in Sham about eleven or twelve years ago. We were, of course, giving lessons there, and young men from different nationalities and political parties, and so on, were attending. A young man, starting from the year before the question I am about to tell you about, began to frequent our lessons. After a few months, I noticed that he had grown his beard in the style of some Arab countries. The point is, I felt that this young man, despite his shortcomings, was in a better state than when he first started coming to us. Even though this is not a sunnah (recommended practice), it is better than being afflicted with shaving the beard, which is completely wrong. One day, as is usual when some young men have private questions they do not ask in public, they take advantage of my leaving and come out with me. He said, "Teacher, I want to consult you about a matter." We said to him, "Go ahead." We moved aside to the side of the mosque, and he said, "My mother comes to me and begs me to shave my beard. In my heart, I say, I wish it were a full beard. Why?" He said, "Because my father—meaning my mother's husband, the stepfather—was arrested by the intelligence services, so he is in prison. The mother says to her son, 'Your father is in prison now, that is enough for us.' He is in prison because he is a lawyer and an Islamist, and they interfere with him every time, and problems arise for him. He does not know what to do with his mother. So what is your opinion, Teacher?" I said to him, "By Allah, do not hold me to this, Shaykh. Right now, I am forced to stretch my leg because my knee is here. What do you advise me to do, shave it or not?" I said to him, "No, I cannot tell you to keep it." The point is, I said to him, "My brother, I cannot tell you not to shave it or to shave it. I have a hadith, and I am fully saturated with it. It teaches us from the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) on one hand, and teaches us how to deal with people on the other hand. A man came to Abu al-Darda, I think, and said to him, 'My father orders me to divorce my wife. Should I divorce her?' He said to him, 'I do not say divorce her, and I do not say do not divorce her. But I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Do you see how he turned it around for him? Because it occurred to him to say 'divorce,' which might lead to the ruin of his home, or 'do not divorce,' which would be another sin, what is it? Disobedience to the mother. So here, the afflicted person wants to make a calculation, weighing the options, meaning choosing the lesser evil over the greater evil; otherwise, he would put it on the neck ofThe Shaykh : No; so I said to him, in this answer, I am not telling you to shave it or not to shave it, but I want you to say to your mother the following: Tell her, 'My mother, the issue is not about the beard. My father, without a beard, was in prison before me. His father, without a beard, shaved, and the intelligence services arrested him. Did shaving the beard benefit him? Did shaving the beard benefit him? So make your mother understand that growing the beard is taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) for Allah. The one who fears his Lord will not be a cause for his imprisonment and punishment. It is your father that Allah imprisoned him. Why? Because he is a Muslim and has activities, as a lawyer, speaking against the state and against such and such. But you are still a young man in the early stages of life, so merely growing your beard will not be a cause for the intelligence services to arrest you, especially since you want to fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic). The point is that many people anticipate the results and commit forbidden acts so that they do not fall into a prohibited situation. This is not permissible in Islam at all, and this is a point that requires precision and must be considered. Go ahead.