Continuation of the answer to the previous question (the issue of taking from the beard beyond a fistful)

The Shaykh : Yes, my friend, the example I gave is what substantiates my earlier statement, and that I was precise when I said that one who knows that a hadith is authentic and knows its meaning in the correct way, yet denies it, is misguided, whether he is attributed to the people of hadith or to such-and-such a school of jurisprudence. But now it appears that you, the person whom Allah inspired with this question, have fallen short in one of the two conditions mentioned earlier. I said if the hadith is authentic and its understanding is correct, then he is misguided. But if the hadith is authentic and he erred in understanding it, we do not say he is misguided; he understood the correct understanding of the hadith. But if the hadith is weak, we do not attribute him to misguidance either, but we teach him. And this is what we say to our new friend: learn. Is taking from the beard permissible or not? Sometimes it is permissible and sometimes it is not. If it exceeds a fistful, this cutting is permissible. But if it does not exceed one finger or two fingers, he takes from it; this is not permissible. So there is a limit at which a person stops in lengthening his beard, not exceeding a fistful, because this is contrary to what the righteous Salaf were upon. Likewise, he does not take more than what is less than a fistful so that it appears above this; that is not permissible. But we know that many scholars in Saudi Arabia and in Pakistan do not take anything from their beards at all. We do not declare them misguided because they acted upon the generality of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: But they erred regarding the practice of the Salaf. For that reason, we adhere to the methodology of the Salaf. We do not say just the Book and the Sunnah, but the Book and the Sunnah as it was upon the Salaf. Because if we do not take this last condition of the methodology of the Salaf, we will be misguided in a far misguidance and we will follow our own heads in our understanding of the verses of our Lord and the hadiths of our Prophet, and that may lead us to fall into what the Qadiyyah fell into. And so Allah the Exalted said in the Noble Qur'an: So our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, said: He connected this phrase with another phrase, saying: What is the benefit of this phrase? I wonder, if the verse were without this phrase, namely "and whoever opposes the Messenger after the guidance has become clear to him, and turns away from the path of the believers, We will turn him to what he has turned to and cast him into Hell, and evil is the destination," do you think we would have lost a meaning? The answer is yes, we would have lost a very important meaning that many Islamic preachers today overlook, let alone the ignorant Muslims. What is this loss? Our Lord tells us: "and whoever opposes the Messenger and contradicts the path of the believing Muslims in their application of what came to them from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), We will turn him to what he has turned to and cast him into Hell, and evil is the destination." And this phrase from the verse, "and turns away from the path of the believers," meets with the hadith of the sects: He did not say only "what I am upon," but he connected it and said "and my Companions." Why? Because they are the ones who first transmitted the wording of the Qur'an and the wording of the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and secondly, they are the ones who transmitted to us the application of these words and their interpretation in the correct way. But if a person comes today and turns away from everything that came to us from the Salaf and follows his own head, he will come to you with strange meanings that do not cross the mind. And this is what happened with the Qadiyyah in many examples. I mentioned to you earlier their denial of the finality of prophethood. They do not deny this; rather, they affirm that there are many prophets after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and one of them came to the town of Qadian.
The Shaykh : So now, when we hear the saying of the Messenger: we must ask: Did he mean "let the beards grow" absolutely, even if his beard grew long and he dragged it on the ground? No, there are limits, may Allah have mercy on you. We return to the Salaf who saw the Messenger and witnessed him, saw the Companions and witnessed them, and so on. We find, for example, Ibn 'Umar, who, if we do not say he was the most zealous of the Companions of the Messenger in following his Sunnah, was at least among the most zealous of the Companions in following his Sunnah. He is the one who narrated, or he is among those who narrated from the Messenger, his previous saying: He used to take what exceeded a fistful. Do you think, you later people, that you are more knowledgeable about the Messenger of Allah than the one who lived with the Messenger, kept him company, and associated with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and heard from his mouth (peace and blessings be upon him) with his ear his saying: There is no doubt that he is more knowledgeable than us about what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended by this word, specifically "let the beards grow." Why? Because it is known by self-evidence and experience, the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): and his other hadith: Correct. We have the report, but we did not witness it. Ibn 'Umar has the report and he has the witnessing. So he is more understanding than us, and apply this to all issues. I remember an incident, may Allah have mercy on you, in which there is justice and a point that cools the atmosphere of the jurisprudence that they say is a bit dry; the jurisprudence becomes... Some students of knowledge there in Damascus were, at one time, from the Tahrir Party. The Tahrir Party believes in some issues contrary to the truth, among them that the command does not imply obligation, but rather a concomitant sign must accompany it. If the sign indicates that the command is for obligation, it is for obligation; for recommendation, it is for recommendation; for permissibility, it is for permissibility. So the command, as a command, does not imply anything for them. So this party member, may Allah will it, worked under the supervision of a brother from our Salafi brothers. That one was his boss, and this boss knew that the one under his supervision was a Salafi, so there was always discussion. The discussion between them reached, one day, the issue of whether the command implies obligation or not. The party member said it does not imply obligation. Our friend heard this, but he could not convey what he heard because he is not a specialist, meaning in knowledge; he is a listener. So he came to me one day, and I was in the Zahiriyyah Library. He told me this story and that his boss said, "No, the command does not imply obligation; a concomitant sign is necessary." So I knew that if we held a lecture for him, he would not be able to comprehend it, and even if he comprehended it, he would not be able to convey it in its entirety. So I saw that I should take an easy path with him. I said to him, "Who commands you? Every time you are commanded with a command..." There is a phrase we have in Damascus that says "Tannash." You don't say in your country "Tannash," do you? Do you say?

Another questioner : We say.

The Shaykh : Ah, good. "Tannash" means act as if you didn't hear. He found what exit? Indeed, an opportunity came. "Oh So-and-so, his name is Sa'id. Oh Sa'id, do such-and-such a command. Oh Sa'id, do such-and-such a command. What is wrong, are you listening?" "Listening, but the command does not imply obligation." Hahaha.

Another questioner: Hehehehe

The Shaykh : Yes, what is my intention with this example regarding a command that implies obligation and a command that truly does not imply obligation? Who determines the witness? Between one who, for example, says with enthusiasm "Do it, rise up, get up," and another who says "Get up," there is a difference, isn't there?