What is the ruling on shaving the beard: all of it or part of it?

The questioner : The other question is: What is the ruling on shaving the beard, or taking from it, or trimming it, meaning shaving part of it? And what is established from the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The Shaykh : (peace and blessings be upon him). Well, I am afraid the ground is inhabited!

The questioner : Rely on Allah, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Let’s go... Say it clearly and don’t worry, we rely on Allah!

The questioner : O Allah, make us among those who rely on You.

The Shaykh : O Allah, amen. The truth is that shaving the beard is one of the serious calamities that has spread throughout the Muslim lands. It is similar to the calamity of smoking, because both of these matters are forbidden. The question now is about shaving the beard. Shaving the beard involves several violations. If it had only one violation, that would have been sufficient to be a decisive proof that shaving the beard is forbidden and that the testimony of the one who shaves his beard is not accepted in Islam. Today, among the Muslims, it is naturally accepted, but according to the Islamic Shari'ah, it is not accepted. This is because shaving the beard is open sinfulness, and open sinfulness, as you know, is exiting from obedience. What greater exit is there than contradicting the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), let alone his action? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lived his entire life without messing with his beard, and may he be far from that, as people do today, throwing it to the ground. Rather, they adorn themselves with the disobedience of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This reality is among the greatest of major sins. On Friday, he attends the prayer and adorns himself with the disobedience of Allah. On the festival, it is not possible for the one who has shaved to have his beard started to grow for two or three days without him adorning himself by shaving it. This is a very great calamity. If there were nothing but the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him), let alone his action which I referred to earlier, his saying: , we have contradicted the authentic hadith in both its ends. He commanded us to let the beard grow, so we destroyed it. He commanded us to differ from the Jews and the Christians, so we imitated them and resembled them. If there were nothing but this, it would be sufficient. What about the fact that you have ? If not for the custom, and custom is a law among the ignorant, and they saw a woman who took a borrowed beard, they judged her as contradicting the Shari'ah because she resembled the men. But when men shave it, although Allah grew it on their faces against their wills, and there is nothing in it, why? Because they took it from the colonizers who occupied our lands and stamped us with their stamp, so it became a familiar custom for us, heedless of the disobedience of Allah. In the first hadith, in the second hadith, which is in al-Bukhari , in the third hadith , a woman has hairs on her cheeks that she plucks! The Messenger cursed her. Why? Because she plucks them for beauty and adornment. What about the men! They throw the entire beard to the ground. There is no doubt that these people do so for adornment, as evidenced by the fact that every day, or two days, according to their misguidance and adornment, they stand in front of the mirror and shave their beard, adorning themselves with it, especially on Friday, the weekly festival, and the festivals of Fitr and Adha, and so on. Finally, the noble verse comes to you. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) narrated in the noble Qur'an that when Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) expelled the accursed Shaytan from His mercy until the Day of Judgment, He took revenge for Himself from His enemy, mankind, and He said: . So, these people who are afflicted with shaving the beard are truly following Shaytan and disobeying the Most Merciful. . As for what is permissible to take from the beard and what is not permissible, the beard must be left in its natural state and in the creation that Allah created it with, except if it becomes long and exceeds the fist. The fist from here, from the chin, is taken like this; what exceeds is cut. As for taking more than what is below the fist, this is close to what was mentioned before, because it is a change without permission from the Wise Lawgiver. And this adornment that many of our young people are upon, who do not fall into the previous violation, meaning they do not shave, they let it grow, but some of the letting grow. The truth is that the complete letting grow prescribed in the Sunnah is not from the way of the righteous Salaf. Lengthening the beard no matter how long it is is a common misconception in some Muslim lands, and this is an error that opposes the error of shaving which is widespread in most Muslim lands. The truth is between this and that: letting the beard grow and leaving it to lengthen, except what exceeds the fist, then that is taken. This is what was established practically from the righteous Salaf, at the head of whom is the most devoted of the Companions to the Messenger (peace be upon him), namely Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab. Then it was confirmed from Abu Hurayrah, and then it was confirmed from a group of the Companions, as Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Nakha'i says. And it was confirmed from Mujahid ibn Jabr the Makkian, and so on. So it is obligatory for us to let it grow, and it is not permissible for us to lengthen it more than the fist! It has become ten minutes, Professor!