Continuation of the discussion on trimming the beard to less than a fistful.

The Shaykh : So this news reached us; it is a report from a single narrator (ahad) from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that "he used to trim from his beard what was less than a fistful." If this is the case, as an individual in that community, we know he performed this action. Do you see what the other individuals in that community were doing? Did they follow his action or did they oppose it? We must continue the research and continue with the narrations related to this detail, and I will do so, if Allah wills. But before that, I want to link this issue to the previous topic: there is a general text . Do you see, is this leaving of the beard (i'fa) absolute, with no limit, or is it not so? This undoubtedly returns to the example we discussed, where we said that if something was an apparent command and the causes for transmitting it were present, but it was not transmitted, the non-transmission in the presence of the causes for transmission indicates that this matter did not actually occur, is that not so? Now, we see that with the fewness of those who grow beards today, and with the fewness of these people, we find some of them, what Allah willed, their beards almost fill their chests. What do you think if all people were like the time of the first generation? You would hardly find a shaven man among them. There must be numerous, if not mass-transmitted (mutawatir), reports that so-and-so's beard reached here, and so-and-so's reached here. And as you told me, may Allah bless you, Abu 'Ubaydah, and I hope you will inform the others of what you read and what you told me, just for the sake of the lesson. Come, let us see.
Mashhur: The author of *Durrat al-Hijab*, in the biography of Sa'd... al-Qazwini says: "He had a long beard that dragged on the ground. When he slept, he would divide it into two parts and put each part of the beard in a bag."

The Shaykh : The point is, if leaving the beard were, as the text is absolute, also a practical reality, the reports would have continued and been abundant, and you would not find any of that at all. This is one thing. The second thing, which I think I hinted at and that I did not continue discussing, is that those who take this absolute text assume that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not trim from his beard. And it is not only him, but also the Companions who lived with him did not trim from their beards. This has no basis in history, in the biography, or in the narrated hadiths, absolutely. So this is an illusion. And finally, here is the crux of the matter, and in reality, it is exactly the opposite. I mentioned earlier the action of Ibn 'Umar, and there is an action like the action of Ibn 'Umar from Abu Hurayrah with a sound chain that "he used to trim what was less than a fistful." And there is a report from Mujahid in the Tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and there is a report from Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Nakha'i that "the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to trim from their beards." So what is transmitted is the opposite of what is assumed or what is in their minds, that the Salaf did not trim. This has no basis. And when reports, continuous and numerous, come from some of the Companions and from some of those who came after them that they used to trim from their beards what was less than a fistful, I understand at that time that this is the way of the believers. This is one point. The second point, we return to the athar of Ibn 'Umar. We should draw attention to the fact that Ibn 'Umar is one of the narrators of the hadith . Here comes a very significant jurisprudential rule, which states that the narrator is more knowledgeable than the one he narrated from, or from others. This is a true matter. Why? Because this narrator who hears his Prophet say sees what the Messenger does with his own beard: either he trims it, or he trims from it, or he leaves it as it is, in its natural state. Do you imagine, in the case of Ibn 'Umar, who is known, does a Muslim who knows the eagerness of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), even in matters where his father opposed him, imagine that? You know that he used to, for example, unbutton his garments. Why do you do this? I saw the Messenger of Allah do so. I saw him circumambulate a place. Why do you do this? I saw the Messenger take his camel and circumambulate with it... I saw the Messenger come once to a tree and urinate near it. Why? He said the Messenger did so. This noble Companion, whose concern for following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) reached this level of following, do you imagine that he would come and oppose the Messenger in what he hears from him , and sees the Messenger leaving the beard and not trimming from it, and then he comes and trims from it? This is the furthest thing that could be. So when this observation is added to his action, and the action of his companion Abu Hurayrah is added to his action, and the fact that some of the Salaf, among whom are those who transmitted from the Companions before them that they used to trim, the matter does not accept any debate at all. And therefore, I state explicitly that lengthening the beard, and so on, is isbal, meaning unlawful lengthening, and it also falls into another category: showing off (shuhrah), unlike what the Salaf were upon. And in conclusion, I say . This methodology is a very, very, very important matter in that we understand the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and apply them correctly, otherwise we will deviate to the right and to the left. What is this methodology? That we understand the texts as they were applied. We do not come with a new understanding for which we have no trace of knowledge that those who preceded us applied it as we understood it. This is what I have as an answer to that. Now, we would like to hear from our brother Zayd, or Abu Zayd, Abu 'Abd Allah Zayd.