What is the ruling on growing the beard longer than a fist's length?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : In the following manner: I believe and issue a fatwa that growing the beard longer than a fist's length is contrary to the Sunnah. This is one clear point, yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : All right, the other point: whoever knows this Sunnah and it becomes clear to him, yet he opposes it, has committed a religious innovation. As for the word "open sinner," it did not come out, and it will not come out.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is not only the action of Ibn 'Umar, but rather there is a return to a very important rule, which is actually adopted in many branches by those who are with us on the Salafi methodology, those who are with us on the Salafi methodology, but some branches are absent from them because they are not accustomed to applying the methodology and the rule, which is: "Every general text, naturally, the jurists know that it contains many parts, and one of these parts we know by one means or another that it was not acted upon, so acting upon it is a religious innovation."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It naturally contains parts.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, and it has been established for us by one means or another that a part of the parts of the general text was not acted upon by the Salaf, so our acting upon it is a religious innovation, a religious innovation.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is so; what we are in is the example now. We have a general text: So do you see whether the practice was to grow the beard however long it gets, even if Allah blesses it and drags it on the ground?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Of course, this is from the category of exaggeration for the sake of alerting and making clear. And here I mention: many of our brother scholars, those who are with us on the methodology, say that no one of the Salaf used to take from their beards. And this claim, although it is refuted, they do not have evidence for it. And some of them say that the Messenger of Allah did not take from his beard, and this claim is attached to the previous one, because there is absolutely no indication that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take from it. Rather, there is a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi; if it were permissible for us to conceal knowledge, we would say: al-Tirmidhi narrated with his chain: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from his beard," "he used to take from the length and width of his beard." But it is not permissible for us to argue with this hadith because it is from the share of "my chains of weak and fabricated hadiths."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, but we say that since it was not transmitted from any of the Salaf that he used to grow his beard beyond a fist's length, rather it was transmitted from more than one person, that is, from other than Ibn 'Umar as well, that he used to take what exceeded a fist's length; so taking from the excess is established by authentic means, and growing this excess has absolutely no text for it, and growing with the excess has absolutely no text for it. Rather, the text in al-Tirmidhi is to the opposite, but we do not argue with it. This is what we say specifically regarding this issue.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, no, it is not.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The answer, my brother, is from aspects. First, what is established from Ibn 'Umar is taking from the beard in Hajj and 'Umrah, and other than Hajj and 'Umrah. And this is what al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar himself mentioned, even though we do not follow anyone in taqlid as long as we are able to do so, in his book "Fath al-Bari."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, this is one, this is one, and the other.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I told you, Ibn 'Umar and others like Abu Hurayrah.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : "Do not advise a greedy person," do not advise a greedy person, Doctor.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you for saying: "Do not advise a greedy person."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : We do not speak, we do not speak except with what is authentic. Then I mentioned, but you appear to have been busy with the conversation. I mentioned Abu Hurayrah.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, so Abu Hurayrah, it was not transmitted from him that he acted upon it in Hajj or 'Umrah, okay?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, then the group who say about letting the garment hang below the ankles and growing the beard, they do not take from it, not in Hajj and not in 'Umrah. So this must be put in your mind.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, because they say this in argument, and we say to them: suppose that the command was to do that in Hajj and 'Umrah, are you following him in it? Okay?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, then.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah that I be among the ignorant.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Wait, wait, I have not finished yet. Do you want me to be patient with you? Do you want me to be patient with you? Hehehe.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : For the speech.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, this trimming happened more than once.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I heard, Doctor, I say the trimming happened more than once for the completion of a short hadith. Ibn 'Umar is known to the scholars, and even to students of knowledge, that he was the most zealous of the Companions in following the Messenger of Allah. Do you know this fact?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Good, so this man, whose affair reached such a point without being blamed, they saw him urinating in a place, why like that? By Allah, I saw the Messenger of Allah. They saw him circling the camel in a place, why like that? Like that the Messenger of Allah did. He unbuttoned the buttons of his shirt, why like that? By Allah, like that the Messenger of Allah did. It is not conceivable for a person whose love for his Prophet and his exaggeration in following him, even in ordinary matters, is such that it is not possible for him to see the Prophet's beard longer than a fist's length and then come and oppose him. It is clear.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And finally, Ibn 'Umar is among the Companions who narrated the hadith: Yes, here a jurisprudential rule comes up, I hope you pay attention to it, and what is it that you are calculating?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, you will write it, and it is what the scholars of the Sunnah say: "The narrator is more knowledgeable about his narration than others," clear?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How do you mean? Clarify this. For example, do you know that the jurists differed on whether the command is for obligation, or for recommendation, or for suspension until the intended meaning becomes clear, and so on? The one who hears the command directly understands differently from the one who hears it from behind the wall, or like our story today, by intermediary, by chain. Because the command retains its tone, understood? All of this is with you, Doctor.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, good; and therefore this rule was both a legal and a logical one: "The narrator is more knowledgeable about his narration than others."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : All right, the other point: whoever knows this Sunnah and it becomes clear to him, yet he opposes it, has committed a religious innovation. As for the word "open sinner," it did not come out, and it will not come out.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is not only the action of Ibn 'Umar, but rather there is a return to a very important rule, which is actually adopted in many branches by those who are with us on the Salafi methodology, those who are with us on the Salafi methodology, but some branches are absent from them because they are not accustomed to applying the methodology and the rule, which is: "Every general text, naturally, the jurists know that it contains many parts, and one of these parts we know by one means or another that it was not acted upon, so acting upon it is a religious innovation."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It naturally contains parts.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, and it has been established for us by one means or another that a part of the parts of the general text was not acted upon by the Salaf, so our acting upon it is a religious innovation, a religious innovation.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is so; what we are in is the example now. We have a general text:
And let the beards grow
وأعفوا اللحىThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Of course, this is from the category of exaggeration for the sake of alerting and making clear. And here I mention: many of our brother scholars, those who are with us on the methodology, say that no one of the Salaf used to take from their beards. And this claim, although it is refuted, they do not have evidence for it. And some of them say that the Messenger of Allah did not take from his beard, and this claim is attached to the previous one, because there is absolutely no indication that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take from it. Rather, there is a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi; if it were permissible for us to conceal knowledge, we would say: al-Tirmidhi narrated with his chain: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from his beard," "he used to take from the length and width of his beard." But it is not permissible for us to argue with this hadith because it is from the share of "my chains of weak and fabricated hadiths."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, but we say that since it was not transmitted from any of the Salaf that he used to grow his beard beyond a fist's length, rather it was transmitted from more than one person, that is, from other than Ibn 'Umar as well, that he used to take what exceeded a fist's length; so taking from the excess is established by authentic means, and growing this excess has absolutely no text for it, and growing with the excess has absolutely no text for it. Rather, the text in al-Tirmidhi is to the opposite, but we do not argue with it. This is what we say specifically regarding this issue.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, no, it is not.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The answer, my brother, is from aspects. First, what is established from Ibn 'Umar is taking from the beard in Hajj and 'Umrah, and other than Hajj and 'Umrah. And this is what al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar himself mentioned, even though we do not follow anyone in taqlid as long as we are able to do so, in his book "Fath al-Bari."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, this is one, this is one, and the other.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I told you, Ibn 'Umar and others like Abu Hurayrah.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : "Do not advise a greedy person," do not advise a greedy person, Doctor.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you for saying: "Do not advise a greedy person."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : We do not speak, we do not speak except with what is authentic. Then I mentioned, but you appear to have been busy with the conversation. I mentioned Abu Hurayrah.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, so Abu Hurayrah, it was not transmitted from him that he acted upon it in Hajj or 'Umrah, okay?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, then the group who say about letting the garment hang below the ankles and growing the beard, they do not take from it, not in Hajj and not in 'Umrah. So this must be put in your mind.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, because they say this in argument, and we say to them: suppose that the command was to do that in Hajj and 'Umrah, are you following him in it? Okay?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, then.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah that I be among the ignorant.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Wait, wait, I have not finished yet. Do you want me to be patient with you? Do you want me to be patient with you? Hehehe.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : For the speech.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, this trimming happened more than once.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I heard, Doctor, I say the trimming happened more than once for the completion of a short hadith. Ibn 'Umar is known to the scholars, and even to students of knowledge, that he was the most zealous of the Companions in following the Messenger of Allah. Do you know this fact?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Good, so this man, whose affair reached such a point without being blamed, they saw him urinating in a place, why like that? By Allah, I saw the Messenger of Allah. They saw him circling the camel in a place, why like that? Like that the Messenger of Allah did. He unbuttoned the buttons of his shirt, why like that? By Allah, like that the Messenger of Allah did. It is not conceivable for a person whose love for his Prophet and his exaggeration in following him, even in ordinary matters, is such that it is not possible for him to see the Prophet's beard longer than a fist's length and then come and oppose him. It is clear.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And finally, Ibn 'Umar is among the Companions who narrated the hadith:
And be lenient with the beards
وأعفوا عن اللحىThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, you will write it, and it is what the scholars of the Sunnah say: "The narrator is more knowledgeable about his narration than others," clear?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How do you mean? Clarify this. For example, do you know that the jurists differed on whether the command is for obligation, or for recommendation, or for suspension until the intended meaning becomes clear, and so on? The one who hears the command directly understands differently from the one who hears it from behind the wall, or like our story today, by intermediary, by chain. Because the command retains its tone, understood? All of this is with you, Doctor.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, good; and therefore this rule was both a legal and a logical one: "The narrator is more knowledgeable about his narration than others."
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.