Ruling on growing the beard and letting it hang down?

He says: I hope to present this question to the scholars, and it is: What is the opinion of the honorable Shaykh regarding a preacher who preaches and elaborates in his advice, and he touched upon the topic of growing the beard, until he reached the point of saying: "The one who shaves his beard, his wife is divorced from him," and he justified this by saying that he is a *diyuth* (one who tolerates immorality in his household) and effeminate, to the extent that he said many things about him. He says that he relies on or cites the hadith: , , whereas the reality is that the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Hindus are the ones who grow their hair, especially beards and mustaches. What is your opinion on that?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his companions, and whoever follows his guidance.
As for what follows:
There is no doubt that growing the beards and letting them hang down is what Allah has prescribed for His servants, and what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded. So it is obligatory for the Muslim to let it grow and let it hang down, and not to touch it with anything, neither shaving nor cutting; for it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , and it is agreed upon that it is authentic. And for his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , and in another wording: . This is what is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him), and this indicates the obligation of letting it grow and hang down; because the command is for obligation, and this is the original rule. So the Muslim must let it hang down, let it grow, and keep it full, and not touch it with cutting or shaving.
As for this mufti, or this reciter, or this preacher who said: "The one who cuts it, his wife is divorced from him," and that he is such and such, and such and such, this is an error, and his words are not correct. It should be known, and he should be guided and informed that he has erred in this regard. Shaving it or cutting it is not apostasy from Islam such that his wife is divorced from him. No. Rather, it is one of the sins. So his wife is not divorced, and he is not called a *diyuth*, and it is not permissible to say this about the one who shaves the beard or cuts it. But it is said: He opposed the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he disobeyed the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so he is of the same kind as the other sins from which he is forbidden and warned. But it is not said about it: He is a *diyuth*, and it is not said about it: His wife is divorced. The *diyuth* is the one who is pleased with immorality in his household, this is the *diyuth*, the one who is pleased that his wife commits immorality, this is the *diyuth*.
So the result is that this speech which the preacher said is erroneous speech, and he erred and was ignorant. So it is obligatory that he be informed and guided, and warned against exaggeration in speech and taking risks in speech without evidence. And the speech of the people of knowledge in that is that it is not permissible, and that it is a sin, and that it is obligatory for the Muslim to honor the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and take it and comply with it, and that is by letting his beard hang down and keeping it full.
As for the fact that some of the disbelievers, from the Jews or Christians or Hindus or others, lengthen them and let them hang down, this does not harm us. If they agree with us in what Allah has prescribed for us, it does not harm us. It only harms us if we agree with them in their customs and their exaggeration and the like of their festivals. This is what harms us. But if they agree with us, they cut their mustaches and let their beards hang down, this does not harm us. Rather, we love for them to be guided so that they agree with us in all of Islam. Yes.