Ruling on Trimming the Mustache and Letting the Beard Grow

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Our brother asks a lengthy question regarding the Sunnah of letting the beard grow. He says: Your Eminence! Is it established from our noble Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

Trim the mustaches and let the beards grow

قصوا الشوارب وأعفوا اللحى

Does this mean that we should let the beard grow and become large, and not shave or trim any part of it? If that is the case, it will become very thick. And tell us about the mustache: is it trimmed from the edges, from the middle, from all its parts, or is it left as is? And what is the situation regarding the central area between the mustache and the beard?
Answer: It is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the two Sahihs, in al-Bukhari and Muslim, which are the most authentic books after the Qur'an. These two Sahihs, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, are the most authentic books after the Book of Allah the Exalted and Majestic. It is established in them from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

Cut short the moustaches and let the beards grow, and differ from the polytheists.

قصوا الشوارب وأعفوا اللحى خالفوا المشركين

from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

Cut short the moustaches and let the beards grow, and differ from the polytheists.

قصوا الشوارب وأعفوا اللحى خالفوا المشركين

, and in the other wording:

Cut your mustaches and let your beards grow, and be unlike the polytheists

قصوا الشوارب ووفروا اللحى خالفوا المشركين

, and in the other:

Shave your mustaches and grow your beards; be different from the polytheists.

أحفوا الشوارب ووفروا اللحى خالفوا المشركين

.
And in a narration by Muslim from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

Trim closely the moustache, and grow beard, and thus act against the fire-worshippers.

جزوا الشوارب وأرخوا اللحى خالفوا المجوس

Sahih Muslim 260

These authentic hadiths all indicate the obligation of letting the beard grow, leaving it as it is, letting it hang down, and not cutting or shaving it, even if it becomes long. It is obligatory for us to listen and obey our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says::

Say, "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger; but if you turn away - then upon him is only that [duty] with which he has been charged, and upon you is that with which you have been charged. And if you obey him, you will be [rightly] guided. And there is not upon the Messenger except the [responsibility for] clear notification."

قُلْ أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوا فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيْهِ مَا حُمِّلَ وَعَلَيْكُمْ مَا حُمِّلْتُمْ وَإِنْ تُطِيعُوهُ تَهْتَدُوا وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ إِلَّا الْبَلاغُ الْمُبِينُ

[Surah al-Nur:54] (peace and blessings be upon him).
And Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says:

He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah

مَنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّه

[Surah al-Nisa:80] And He (may He be exalted) says in His great Book:in His great Book:

So let those beware who dissent from the Prophet's order, lest fitnah strike them or a painful punishment.

فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ أَنْ تُصِيبَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ أَوْ يُصِيبَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

[Surah al-Nur:63] This means: The one who disobeys the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is in great danger, for the disobedient one may be afflicted with fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), which is shirk (associating partners with Allah) — may Allah protect us from it — or with a painful punishment in this world or in the Hereafter because of the disobedience. And He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:

And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from

وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا

[Surah al-Hashr:7] And He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:

⁽¹³⁾ These are the limits [set by] Allah, and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be admitted by Him to gardens [in Paradise] under which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein; and that is the great attainment. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits - He will put him into the Fire to abide eternally therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment.

تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ ۝ وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ نَارًا خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَلَهُ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ

[Surah al-Nisa:13-14].
And in Sahih al-Bukhari, it is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

All my followers will enter Paradise except those who refuse." They said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Who will refuse?" He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it)."

كل أمتي يدخلون الجنة إلا من أبى، قيل: يا رسول الله! من يأبى؟ قال: من أطاعني دخل الجنة ومن عصاني فقد أبى

Sahih al-Bukhari 7280

And in the two Sahihs, it is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah. Whoever obeys the ruler has obeyed me, and whoever disobeys the ruler has disobeyed me.

من أطاعني فقد أطاع الله، ومن عصاني فقد عصى الله، ومن أطاع الأمير فقد أطاعني، ومن عصى الأمير فقد عصاني

Sahih Ibn Hibban 23:85

He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as narrated by the two Shaykhs – al-Bukhari and Muslim:

Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah. Whoever obeys the ruler has obeyed me, and whoever disobeys the ruler has disobeyed me.

من أطاعني فقد أطاع الله ومن عصاني فقد عصى الله، ومن أطاع الأمير فقد أطاعني ومن عصى الأمير فقد عصاني

Sahih Ibn Hibban 23:85

Meaning: In what is right. The ruler is obeyed in what is right, not in disobedience to Allah, as in the other hadiths:

Obedience is in matters which are good and universally recognized.

إنما الطاعة في المعروف

Sunan Abi Dawud 2625Sahih (Al-Albani)

And the mustaches are trimmed:

Trim the mustaches.

قصوا الشوارب

and shaved:

Shave the beards

أحفوا الشوارب

all of their edges and their middle. So it is obligatory to trim them all or shave them all, not just the edges leaving the middle, or the middle leaving the edges, like the practice of the Majus (Zoroastrians). No, it is obligatory to trim them.
Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm said – in his book al-Muhalla, which is well known: The scholars agreed that trimming the mustache and letting the beard grow is fard (obligatory), meaning: obligatory upon the Muslims. He reported the ijma' (scholarly consensus) of the scholars that trimming the mustache and letting the beard grow is fard (obligatory); because the commands came with that.
So it is obligatory for the believer to comply.
As for the 'unfiqah (the hair under the lower lip), this follows the beard. The 'unfiqah, it is called: the 'unfiqah. The hairs under the lower lip, these follow the beard. And as for the mustache, it is everything that is on the upper lip. This is called: the mustache.
It is obligatory to shave it or trim it as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, and it is not to be shaved. It is better that it not be shaved, but trimmed. Yes. May Allah guide them all.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.

Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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