Is the beard a recommended practice, such that its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished?

Question:
We received a letter from the Holy City from listener (M. D.), in which he says: May Allah grant you understanding and prolong your life in good deeds, His Eminence Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
They say, or some of our brothers say: that the beard is a recommended practice, its doer is rewarded, and its leaver is not punished. Is this statement correct or not?

Answer:
What is established in the authentic hadiths from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is that the beard must be grown and left untrimmed; because the default ruling for commands from Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) and from His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is that they are obligatory and mandatory. This is the default. The claim that it is a recommended practice (sunnah) for which one is not punished for leaving it requires evidence. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to follow him and to comply with his command, and Allah , above that, commanded us to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and obey him, and He said: [Al-Nisa:59] and He said: [Al-Nur:63] So He threatened them, threatening those who disobey his command that they will be struck by trial (fitnah), which is associating partners with Allah (shirk), may Allah protect us from it, or that they will be struck by a painful punishment due to the disobedience.
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Narrated by the two Shaykhs, al-Bukhari and Muslim, in the two Sahihs. And he also said: Muslim narrated it in his Sahih. And in a wording: And in a wording: So these are commands indicating the obligation of letting the beards hang down, leaving them long, and growing them.
So it is not permissible for anyone to defy these commands without a proof. Rather, it is obligatory for him to submit to them, act upon them, and beware of disobeying the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), for in his disobedience lies evil and a dire consequence.
As for what al-Tirmidhi narrated from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) : This is, according to the scholars, a report that is not valid and not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); because it is from the narration of 'Umar ibn Harun al-Balkhi, who is accused of lying. His hadith is not relied upon, not established, and not considered. And all the authentic, established hadiths indicate the obligation of leaving the beards long, growing them, and letting them hang down.
So it is obligatory for every Muslim to revere the command of Allah and His Messenger, and to beware of what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. The claim that the beard is a recommended practice according to the technical definition, meaning it is permissible to do it or leave it, i.e., its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished, this is a technical matter. And its proponent must establish the evidence. And he is in danger of disobeying the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So it is obligatory to be cautious.
And the correct view is: that leaving it long is obligatory, and that shaving it is forbidden. This is the correct view. Yes.