What is the ruling on taking from the beard, with evidence?

The questioner : What is the ruling on one who takes from his beard, with evidence? The ruling on taking from the beard.

The Shaykh : Taking from the beard has two forms: either taking it entirely—just a little, O Shaykh Ahmad—or taking it entirely, meaning shaving it off, or taking less than that. It is clear that the questioner does not mean the first type, which is complete removal, as I believe he knows that it is forbidden in Islam. I do not want to delve into this issue because we have addressed it so many times, unless we are compelled to do so, because I want to answer the question and not digress in response to the need.The questioner : and the multitude of questions, as we mentioned at the beginning of this session. The questioner means what is not shaving. In that case, we say that this taking, which is not shaving or complete removal but rather shortening, has two forms: either taking what is below the fist or taking what is above it. As for the first type, which is what is below the fist, there is actually a disagreement among the scholars. Some say that taking it is not permissible at all, applying the generality of the hadith: This is a clear text that leaving the beard to grow is absolute and not restricted by any condition. Others hold that the leaving of the beard commanded in this hadith is what equals the fist, and there is no harm in taking what is below that. Their evidence for this, and what we are confident in, as we have mentioned more than once, is that the narrator of the hadith, Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), is the one who narrated the hadith: , , and we know that the matter is as he said (peace and blessings be upon him): , and from this came the saying of the poet, "And there is no one like the one who heard." So Ibn Umar heard the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) say: , and he saw how he left his beard to grow, so he followed him. And he, I mean Ibn Umar, if we do not say he was the most eager of the Companions to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), was at least among the most eager to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and to strive in this following. Therefore, it is not conceivable for one who knows this reality about Abdullah ibn Umar, his intense eagerness to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that he would contradict him while seeing with his own eyes that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had lengthened his beard and did not take anything from it. He would contradict him by going to what the Messenger forbade, which is impossible. Therefore, the school of the Imam of the people of the Sunnah, namely Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him), was in accordance with the action of Ibn Umar himself, even though they, I mean Ibn Umar, Imam Ahmad, and the rest of those who held this school, knew what we mentioned earlier about the school of the first group, that the hadith is absolute from the Arabic perspective, absolute. But what Ibn Umar witnessed, as we estimated earlier, of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taking from his beard, was a practical restriction of this verbal generality. So the most eager person, or one of the most eager people, to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) agreed with one of the most eager people among the four Imams to follow the Sunnah that the forbidden taking is what is below the fist; leaving what is above the fist. As for taking what is below it, what is under it, this is permissible by the action of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). And to draw attention to Ibn Umar's eagerness to follow, so that it enters our minds well that whoever does what follows cannot contradict the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in what he commanded, assuming it is absolute, there came from Ibn Umar strange and unusual incidents, all of which indicate his eagerness in following. I will mention only one of them: "He was seen one day holding the reins of his she-camel, and he was circling with it in a wide open area, there was no circumambulation and there was no Ka'bah, and with it... so he attracted the attention of some of those around him. They said to him: Why do you do this? He said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) doing that." This is the ultimate submission in following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) without knowing, as we say today in the language of correct science, "perhaps" is this action that Ibn Umar saw from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) from the devotional Sunnah or from the ordinary Sunnah? Ibn Umar does not make this distinction but submits completely: the Messenger did it this way, so he does as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did. And we do not want to enter into this long research that the Sunnah is divided into two parts: devotional Sunnah and ordinary Sunnah. The important thing is that this is Ibn Umar, this is his action, and this is his eagerness to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So with all this, it is not possible that he would find the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not taking from his beard at all and that he would contradict him. So from here, we prefer this school that Ibn Umar was upon and that Imam of the Sunnah Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) was upon.