The BEARD
In the light of Quran & Ahadith

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
was-Salaatu was Salaam ‘alaa Rasullulah
Innal Hamduli Llaah .. ..

Whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it. And whatsoever he
prohibits you leave it (Soorah al-Hashr : 59:7)

"Allaah cursed him. And he (Shaytaan) said : ' I will take an appointed
portion of Your slaves. Verily I will mislead them and surely, I will arouse
in them false desires; and certainly I will order them to slit the ears of
cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by
Allaah..' And whoever takes Shaytaan as Wali (protector or helper) instead
of Allaah, has surely suffered by manifest loss" (Soorah An-Nisa'
4:118-119)

Beard Benefit

The ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisraa, sent two envoys
to the Messenger to summon him. When they came into his presence, he
noticed that they had SHAVED their beards and grew their moustaches. He
HATED to look at them (because of their odd appearances) and he said : WOE
be to you, who told you to do so? They replied ' Our Lord! (referring to
Kisraa)' The Messenger then said:' But MY LORD , may He be exalted and
glorified, HAS COMMANDED ME to LEAVE (Let it grow) alone my beard and
to trim my moustach. [Recorded by Ibn Jarra-abar , and judged to be Hasan
(good) by al-Albani.]

Saheeh Al Al-Bukhaaree:
Do the opposite of the pagans do, cut the moustaches short and LEAVE (let it
grow) the beards (as it is)'

Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim: Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
The Apostle of Allaah (peace be upon him) said: Ten are the acts according
to fitrah (nature): clipping the moustache, letting the beard grow, using
the tooth-stick, cutting the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the
hair under the arm-pits, shaving the pubes, and cleansing one's private
parts (after easing or urinating) with water. The narrator said: I have
forgotten the tenth, but it may have been rinsing the mouth.

Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree

"Do the opposite of what the Pagans do, cut the moustaches short and leave
the beard (as it is)"

Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim: From Ibn Umar Radhi Allaahu 'anhu,
who said : The Messenger of Allaah Salla Llaahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, said :
"Be different from the Mushrikeen, trim your moustache and grow your beards"

Saheeh Muslim: Abu Hurairah Radhi Allaahu 'anhu, who said : The Messenger of
Allaah Salla Llaahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, said : "Clip your moustaches and grow
your beards-differ from the Magians"

Saheeh Muslim: From Aisha Radhi Allaahu 'anhaa, who said : The Messenger of
Allaah Salla Llaahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, said : "Ten things are from the
Fitrah : Shortening the moustache and growing the beard......."

Hadith - Bukhari 7:781, Narrated Ibn 'Umar
Allaah's Apostle said, "Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard (as it
is)."

Hadith - Muslim, Narrated AbuHurayrah
The Messenger of Allaah said: Trim closely the moustache, and grow beard,
and thus act against the fire-worshippers.

Hadith - Bukhari 9:651, Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri
The Prophet said, "There will emerge from the East some people who will
recite the Qur'an but it will not exceed their throats and who will go out
of (renounce) the religion (Islam) as an arrow passes through the game, and
they will never come back to it unless the arrow, comes back to the middle
of the bow (by itself) (i.e., impossible)." The people asked, "What will
their signs be?" He said, "Their sign will be the habit of shaving (of their
beards)." (Fateh Al-Bari, Page 322, Vol. 17th)

Hadith - Muwatta 51.7
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Ata ibn Yasar told
him that the Messenger of Allaah was in the mosque when a man came in with
dishevelled hair and beard. The Messenger of Allaah motioned with his hand
that he should be sent out to groom his hair and beard. The man did so and
then returned. The Messenger of Allaah said, "Isn't this better than that
one of you should come with his head dishevelled, as if he were a shaytaan?"

Shaving The Beard:

A Modern Effeminacy

Abu`Abdillah Muhammad al-Jibaly

Definition
The beard (Arabic: lihya) is defined as the hair which grows on the cheeks
and the jaws (ex., review: al-Qamu s al-Muhat by al-Fayrazabad ). It
includes the hair of the temples, the growth underneath the lower lip, the
hair of the chin, and the hair that grows on the lower side of the jaws.

The Islamic Ruling Concerning Beards
Growing the beard is a wajib (mandatory) for all males who are capable of
doing so. This has ample evidence in the Sunnah (as will be shown below) and
is the unanimous opinion of the ulamaa of Islam. One should not be misled by
the neglect to this sunnah by a few contemporary shaykhs, and by their
providing shaky fatwas to support their action. By doing that they make
people follow them into the wrong way, when the Messenger Salla Llaahu
'alayhi wa Sallam said:

He who starts a good sunnah (way) will be rewarded for it, in addition to
receiving rewards equal to the rewards of those who follow him into it.
Whereas he who starts a bad sunnah will be burdened with it, in addition to
receiving burdens equal to the burdens of those who follow him into it. [Muslim]

And he said:

Allaah does not pull the knowledge abruptly from the hearts of people, but
he takes away the knowledge by taking [the lives of] the `ulamaa (true
scholars). When no `ulamaa are left, people will take ignorant persons for
leaders. Those will give them fatwa (religious verdicts) without knowledge.
By doing this, they will stray and lead others astray as well.
[Al-Al-Bukhaaree]

A List of Violations
Shaving the beard results in a series of Islamic violations, as is obvious
from Allaah's Book and His Messenger's Sunnah. The following is a list (not
necessarily comprehensive) of such violations:

a. A Disobedience to Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala
Shaving the beard is a disobedience to Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala. The
ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisraa, sent two envoys to
the Messenger to summon him. When they came into his presence, he noticed
that they had shaved their beards and grew their moustaches. He hated to
look at them (because of their odd appearance) and he said: Woe be to you,
who told you to do so? They replied: "Our lord! (referring to Kisraa.)" The
Messenger then said:

But my Lord, may He be exalted and glorified, has commanded me to leave
alone my beard and to trim my moustache. [Recorded by Ibn Jar r a-abar, and
judged to be Hasan (good) by al-Albani.]

b. A Disobedience To the Messenger
Shaving the beard is a disobedience to the Messenger Salla Llaahu 'alayhi wa
Sallam. In many hadiths, the Messenger Salla Llaahu 'alayhi wa Sallam
commanded men to leave alone their beards. These different hadiths have a
similar meaning:

Trim the moustache and save the beard. [Al-Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]
Obeying the Messenger in that is equivalent to obeying Allaah
Subhanahu wa Ta'aala who said (what means):

He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allaah. [An-Nisaa 4:80]

c. A Deviation from the Appearance & Guidance of Nabi Shaving the beard
is a deviation from the appearance and guidance of the Messenger .

The Messenger used to have a large beard. [Muslim]
One should strive to imitate him in his practices, as Allaah Subhanahu wa
Ta'aala said (what means):

In the Messenger of Allaah is a good example for you to follow.
[Al-Ahzab 33:21]
And the Messenger said:

Verily, the best guidance is Muhammad's guidance. [Muslim]

d. A Deviation from the Way of Believers
Shaving the beard is a deviation from the way of believers. All the prophets
, the sahabah (Prophet's companions), the great `ulamaa, and the righteous
early Muslims of this Ummah (Nation) grew their beards. There is no report
of a single one of them ever shaving his beard. Thus, this is their way, and
Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala says (in the meaning):

Whoever disobeys the Messenger after guidance has been clarified to him, and
follows other than the path of the believers, We shall give to him what he
deserves and broil him in hell, which is the worst abode. [An-Nisaa 4:115]

e. An Imitation of the Disbelievers
Shaving the beard is an imitation of the disbelievers. This has been
emphasized in several hadiths of the Prophet . For example:

Cut the moustaches and grow your beards. Be different from the Magians
(followers of a religion that dominated in Persia). [Muslim]

Cut your moustaches and leave your beards alone. Be different from the
people of the scripture. [Muslim]

Be different from the Mushrikin (those who worship other than Allaah
Subhanahu wa Ta'aala); trim your moustaches and save your beards.
[Al-Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]
We have been commanded to be different and distinct from the disbelievers,
as in surat ul-Fatihah. Also, Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala said (what means):

Follow not the whims of those who have no knowledge (of Islam).
[Al-Jathiyah 45:18]
And His Messenger said:

Whoever imitates a people is but one of them. [Recorded by Abu Dawud, and
judged to be authentic by al-Albani]

f. Changing Allaah's Creation without Permission
The Messenger declared that the women who change what Allaah Subhanahu wa
Ta'aala has created (such as removing the hair from their faces or filing
their teeth or tattooing their bodies) seeking by that to improve their
appearance, are accursed by Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala.
[Al-Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]

The hadith mentioned women in particular because they normally seek to
beautify themselves more than men. But the warning surely applies to both
sexes, because the condition for the curse is declared, and thus the curse
applies to anyone who satisfies such condition.

Shaving the beard falls under this warning, as it is much worse than the Nam
(removal of facial hair) practiced by some women. It involves obeying
Shaytaan who said:

And I shall tempt them until they change what Allaah has created.
[An-Nisaa 4:119]

g. An Imitation of Women
The beard is a major distinction between men and women. Shaving it removes
this distinction, and is thus a means of imitating women. The Messenger said:

Allaah curses those men who imitate the women, and He curses those
women who imitate the men. [Al-Al-Bukhaaree]

h. Shaving the Beard Contradicts the Pure Fitrah (Nature)
Allaah's Messenger mentioned ten qualities as indicative of a good, clean
nature [Muslim]. Two of these qualities are to trim the moustaches and to
grow the beard.

The Messenger also tells that every child is born with a clean, pure
fitrah, which later may get deformed by the influence of the environment and
the up-bringing. [Al-Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim].
In the footsteps of the disbelievers, many Muslims' fitrah is now,
unfortunately, so much deformed that they seem to find a clean-shaven man
more handsome and masculine than one with a beard - exactly the opposite of
what the Messenger declared in the above hadith.

This fitrah never changes with time: Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala said (what
means):

The pure nature according to which Allaah has created people. There is no
change in Allaah's creation. [Ar-Room 30:30]
For shaving their beards, some men give the strange excuse that their wives
prefer them without one! As if their purpose in this life is to follow the
deformed inclinations of their wives instead of the clear-cut commands of
Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala and His Messenger ! Others claim that growing
their beards results in an irritability and scratching. This cannot result
from abiding by the pure fitrah, but would result (if true) from neglect of
the proper cleaning and washing with wudu as instructed in the Sunnah.

What the `Ulamaa and Imams Say

All the `ulamaa of as-Salaf us-salih, including the Four Imams, agreed that
shaving the beard is haram (prohibited). They considered shaving it an
impermissible mutilation, as has been reported about Umar bin Abdil-Aziz.
They used to consider the person who shaved his beard effeminate. Many of
them would not accept his witness or allow him to lead the prayers.

May Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala guide us to abide by His Deen, and to adhere
to His Messenger 's Sunnah, and to be among those whom he blessed in both
lives. AAMEEN.