Ruling on shaving the beard

First Fatwa
Is there any recommended length of the beard?

Is there any recommended length of the beard traceable from Prophet Muhammad SAAW

Praise be to Allaah.

There is no recommended or specified length of the beard, because nothing to that effect has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). What has been reported is that the beard should be left as it is.

Muslim (2344) reported that Jaabir ibn Samurah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to have a very hairy beard.”

An-Nisaa’ (5232) reported from al-Baraa’ that he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a thick beard; according to another report, he had a bushy beard; according to another report, he had a wide beard.

Some scholars permit cutting the hair of the beard that exceeds the amount that may be grasped in the fist, because Ibn ‘Umar did this; but most of the scholars regard this as makrooh, which is more apparent because of the reports referred to above.

Al-Nawawi said: the best is to leave it as it is and not touch it or shorten it at all. (Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 8/39).

– As for the hadeeth, “He used to reduce the length and width (of his beard)” – this is a false and fabricated hadeeth.

See al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah by Ibn al-Jawzi, 2/686

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allaah (Muhammad) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes for (the Meeting with) Allaah and the Last Day…” [al-Ahzaab 33:21]

“And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it).” [al-Hashr 59:7]

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah preserve him) said: The definition of the beard as stated by the scholars of (Arabic) language is: the hair of the face, jawbone and cheeks, in the sense that all the hair on the cheeks, jawbone and chin is part of the beard and removing any of it is counted as a sin, because the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Let your beards grow,” “Leave your beards alone,” “Let your beards increase,” “Let your beards be full.” This indicates that it is not permissible to remove anything from the beard. But the sin may vary in degree – shaving the beard is worse than shortening it, because it is a more obvious contradiction of the Sunnah.

For more information, see Question # 1189.

And Allaah knows best

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

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Second Fatwa
Ruling on shaving the beard
What is the ruling on shaving the beard or removing part of it?

Praise be to Allaah.

Shaving the beard is haraam because of the saheeh ahaadeeth that clearly state this, and because of the general application of texts that forbid resembling the kuffaar. One of these reports is the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar who said that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Be different from the mushrikeen: let your beards grow and trim your moustaches.” According to another report: “Trim your moustaches and let your beards grow.” There are other hadeeth which convey the same meaning, which is to leave the beard as it is and let it grow long, without shaving, plucking or cutting any part of it. Ibn Hazm reported that there was scholarly consensus that it is an obligation (fard) to trim the moustache and let the beard grow. He quoted a number of ahaadeeth as evidence, including the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) quoted above, and the hadeeth of Zayd ibn Arqam in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does not remove any of his moustache is not one of us.” (Classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi). Ibn Hazm said in al-Furoo’: “This is the way of our colleagues [i.e., the Hanbalis].”

Is it haraam (to shave it)? Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The Qur’aan, Sunnah and ijmaa’ (scholarly consensus) all indicate that we must differ from the kuffaar in all aspects and not imitate them, because imitating them on the outside will make us imitate them in their bad deeds and habits, and even in beliefs, which will result in befriending them in our hearts, just as loving them in our hearts will lead to imitating them on the outside. Al-Tirmidhi reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “He is not one of us who imitates people other than us. Do not imitate the Jews and Christians.” According to another version: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad) ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab rejected the testimony of the person who plucked his beard. Imaam Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said in al-Tamheed: “It is forbidden to shave the beard, and no one does this except men who are effeminate” i.e., those who imitate women. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a thick beard (reported by Muslim from Jaabir). It is not permitted to remove any part of the beard because of the general meaning of the texts which forbid doing so.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/133