Is keeping a beard obligatory?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's
Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Salam Mr.Burhan
Sahib !!!
Dear sir I want to ask you something about beared !!!!
One of my friend told me keeping beared
is Fardh ( compulsory ) !!!!
I want to ask you is it Sunnah Or Wajib Or Fardh ???? and explain me what is
difference in between Sunnah / Wajib
/ Fardh !!!!
because so far I heard keeping beared
is not Fardh its Sunna one
can keep by his own wish it is not compulsory since there are some Aalim in Arab countries they don't have beared
at all ...
Please Sir explaine me ,,,,There are some spelling mistakes are there sorry for
that !!!
Thank You very much for your co-operation !
Your brother in Islam
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may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum
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Answer:
Is keeping a beard obligatory?
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Keeping a
beard cannot be considered an obligatory command of the Prophet (saws), but rather it was
his Sunnah,
and the Sunnah of all the Prophets before
him.
Growing a
beard was considered normal and natural for a man at the time of the Messenger
of Allah (saws),
whether he was a believer or not. Even the enemies of Islam like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahb had
beards! And because every man
naturally grew a beard,
it was not necessary for the Prophet (saws) to give an explicit
command exhorting the believers to grow a beard.
The only
specific saying of the Prophet (saws) regarding the keeping of beards arose
when he saw that the pagans used to grow both their beards and their mustaches
long; thus he
(saws) said to the believers:
Ibn 'Umar related that
the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Differ from the polytheists: let your
beards (grow), and shave your moustache."
Related by al-Bukhari and
Muslim.
It was
only a couple of centuries ago, when the western culture and ideology
became dominant over the world and muslim lands, that it became a fashion to be clean
shaven. And as with any dominant
culture, people
are always ready to adopt its actions,
whether they are of virtue, or of vice! But Islam has its own culture, and growing a beard
is part of the Islamic culture.
The
question is why should a believer, who professes to believe in Allah and
the Last Day, and who professes to
follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah
(saws), want to grow a beard?
The
answer is simple. Today, you might have seen many youngsters copy the fashion
of sport-stars, Hollywood-stars or anybody else whom they love. If you notice
today, many hot
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21: There is
indeed the best model for you in the Messenger of Allah, for
every such person looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember
Allah much.
In
another narration, the Prophet of Allah said in narrating a prophecy of times
to come:
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 9.651 Narrated
by Abu Said Al Khudri
The Prophet (saws) said: “There will emerge from the East some people who will recite the Quran,
but it will not exceed their throats, and who will go out of the deen of Islam as an arrow passes through the game. They
will never come back to it unless the arrow comes back to the middle of the bow
by itself (i.e. impossible!). The companions asked, "What will their signs
be?". The Prophet (saws) said: "Their sign
will be the habit of shaving off of their beards".
Thus the
keeping of beards is a Sunnah of the Prophet (saws)
and every muslim must strive
to keep a beard, if his model is indeed the Prophet of Allah (saws). He will
get his due reward from Allah, Insha Allah, if he
keeps the beard to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger
of Allah (saws).
But if a
believer does not want to sport a beard for whatever reason, the other believers should not make an
issue out of it. What is important in
Islam and in the sight of Allah, is that one truly believes and does
good righteous deeds. And when that
happens, it is
expected that the beard will follow soon after!
The beard
is nothing more than a sign that the believer truly wants to follow a Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws). There are many people who have long beards, but do deeds
against the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws). And there are many people who are amongst
the best believers,
but do not have beards!
Allah will not decide the recipient of His Mercy and His Forgiveness
from the appearance of the individual; but rather He will decide whether the
person believed and did righteous deeds, as he was commanded by Allah and His Messenger
(saws).
Now, to the specific
question:
Q-1: Is it obligatory to keep a beard?
No. It is not obligatory; but rather it is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), thus voluntary. The most that can be said about a believer
who chooses not to sport a beard is that he missed a great opportunity to earn
huge rewards from Allah Subhanah for following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.
Q-2: I want to ask you is it Sunnah Or Wajib Or Fardh ???? and explain me what is
difference in between Sunnah / Wajib
/ Fardh !!!!
Ref: Sunnah
Sunnah
is any act which was done or approved by the Messenger of Allah (saws), even if
it was done only once in his lifetime.
If one follows the Sunnah, he will earn a huge
reward from Allah Subhanah; and if one, for any
reason, does not follow it, there is no sin.
Ref: Wajib
Wajib
is the term given to a Sunnah of the Messenger of
Allah (saws) which was regularly performed by the Messenger of Allah (saws), or
which was stressed by the Messenger of Allah (saws), but not explicitly
commanded as obligatory or ‘fard’.
If one
follows a ‘wajib’ act of the Messenger of Allah
(saws), he will get a superior reward from Allah Subhanah;
but if one for any reason does not follow it, there is no sin.
Examples
of the Wajib acts would be:
the
two rakahs of Sunnah prayer
before the obligatory Fajr prayers.
the
praying of the witr prayers as the last prayers of
the night.
the
eating with the right hand
Ref: Fard
A ‘fard’ or ‘obligatory’ act is one which has been specifically
stressed by Allah and His Messenger (saws) as being an obligatory duty on the
believers, or a duty or act if which not done would constitute a sin in the
sight of Allah Subhanah.
If one
follows the ‘fard’ act, there will be a great and
unending reward from Allah Subhanah; but if one does
not follow the ‘fard’ act without a valid reason, it
will be a huge sin in the sight of Allah Subhanah.
Examples
of ‘Fard’ acts would be:
The five
obligatory prayers
The
fasting of Ramadan
The
payment of Zakaah
The obedience
to parents
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
