Is keeping 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:
Can a muslium men
shave his beard n moustache...is it compulsory to keep beard n moustache.
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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Answer:
Is keeping 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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Ref: the
keeping of a beard
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 trim 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 an
encouraged and preferred Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) and every muslim male 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 was commanded by Allah and His Messenger
(saws).
Ref: the
trimming of the moustache
Al-Muwatta Hadith 49.3
Yahya related from Malik from Said ibn Abi
Said al-Maqburi from his father that Abu Hurayra said that the Messenger of
Allah (saws), "There are five things from the ‘fitra’ (nature): cutting
the nails, trimming the moustache, removing the hair from the armpit, shaving
the pubic region and circumcision."
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4437 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas
The Prophet (saws) used to clip or take
something off his moustache, and Prophet Ibraheem, the ‘Khaleel’ (intimate
friend) of the Compassionate One, used to do the same!
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4438 Narrated by Zayd ibn Arqam
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who
does not take something off his moustache is not one of us."
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.780 Narrated by Nafi
Abdullah Ibn Umar said that the Prophet
(saws) said, "Do the opposite of what the pagans do. Keep the beards and
cut the moustaches short.". Ibn Umar used to cut his moustache so short
that the whiteness of his skin (above the upper lip) was visible, and he used
to cut (the hair) between his moustaches and his beard.
The Arabic term used for ‘shaving’ is ‘halaq’; while the
term to cut or trim in Arabic is ‘Qass’ or ‘Ahfu’…..and in all the guidance
regarding the moustache the term used in the hadith is either ‘Qass’ or ‘Ahfu’
(meaning cut or trim) and never ‘Halaq’ (shave).
The scholars and jurists in Islam are almost unanimous in
their opinion that the Sunnah is to cut or trim the moustache, rather than
shave it completely.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
