The Ahadith on trimming the MOUSTACHE and leaving/sparing/forgiving/lengthening/having-mercy-on the beard are Sahih, and the meaning well known, correct?

Perhaps this is a matter of aqeedah, and not only fiqh, if we believe in the Quran that declares the Prophet “does not speak of his own desire; his (speech was nothing other than) a revelation that was revealed.” see http://www.qss.org/archives/aqeedah/ch14.html. In fact, in one of the narrations – the one in which he told the foreigners who had large moustaches and shaved or trimmed beards, that my Lord has Commanded me to trim my moustache and leave my beard . So the Command to trim the moustace and leave the beard is from Allah.

Once we believe that the Prophet’s word in matters of Deen were a Revelation, the question then is whether trimming the beard contradicts the commands of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam or not. And the answer is, “YES, it does”. The command is to trim and MOUSTACHE and spare the beard, not trim the moustache and trim the beard as well. Trimming and sparing the beard are mutually exclusive, except in the minds of those (‘scholars’ and ‘students of knowledge’) who, using twisted logic, want to make trimming (and even shaving parts of) the beard halal. If you trim the beard, you will no longer be leaving/sparing/forgiving/lengthening/having-mercy-on it.

Brother Yasir Qadhi in one of his posts rightly points out that the words and actions of some of the Companions do not become Divine law. He correctly applies this principle to reject the one-fist rule, but then does not apply the same pricipal to reports of Companions ‘taking from their beards’. Even if the reports that he mentioned that ‘some of’ the Companions and ‘early scholars’ “took from the beard” (a vague description as it is) are Sahih (their Sahih status is yet to be proven by him), the actions of a few Companions and ‘early scholars’ do not make the authentic Commands of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, invalid. Remember the Prophet’s saying ‘laa nabiyyaa ba’dee” (there is no Prophet after me)?

Just because in the West, Shaitan has convinced us that it’s a little inconvenient to spare the beard to let it grow to its natural length, this does not mean people have the authority to justify disobeying the Command of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Masha Allah, it’s not like we’re in Combodia in the 70′s where someone would murder us if we appear to be Muslim. One can tie a long beard with rubber bands and tuck it in when playing sports or when there’s danger of persecution.

It’s obvious that trimming and shaping the beard is what the non-Muslims do. Do we want to live our lives imitating them and disobeying the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam?

Then there is the class of scholars who have declared that one can SHAVE the upper and lower parts OF THE BEARD because these are not part of the beard! Unbelievable!

Let’s not forget the jewish people’s mistakes. Lard was forbidden to them. They used to melt the lard before consuming it – according to their logic, melting the lard changes it and so it becomes something that is not forbidden. They cast nets before the Sabbath and retrieved their catch at the end of Sabbath. These practices of theirs have earned them the Wrath of Allah.

(Wa-Allahu A’lum)

May Allah Save us and the scholars of Islam from His Wrath and from being misguided and from misguiding others, and may He Guide us and Keep us on Us-Siraat Al-Mustaqeem, aameen.

Wassalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

The words and actions of the Prophet, salllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and the Khulafa Rashideen, are well documented and authenticated, and leaves no doubt in the honest reader and thinker’s mind, that the beard is to be “forgiven”, “kept (protected, as in, O Allah, keep us)”, allowed to grow, lengthened, and not trimmed at all. We ask Allah for complete Forgiveness, don’t we? I will leave this for you to derive the implications of disobeying the Prophet’s commands.

Examining the ahadith that are used to justify trimming, the ahadith are classified as da’eef shiddan, weak, or MADE-UP! The only Hadith that is truly authentic to my knowledge, is the Hadith about Ibn Umar, authenticated by Bukhari, Rahmatullahi ‘alaih, which starts with the Prophet’s clear instructions, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, of trimming the moustache and leaving the beard, describes Ibn ‘Umar holding his beard in his fist at Hajj or Umrah…and his trimming the moustache such that his skin could be seen…and trimming between his moustache and beard (meaning the hair that covered any part of his lips…). Where he was holding his beard from (he could have been holding his long beard at navel-level) and why (probably to save it from being trimmed, while he was trimming his moustache), is anyone’s guess.

Trimming the beard may be justified only when there is a threat to life from not trimming it, or when keeping oneself from doing dhulm on one’s nafs, in specific circumstances, just as eating pork is allowed for survival, but not in normal circumstances. Firefighters sometimes have large moustaches, so I don’t buy the cop-out that beards somehow threaten the safety of the firefighters. They can wear a thin ski mask, to improve the seal of the breathing apparatus on their faces. When Allah and His Messenger, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, has decided on a matter, it is not befitting for the Believers to have an ‘opinion’, let alone following the contradictory opinion of a non-Prophet, ‘faqih’.

BTW, we are commanded to PLUCK (not shave) our underarm hair, and shave (not trim) our public hair. Also, it is insulting to Muslims, that an image of a razor be used for linking to this page, as it is/was done on the muslimmatters.org website.

ALLAHU A’LUM.

Salaam.

Can someone tell me of other salaf scholors …of today and of the past who have had the same view about the beard as Shailkh Yassir has.

JAZAKALLAH KHAIR

OH and if you have itchy beards like I do. Use coconut oil :) and rub a little head and shoulders into your beard when you shower. :)

Shaykh Muhammad al-Mukhtar bin ash-Shaykh Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shanqiti is the son of Shaykh M al-Ameen ash-Shanqiti, the author of Tafsir Adwa’ al-Bayan fi Eydah al-Quran bi al-Quran and the teacher and colleague of Shaykh Bin Baz. I think Ustadh Alshareef was referring to him in his speech. He was among the seniormost scholars in Saudi Arabia.

I am sending an EXCERPT:

“Women see a broad chest and shoulders as a sign of someone who can clobber a steady supply of meat and keep lions away from the cave. And while a hairy chest and a full beard have fallen out of favor in the waxed and buffed 21st century, they are historically–if unconsciously–seen as signs of healthy testosterone flow that gives rise to both fertility and strength.”

and the web link…………….. better yet read the Journal that the study it was published IN. IGNORE THE PICTURE FOR NOW
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704672-2,00.html
You decide if it is the TRUTH……….
Both SECULAR and RELIGIOUS MINDED PEOPLE…………..
salam

@ brother yasir qadhi..

i am a normal muslim guy who is as sinful as anyother human and as good as a muslim as anyother muslim would be.certainly i am not a scholar and an alim but alhamdulilah blessed with an understanding of the religion. i came from pakistan to states for residency (medicine)
.i kept beard when i was 22 and it was the normally found length. but i always knew that fistful is the mos appropriate length.
when i came here i dont know how i came out of that fear of growing it and alhamdulilah now its out of the normally found length.though a lill short of the fist length bc my hair growth is slow but i know that it should be neat and decent and alhamdulilah apart from my family who is against beard nobody ever said it looks bad on me.

but i found a problem when my family gives reference of you and other scholars who are here and they say that if people of those stature can do like this what is the your problem.?
i didnt get any interview and one i got i was questioned about it and the interviewer gave quite a bad remarks about it.which i listened to with smiles becuase i knew he is ignorant about my religion.
i am never afraid of any nonmuslim but when my family say things about it i just…anywaz
brother honestly speaking those people who can become signs for us to present to the ordinary people are becoming problem. what should i say to them because i dont want to short it and go back again to the same length to get out of which it took me 5 years.

its not that brother i am saying it to you its just that i am sick and tired of the beard issue…when i am not saying it to anyone that u should be particular about these sunnahs but they kept on saying me about beard ,if i fold my pants , if i place a topi because they are not particualr about their namaz , no girl do pardah and music and dancing is the common thing.
then they keep on saying these non muslims would not give you job (though may be my link to pakistan and my religious outlook is a problem) but why dont we muslims wana believe nothing is but from ALLAH.

anywaz brother i just wanted to share my feelings with you…yesterday when i came to know that u shortened it from the length i was quite disturbed…anywaz…i have heard your interview and your views but i just want to say one thing
with every passing day things are becoming difficult to follow the proper sunnah,yes our rituals would remain there but the proper way of doing them would be forgotten..you are a scholar and i have no objection about your fiqhi stance about it but may be when i needed you the most i didnt find you there.
may ALLAH bless you for all the good deeds you do..i am not one of those who measure the iman with the length of beard your respect in my heart remains the same and thanks for the beautiful lectures on surah yusuf.

ALLAH hafiz