All praise is due to Allah Alone. May peace and blessings be upon Allah's Servant and Messenger our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his family, and Companions.
I received a question regarding the ruling on shaving the beard or trimming it. It also asks whether a person, who shaves it deliberately thinking that this is lawful, is considered a Kafir (disbeliever). Does the Hadith reported by Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) prove the obligation of letting the beard grow and forbid shaving it or just indicate the desirability of letting it grow?
A: It was authentically reported on the authority of Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Trim closely the mustache and let the beard grow to be contradictory to Mushriks (those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity or worship). (Agreed upon by AlBukhari and Muslim)According to the narration of AlBukhari in his Sahih (authentic) Book of Hadith,the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Trim closely the mustache and grow the beard to be contradictory to Mushriks. It was also related inSahih Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Trim closely the mustache and grow the beard to be contradictory to the Magian.
The wording in the Hadith mentioned above clearly shows the obligation of both letting the beard grow long and the prohibition of cutting or shaving it, as the 'imperative mode' in any of the Prophet's Hadith basically implies obligation while the 'negative mode' implies prohibition unless there is evidence to the contrary. This is the approved and preponderant view of scholars on this issue.
Allah (Glorified be He) says: And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it). And fear Allâh; verily, Allâh is Severe in punishment.
He (Glorified and Exalted be He) also says: And let those who oppose the Messenger's (Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ) commandment (i.e. his Sunnah legal ways, orders, acts of worship, statements) (among the sects) beware, lest some Fitnah (disbelief, trials, afflictions, earthquakes, killing, overpowered by a tyrant) should befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them.
Also, Imam Ahmad (may Allah be merciful with him) explained that the Fitnah in the Ayah (Qur'anic verse) signifies Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) i.e. if a person rejects some Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him), he might have some aberration deep inside his heart and so he will be of the losers. Furthermore, there is no evidence from the Qur'an or the Sunnah (whatever is reported from the Prophet) that these Hadith indicate the desirability of letting the beard grow long.
On the otherhand, Al Tirmidhy related on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to shave parts of the width and the length of his beard. This is a Batil (false) Hadith, according to scholars, because its Sanad (chain of narrators) includes a narrator called `Umar ibn Harun AlBalkhy who is notorious for lying. He is the only one who narrated this Hadith in conflict with the Hadith Sahih (a Hadith that has been transmitted by people known for their uprightness and exactitude; free from eccentricity and blemish) in this regard. Accordingly, it is classified as an unreliable and Batil Hadith. And Allah is the Only One whose Help is sought.
Undoubtedly, shaving the whole beard is a greater sin, because it makes the abominable act more apparent and involves imitating women. However, trimming the beard, although equally evil and contradictory to the Hadith Sahih, is less in sin than shaving the whole beard in its ruling. It should be noted that the person who shaves his beard or trims it is disobedient to Allah, but not a Kafir even if he believes the permissibility of such an act based on mistaken understanding or following the opinions of some scholars.
This person should be advised and warned against this evil. Indeed, growing the beard is a controversial subject among the scholars; some maintain that it is obligatory to grow it long and others hold that it is permissible to trim it. However, as far as I know, no scholar adopts the permissibility of shaving the beard.
This does not necessitate that whoever ignorantly or by following certain opinions believes that it is permissible to shave it is a Kafir, unlike the prohibited matters which are Ma`lum minaddin biddarurah (wellestablished) owing to the clearcut proofs supporting such prohibition. Believing in the permissibility of such prohibited matters is major Kufr (disbelief), if the person who adopts this opinion lives in a Muslim country. But if he is living in a nonMuslim country, then the right proofs should be exposed to him; if he insists on the permissibility of these prohibited religious matters, then he is a Kafir. These prohibited matters include committing Zina (premarital sexual intercourse and/or adultery), drinking Khamr (intoxicant), eating pork, and the like, as the prohibition of such matters are religiously established
and the supported proofs are known from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Accordingly, the claim of being unaware of the prohibition of such matters is of no avail, if the person who commits any of these prohibited matters has the amount of knowledge that leaves him no excuses.