Lumátu’d Đuĥā

Lumátu’d Đuĥā fī Iýfā’a al-Liĥā

The Radiance at Mid-Noon: On Sparing the Beard

In the ĥadīth of Bukhārī, it is reported that RasūlAllāh ﷺ said: “Oppose the polytheists by trimming your moustaches and keeping ample beards.” In Şaĥīĥ Muslim, the ĥadīth is: “trim moustaches and spare the beards.” Keeping beards is undoubtedly a sunnah, and there are numerous ĥadīth that mention the ample beard of the Prophet ﷺ. When a clean-shaven Magian emissary came to visit RasūlAllāh ﷺ, the Master ﷺ was visibly angry and reprimanded him: “But my Lord [Almighty Allah] has commanded me to keep the beard.” Shaving the beard was considered to be a practice of eunuchs and transvestites in the past – but unfortunately due to influence of irreligious reformers, shaving the beard has become a common malady among Muslims. Worse, people claiming to be scholars trim or shave their beards and permit the same for others. Alahazrat lists numerous ĥadīth and statements of scholars that condemn this act – which is ĥarām and a person who shaves his beard (or trims to less than a fistful) is a fāsiq múlin – open transgressor.