TweetShaving the beard results in a series of Islamic violations, among which are the following:
1. Disobedience to Allah Shaving the beard is an act of disobedience to Allah, as is expressed in the words of His Messenger (saw): Abu Hurayrah (ra), reported that the ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisra, sent two envoys to the Messenger (saw). When they came into the Prophets (saw) presence, he noticed that they had shaved their beards and let their moustaches grow big. Hating their ugly appearance, The Prophet (saw) turned his face away and said, Woe be to you, who told you to do so? They replied:Our lord (Kisra) did! The Messenger (saw) responded:But my Lord, exalted and glorified be He, has commanded me to spare my beard and trim my moustache. [Recorded by Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, Ibn Sad, and Ibn Bishran. Verified to be hasan (good) by al-Albani (Fiqh us-Sirah by al-Ghazali p. 359)]
2. Disobedience to the Messenger (saw) Shaving the beard is an act of disobedience to the Messenger (saw) who commanded the men to spare their beards in many hadiths. Ibn Umar (ra), reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: Closely trim the moustache, and spare the beard. [Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others].
Obeying the Messenger (saw) is equivalent to obeying Allah: He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah; and as for those who turn away: We have not sent you as a guardian over them. [An-Nisa 4:80]
3. Deviation from the Guidance of the Messenger (saw) There is no doubt that Allahs Messenger (saw) is the best example of a man, both in his appearance and actions.
Allah says: There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern - for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day, and who remembers Allah often. [An-Nisa' 4:80]
And Jabir (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: Verily, the best guidance is Muhammad's guidance. [Recorded by Muslim].
Jabir Bin Samurah (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) had a large beard. [Recorded by Muslim].
Shaving the beard clearly exhibits a deviation from his appearance and guidance.
4. Deviation from the Way of Believers One must strive to follow the ways of the believers and identify with them. This is an obligation expressed by Allah: Whoever opposes the Messenger, after guidance has become clear to him, and follows other than the way of the Believers, We will give him what he has chosen and let him into Hell: What an evil destination! [an-Nisa 4:115]
Note: The description Believers in the ayah applies first and foremost to the Sahabah [the Prophet's (saw) noble companions Radiallahu Taala Anhum Ajmaeen]
All of the prophets (alaihimus-salatu-as-salaam), the Sahabah (the Prophet's (saw) companions RA), the great ulama, and the righteous Salaf (early Muslims) of this Ummah (Nation) grew their beards. There is no report of a single one of them selectively shaving his beard.
For example, Allah tells us that Harun (as) addressed his brother Musa (as) as follows: He said, O son of my mother! Do not hold me by my beard or head. [Ta-Ha 20:94]
Furthermore, there are authentic reports indicating that the Rightly Guided Successors, as well as other sahabah and tabi'un had large beards.
Abu Bakr (ra) had a thick beard [Qut ul-Qulub 4:9], Umar (ra) had a big beard [Al-Isabah 2:511], Uthman (ra) had a large beard [Al-Isabah 2:455], and Ali's (ra) beard was so wide as to span the distance between his shoulders [At-Tabaqat (3:25) by Ibn Sad],
Therefore, shaving the beard exhibits a clear deviation from the way of the believers.
5. Imitation of the Kufaar (Disbelievers) The Muslims have been commanded to be different and distinct from the Kufaar (disbelievers).
In Surat ul-Fatihah, we are commanded to ask Allah to guide us away from the ways of the disbelievers: Guide us to the Straight Path - The path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your favor, not of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who are astray. [Al-Fatihah 1:6~7]
Also, Allah prohibits His Messenger (saw) from following the desires of the ignorant. And indeed, anyone who is not on the True Guidance is ignorant. Allah says: Do not follow the whims of those who have no knowledge (of Islam). [Al-Jathiyah 45:18]
The Prophet (saw) has indicated that a person who imitates a certain people will be counted (in Islam) as being one of them. Ibn Umar (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: I have been sent, close to the Last Hour, with the sword (to fight for the truth) - until Allah is worshipped alone without partners. My sustenance has been allotted under the shade of my spear. Humility and defeat have been allocated to whoever strays from my command. And whoever imitates a people is one of them. [Recorded by Abu Dawud and others. Verifies to be authentic by al-Albani (Irwa ulghalil no. 1269)]
How terrible it would be for a person whom Allah has favored with Islam to find himself resurrected on the Day of Judgment among non-Muslims - simply because he liked to imitate them.
In several hadiths, Allah's Messenger (saw) has linked sparing the beard to being different from the followers of other religions.
Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported that the Prophet (saw) said: Cut the moustaches and grow your beards. Be different from the Magians. [Recorded by Muslim and Others] Note: Magians - Followers of an ancient Persian religion.
Abu Umamah (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: Cut your moustaches and leave your beards alone. Be different from the people of the scripture. [Recorded by Muslim]
Ibn Umar (ra) reported that Allahs Messenger (saw) said: Be different from the mushrikin; trim your moustaches and save your beards. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Note: mushrikin - Those who join others with Allah in worship. Therefore, shaving the beard is an act of imitation of the disbelievers, and should be extremely abhorred. It conflicts with many fundamentals of Islam, and yet many Muslim men do it in compliance with the practices of the disbelievers! Verily, Allah's Messenger (saw) foretold the truth, as was reported by Abu Said al-Khudri (ra), when he (saw), said: You will follow the example of those who preceded you, hand-span for hand-span, and arm-length for arm-length. Even if they entered into a lizard's hole, you would surely enter it! He (saw) was asked, Do you mean the Jews and Christians? He (saw) replied, Who else are the (previous) people? [Recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim and others].
6. Changing Allah's Creation Without Permission Except for cases that are expressly indicated in Islam, it is prohibited to change the way that Allah has created things. Changing Allah's creation without permission involves obeying Satan who, as Allah tells us, had said: They actually call upon none but rebellious Satan, whom Allah has cursed. And he had said (to Allah), I will surely take from among Your servants a specific portion. I will mislead them, give them false promises, command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and command them so they will change the creation of Allah. Certainly, whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah is in tremendous loss. [an-Nisa 4:117~119]
Allah has honored the human beings and fashioned them in the best form: Verily, We have created the human being in the best of stature. [At-Tin 95:4]
Changing this without permission is indeed an act of great atrocity and deviation that deserves punishment. The Messenger (saw) declared that the women who change what Allah has created (such as removing their facial hair, wearing wigs, filing their teeth, or tattooing their bodies) seeking by that to improve their appearance, are accursed by Allah.
Ibn Mas'ud (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: Allah curses those (women) who tattoo (for others) and those who get tattoos, those who pluck the facial hair (for others) and those who have their facial hair plucked, those who connect their hair with other (fake) hair, and those who file their teeth for beauty - they all change Allah's creation. [al-Bukhari and Muslim]
This hadith mentions women in particular because they normally seek to beautify themselves more than men. But the warning applies to both genders, because the condition for the curse is declared: changing Allah's creation. Thus the curse applies to anyone who satisfies such condition. Shaving the beard falls under this warning, as it is much worse than nams (removal of facial hair) practiced by some women.
At-Tahanawi said: It is established that changing Allah's creation is a cause for the curse, and that whatever Allah's Messenger (saw) prohibits is prohibited by Allah. [Bayan ul- Quran]
Waliyy Ullah ad-Dahlawi said: Cutting it is the way of the Magians, and involves changing Allah's creation. [Bayan ul-Quran]
7. Imitation of Women The beard presents a major distinction between men and women. Shaving it removes this distinction, and is thus a means of imitating women. Any act that involves imitation of the opposite gender makes a person liable for the curse of Allah and His Messenger (saw).
Ibn Abbas (ra) reported: Allah's Messenger (saw) has cursed the men who imitate the women; and the women who imitate the men. [Recorded by al-Bukhari and others].
Al-Kandahlawi said: No one can have doubt that complete imitation of women arises from shaving the beard. This imitation is stronger than that of imitating their clothing and other matters, because the beard is the foremost and greatest distinction between men and women. This is possible to observe by all people, and is not denied except by one who wants to deceive himself, follow his whims, and be effeminate after Allah has favored him with the good appearance of a man. [Wujub ifa il-Lihyah 31-32]
8. Contradicting the Pure Fitrah The Messenger (saw) indicated that a child is born with a pure nature, which may subsequently be blurred by self-indulgence or unfavorable environmental influence.
Abu Hurayrah (ra) and al-Aswad Bin Sari (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: Every child is born with the pure fitrah (nature) - until he becomes able to express himself. It is his parents who then turn him into a Jew, a Christian, a Magian, or a pagan. [al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Furthermore, Allah's Messenger (saw) mentioned ten qualities as indicative of a good, clean nature. Two of these qualities are to trim the moustaches and to grow the beard.
Aishah (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: There are ten qualities of fitrah: trimming the mustaches, sparing the beard, siwak (brushing the teeth), inhaling water (to clean the nose) [and rinsing the mouth], cutting the nails, washing the finger knuckles, plucking the armpit hair, shaving the pubic hair, washing the private parts with water, [and circumcision]. [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shaybah, and others. The part between square brackets is not in Muslim (Sahah ul-Jami `no. 2222)]
This fitrah never changes with time: Allah says: The pure nature according to which Allah has created the people. There is no change in Allah's creation. [ar-Rum 30:30]
In the footsteps of the disbelievers, many Muslims fitrah is now very deformed. They find a clean-shaven man more handsome and masculine than one with a beard - exactly the opposite to what the Messenger (saw) declared in in the above hadith!
9. Ridiculing the Din With the deformed fitrah that many contemporary Muslims have, they approve of the ways of the disbelievers and disapprove of the guidance of Allah's Messenger (saw)! They adorn themselves with closely shaved beards, and are ashamed of attending important functions or meetings with even a slight beard. They admire the shiny look of a clean shaved man, and congratulate one who just had a nice shave! They command their relatives, children, and subordinates to shave their beards, declaring that the beard is a sign of being messy, backward, and lazy! They ridicule the beard and anyone who grows it! By doing this, they redicule an established part of the religion of Islam, which is a major sin. If they do not know that, they are most ignorant about their din, and if they do it knowingly, they could fall into a definite act of kufr (disbelief) - in Allah we seek refuge.
Tags:
posted by Seifeddine-M on 19th May 2010 - 0 comments
Blogs Disclaimer: The views expressed in these blogs are those of the author(s). The blog is monitored with set guidelines. Inapproproate content should be reported on our forums for the attention of our moderators.