The wearing of a beard is FARD upon all men just as wearing a Hijaab is FARD upon women:

Shaving the beard is haraam because of the saheeh ahaadeeth that clearly state this, and because of the general application of texts that forbid resembling the kuffaar.

One of these reports is the hadeeth of Ibn 'Umar who said that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "Be different from the mushrikeen: let your beards grow and trim your moustaches." According to another report: "Trim your moustaches and let your beards grow."

There are other hadeeth which convey the same meaning, which is to leave the beard as it is and let it grow long, without shaving, plucking or cutting any part of it. Ibn Hazm reported that there was scholarly consensus that it is an obligation (fard) to trim the moustache and let the beard grow. He quoted a number of ahaadeeth as evidence, including the hadeeth of Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) quoted above, and the hadeeth of Zayd ibn Arqam in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever does not remove any of his moustache is not one of us." (Classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi).


Is it haraam (to shave it)? Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

"The Qur'aan, Sunnah and ijmaa' (scholarly consensus) all indicate that we must differ from the kuffaar in all aspects and not imitate them, because imitating them on the outside will make us imitate them in their bad deeds and habits, and even in beliefs, which will result in befriending them in our hearts, just as loving them in our hearts will lead to imitating them on the outside.

Al-Tirmidhi reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "He is not one of us who imitates people other than us. Do not imitate the Jews and Christians."

According to another version: "Whoever imitates a people is one of them." (Reported by Imaam Ahmad)

'Umar ibn al-Khattaab rejected the testimony of the person who plucked his beard.

Imaam Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said in al-Tamheed: "It is forbidden to shave the beard, and no one does this except men who are effeminate" i.e., those who imitate women.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a thick beard (reported by Muslim from Jaabir).

It is not permitted to remove any part of the beard because of the general meaning of the texts which forbid doing so.


The beard (Arabic: liyah) is defined as the hair which grows on the cheeks and the jaws (ex., review: al-Q m s al-Muh t by al-Fayrazabad ). It includes the hair of the temples, the growth underneath the lower lip, the hair of the chin, and the hair that grows on the lower side of the
jaws.


The Islamic Ruling Concerning Beards

Growing the beard is a wajib (mandatory) for all males who are capable of doing so. This has ample evidence in the Sunnah (as will be shown below) and is the unanimous opinion of the ulamaa of Islam. One should not be misled by the neglect to this sunnah by a few contemporary shaykhs, and by their providing shaky fatwas to support their action. By doing that they make people follow them into the wrong way, when the Messenger (S) said:

He who starts a good sunnah (way) will be rewarded for it,
in addition to receiving rewards equal to the rewards of
those who follow him into it. Whereas he who starts a bad
sunnah will be burdened with it, in addition to receiving
burdens equal to the burdens of those who follow him into
it. [Muslim]

And he said:

Allah does not pull the knowledge abruptly from the hearts
of people, but he takes away the knowledge by taking [the
lives of] the `ulamaa (true scholars). When no `ulamaa are
left, people will take ignorant persons for leaders. Those
will give them fatwa (religious verdicts) without
knowledge. By doing this, they will stray and lead others
astray as well. [Al-Bukhari]

A List of Violations

Shaving the beard results in a series of Islamic violations, as is obvious from Allah's Book and His
Messenger's Sunnah. The following is a list (not necessarily comprehensive) of such violations: .

A Disobedience to Aallah (T)


Shaving the beard is a disobedience to Allah (T). The ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisraa, sent two envoys to the Messenger (S) to summon him. When they came into his presence, he noticed that they had shaved their beards and grew their moustaches. He hated to look at them (because of their odd appearance) and he said: Woe be to you, who told you to do so? They replied: "Our lord! (referring to Kisraa.)" The Messenger (S) then said:

But my Lord, may He be exalted and glorified, has commanded
me to leave alone my beard and to trim my moustache.
[Recorded by Ibn Jar r a-abar , and judged to be Hasan
(good) by al-Albani.]


b. A Disobedience To the Messenger (S)

Shaving the beard is a disobedience to the Messenger (S). In many hadiths, the Messenger (S) commanded men to leave alone their beards. These different hadiths have a similar
meaning:

Trim the moustache and save the beard. [Al-Bukhari and
Muslim]

Obeying the Messenger (S) in that is equivalent to obeying
Allah (T) who said (what means):

He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah. [An-
Nisaa 4:80]


c. A Deviation from the Appearance and Guidance of the Messenger (S)

Shaving the beard is a deviation from the appearance and guidance of the Messenger (S). The Messenger (S) used to have a large beard [Muslim]. One should strive to imitate him (S) in his practices, as Allah (T) said (what means):

In the Messenger of Allah is a good example for you to follow.
[Al-Ahzab 33:21]

And the Messenger (S) said: Verily, the best guidance is
Muhammad's guidance. [Muslim]


d. A Deviation from the Way of Believers

Shaving the beard is a deviation from the way of believers. All the prophets (S), the sahbah (Prophet's companions), the great `ulamaa, and the righteous early Muslims of this  Ummah (Nation) grew their beards. There is no report of a single one of them ever shaving his beard. Thus, this is their way, and Allah (T) says (in the meaning):

Whoever disobeys the Messenger after guidance has been
clarified to him, and follows other than the path of the
believers, We shall give to him what he deserves and broil
him in hell, which is the worst abode. [An-Nisaa 4:115]


e. An Imitation of the Disbelievers

Shaving the beard is an imitation of the disbelievers. This has been emphasized in several hadiths of the Prophet (S). For example:

Cut the moustaches and grow your beards. Be different from
the Magians (followers of a religion that dominated in
Persia). [Muslim]

Cut your moustaches and leave your beards alone. Be
different from the people of the scripture. [Muslim]

Be different from the Mushrikin (those who worship other
than Allah (T)); trim your moustaches and save your beards.
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

We have been commanded to be different and distinct from
the disbelievers, as in surat ul-Fatihah. Also, Allah (T)
said (what means):

Follow not the whims of those who have no knowledge (of
Islam). [Al-Jathiyah 45:18]

And His Messenger (S) said: Whoever imitates a people is
but one of them. [Recorded by Abu Dawud, and judged to be
authentic by al-Albani]


f. Changing Allah's Creation without Permission

The Messenger (S) declared that the women who change what Allah (T) has created (such as removing the hair from their faces or filing their teeth or tattooing their bodies)
seeking by that to improve their appearance, are accursed by Allah (T). [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The hadith mentioned women in particular because they normally seek to beautify themselves more than men. But the warning surely applies to both sexes, because the condition for the curse is declared, and thus the curse applies to anyone who satisfies such condition.

Shaving the beard falls under this warning, as it is much worse than the Nam (removal of facial hair) practiced by some women. It involves obeying Satan who said:

And I shall tempt them until they change what Allah has
created. [An-Nisaa 4:119]


g. An Imitation of Women

The beard is a major distinction between men and women. Shaving it removes this distinction, and is thus a means of imitating women. The Messenger (S) said:

Allah curses those men who imitate the women, and He curses
those women who imitate the men. [Al-Bukhari]


h. Shaving the Beard Contradicts the Pure Fitrah (Nature) Allah's Messenger (S) mentioned ten qualities as indicative of a good, clean nature [Muslim]. Two of these qualities are to trim the moustaches and to grow the beard.

The Messenger (S) also tells that every child is born with
a clean, pure fitrah, which later may get deformed by the
influence of the environment and the up-bringing. [Al-
Bukhari and Muslim].

In the footsteps of the disbelievers, many Muslims' fitrah is now, unfortunately, so much deformed that they seem to find a clean-shaven man more handsome and masculine than one with a beard - exactly the opposite of what the Messenger (S) declared in the above hadith.

This fitrah never changes with time: Allah (T) said (what means):

The pure nature according to which Allah has created
people. There is no change in Allah's creation. [Ar-Room
30:30]

For shaving their beards, some men give the strange excuse that their wives prefer them without one! As if their purpose in this life is to follow the deformed inclinations of their wives instead of the clear-cut commands of Allah (T) and His Messenger (S)!

Others claim that growing their beards results in an irritability and scratching. This cannot result from abiding by the pure fitrah, but would result (if true) from neglect of the proper cleaning and washing with wudu as instructed in the Sunnah.

What the `Ulamaa and Imams Say

All the `ulamaa of as-Salaf u- li, including the Four Imams, agreed that shaving the beard is haram (prohibited). They considered shaving it an impermissible mutilation, as has been reported about Umar bin Abdil-Aziz. They used to consider the person who shaved his beard effeminate. Many
of them would not accept his witness or allow him to lead the prayers.

May Allah (T) guide us to abide by His Deen, and to adhere
to His Messenger's Sunnah, and to be among those whom he
blessed in both lives.