12 Shar‘i Rulings and Details Regarding Beard Khilāl in Wudu
Taken from: Fatāwā al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 1, Page 373
❖ Question:
What is the ruling on performing khilāl (interlacing) of the beard during wudu? What is the correct method and how many times should it be done? Kindly explain in detail.
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. ʾAmma baʿd:
✦ Authentic Hadiths on Beard Khilāl
❶ Ḥadīth of Anas ibn Mālik (رضي الله عنه):
When the Prophet ﷺ performed wudu, he would take a handful of water, insert it under his chin, and perform khilāl of his beard, saying:
“My Lord has commanded me to do so.”
(Sunan Abū Dāwūd: 1/30, Ḥadīth 145; Bayhaqī: 1/54 — Ḥasan ḥadīth)
✔ Imām Ḥākim declared its chain authentic (1/149) and was supported by Imām al-Dhahabī.
✔ Ibn Qaṭṭān also considered it authentic.
❷ Other Reports:
The beard khilāl of the Prophet ﷺ is narrated from:
- ʿUthmān (رضي الله عنه) – Tirmidhī Ḥadīths 29, 30
- ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir (رضي الله عنه) – Ibn Mājah 1/72, Ḥadīth 429
- ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها)
- Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī (رضي الله عنه)
✿ Additional Sources:
- Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl (1/130, Ḥadīth 92)
- Ṭabarānī al-Awsaṭ, Dāraqutnī, Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Sakan — all authenticated these reports.
- Nayl al-Awṭār (1/185) mentions the Prophet ﷺ would wipe his cheeks and perform khilāl from below with his fingers.
(Narrator ʿAbd al-Wāḥid is disputed)
✦ Scholarly Opinions on the Ruling
➊ Opinion One: Obligation (Wujūb)
✔ Supported by the abundance of hadiths.
✔ The wording in Anas’s ḥadīth: “My Lord has commanded me…” indicates obligation.
✔ The Prophet ﷺ’s consistent practice further proves it.
➋ Opinion Two: Recommendation (Istihbāb)
Some scholars consider it recommended, citing:
✔ Weakness in some chains.
✔ As per Imām al-Shawkānī (Nayl al-Awṭār: 1/185–186), the hadiths mostly involve actions, not explicit commands.
✔ The wording “My Lord commanded me…” may apply specifically to the Prophet ﷺ.
✿ Other Scholarly Remarks
- Imām Aḥmad: “Nothing authentic regarding beard khilāl has reached us.”
- Ibn Abī Ḥātim from his father: “No sound report from the Prophet ﷺ on beard khilāl.”
(Zād al-Maʿād: 1/68, Naṣb al-Rāyah: 1/26) - Imām Mubārakpūrī (Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 1/43): Due to authenticating reports by Tirmidhī, Ḥākim, and Ibn Ḥibbān, concludes that the combined narrations establish legitimacy.
- Ibn Ḥajar declared ʿĀʾishah’s narration ḥasan.
✦ Imām Isḥāq’s View:
✔ He held the view of obligation:
➤ If left out by forgetfulness or misunderstanding, the wudu is valid.
➤ If deliberately abandoned, wudu must be repeated.
(Tirmidhī, Manār al-Qabūl: 1/50)
✿ Reports from Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn:
Ibn Abī Shaybah (1/12) reports beard khilāl from:
✔ ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir
✔ Ibn ʿUmar
✔ Anas
✔ ʿAlī
✔ Abū Umāmah
✔ ʿUthmān
✔ Ibn Sīrīn
✔ Ibrāhīm (al-Nakhaʿī)
✦ Number of Times for Khilāl
➤ Ḥadīth One:
Ibn Mājah (431) — Anas (رضي الله عنه) said:
The Prophet ﷺ would widen his fingers and perform khilāl of the beard twice during wudu.
Status: Weak (due to Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr and Yazīd al-Raqāshī — both weak narrators)
➤ Ḥadīth Two:
Ḥākim (1/149) — ʿĀmir ibn Shaqīq narrated that ʿUthmān (رضي الله عنه) performed beard khilāl three times and said:
“I saw the Prophet ﷺ doing exactly as you saw me do.”
Imām al-Dhahabī noted that Ibn Maʿīn deemed the narration weak.
The three times portion is not authentically proven in any ṣaḥīḥ hadith.
(See: Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 1/85)
✦ Method of Beard Khilāl
✔ Take a handful of water, insert it under the chin.
✔ Use fingers from below to interlace through the beard.
❖ Conclusion:
✔ While there is some difference of opinion in the strength of reports,
✔ The safer and more virtuous option is to perform beard khilāl.
✔ Especially given that many Companions and Tābiʿīn practiced it, it should not be neglected based merely on certain fatāwā.
✔ This reflects adherence to the Sunnah and caution in matters of dīn.
Refer also to:
- al-Mughnī: 1/116
- Tammām al-Minnah: p. 93
ھٰذَا مَا عِنْدِی وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
