Ruling on Looking at a Beardless Boy with Desire
Source: Fatāwā Amanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri
❖ Question:
What is the ruling on looking at a beardless boy with desire?
❖ Answer:
It is ḥarām to look at a beautiful, beardless boy with lustful intent.
✿ Statements of the Scholars
✔ Imām Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī رحمه الله (628H):
“This is something on which there is no difference of opinion regarding its prohibition. Rather, intending it deliberately is unanimously ḥarām.”
(Aḥkām al-Naẓar, p. 326)
✔ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (728H):
“Looking at the face of a beardless boy with desire is the same as looking with desire at the face of a woman who is unlawful (a maḥram) or a non-maḥram. Whether the desire is for intercourse or merely the pleasure of looking, just as one enjoys gazing at a non-maḥram woman’s face—it is known to everyone that this is ḥarām. Thus, looking at the face of a beardless boy with desire is also ḥarām, by agreement of the imams.”
(Majmū‘ al-Fatāwā 15/413)
✔ Imām Ibn al-Naḥḥās رحمه الله (814H):
“It is unanimously ḥarām to look at a beautiful beardless boy with desire.”
(Tanbīh al-Ghāfilīn, p. 313)
✿ Fabricated Narrations on This Subject
Some weak and fabricated reports are narrated regarding this matter:
- From Samurah ibn Jundub رضي الله عنه:
A delegation of ‘Abd al-Qays came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Among them was a handsome, beardless boy. The Prophet ﷺ seated him behind his back and said: “The sin of Dāwūd عليه السلام was looking at a beardless boy.”
(Damm al-Hawā by Ibn al-Jawzī, p. 106; al-Ziyādāt ‘alā al-Mawḍū‘āt by al-Suyūṭī 2/632)
① The narration is fabricated.
② Mujālid ibn Sa‘īd is weak.
③ ‘Abbās ibn Muḥriz is unknown.
④ Muḥammad ibn Ḥammād al-Miṣīṣī has no trace. - Ibn al-Qaṭṭān رحمه الله:
“Those below Abū Usāmah in the chain are unknown.”
(Aḥkām al-Naẓar, p. 335) - Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ رحمه الله:
“It is weak, having absolutely no basis.”
(Sharḥ Mushkil al-Wasīṭ 3/535) - Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله:
“Its chain is extremely weak.”
(al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr 3/315)
Other fabricated and rejected reports also exist.
- Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله:
“There are other weak ḥadīths in this regard.”
(Majmū‘ al-Fatāwā 15/377)
Conclusion:- Looking at a beardless boy with desire is strictly ḥarām by consensus.
- Fabricated narrations exist in this subject, but they do not affect the ruling established by the Qur’an, Sunnah, and scholarly consensus.
