Islamic Ruling on the Beard in Light of Hadith and Quran
Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Volume 1, Page 857
❖ Question:
What is the Shar'i (Islamic legal) status of the beard?
❖ Answer:
Alḥamdulillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
It is abundantly clear that the beard is a Prophetic tradition inherited from all the Prophets, and this is explicitly mentioned in both the Qur'an and Hadith.
◈ Evidence from the Qur'an
Allah ﷻ said regarding Prophet Hārūn (ʿalayhis-salām):
﴿قَالَ يَا ابْنَ أُمَّ لَا تَأْخُذْ بِلِحْيَتِي وَلَا بِرَأْسِي﴾
"Hārūn (ʿalayhis-salām) said: O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard or by my head."
[Surah Ṭāhā 20:94]
This verse clearly proves that the Prophets had beards, and that it was among their outward Sunnahs (physical practices).
◈ Evidence from Hadith
Narrated by ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
عَشْرٌ مِنَ الْفِطْرَةِ:
قَصُّ الشَّارِبِ، وَقَصُّ الْأَظْفَارِ، وَغَسْلُ الْبَرَاجِمِ، وَإِعْفَاءُ اللِّحْيَةِ، وَالسِّوَاكُ، وَالِاسْتِنْشَاقُ، وَنَتْفُ الْإِبْطِ، وَحَلْقُ الْعَانَةِ، وَانْتِقَاصُ الْمَاءِ
Musʿab said: I forgot the tenth one, unless it was rinsing the mouth.
[Sunan al-Nasā’ī, vol. 2, p. 269]
The Prophet ﷺ said that ten acts are from Fitrah (natural disposition or Prophetic tradition):
① Trimming the moustache
② Clipping the nails
③ Cleaning the finger joints
④ Growing the beard
⑤ Using the miswāk
⑥ Sniffing water into the nose
⑦ Plucking the armpit hair
⑧ Shaving the pubic hair
⑨ Cleaning oneself after relieving
⑩ (Possibly) rinsing the mouth
This Hadith makes it clear that growing the beard is from the Fitrah of the Prophets and is a long-established Sunnah.
◈ Command to Grow the Beard
In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, it is narrated from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما that:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ:
انْهَكُوا الشَّوَارِبَ، وَأَعْفُوا اللِّحَى
"Trim the moustaches closely and grow the beards."
[Bukhārī, vol. 2, p. 875; Muslim, vol. 1, p. 129]
Another narration in Muslim reads:
"أوفوا اللحى" – "Let the beard grow fully."
◈ Various Wordings in Different Narrations
Imām Nawawī رحمه الله states:
وأنه وقع عند ابن ماهان ارجوا، وجاء في رواية البخاري وفروا اللحى، فحصل خمس روايات: اعفوا، وأوفوا، وارخوا، وارجوا، و وفروا، ومعناها كلها تركها على حالها، هذا هو الظاهر من الحديث الذي تقتضيه ألفاظه.
[Sharḥ Muslim, vol. 1, p. 129]
There are five variants regarding the command to grow the beard:
❶ Aʿfū – Leave it
❷ Awfū – Grow it fully
❸ Arkū – Let it hang loosely
❹ Irjū – Let it flow
❺ Waffirū – Let it grow abundantly
All of them mean: Leave the beard as it is, i.e., do not shave or trim it.
◈ Prohibition of Shaving the Beard
These authentic narrations confirm that shaving or trimming the beard is not permissible.
Shaving the beard is the practice of the Magians (Zoroastrians), as the Prophet ﷺ said in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:
"خالفوا المجوس"
"Oppose the Magians."
There is no authentic hadith that allows trimming the beard.
◈ Discussion on a Weak Narration
It is narrated in Sunan al-Tirmidhī from ʿAmr bin Shuʿayb from his father from his grandfather:
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يأخذ من لحيته من عرضها وطولها
"The Prophet ﷺ used to take from the sides and length of his beard."
Imām al-Tirmidhī himself graded this hadith as gharīb (odd) and weak:
هذا حديث غريب، وسمعت محمد بن إسماعيل يقول: عمر بن هارون مقارب الحديث، لا أعرف له حديثا ليس له أصل، أو قال: ينفرد به إلا هذا الحديث.
[Tirmidhī, vol. 4, p. 11]
Imām ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī رحمه الله said: ʿUmar bin Hārūn is a discarded narrator, thus this narration is weak and not reliable.
◈ Practice of the Companions (Ṣaḥābah)
❀ In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, it is mentioned that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما used to trim the beard beyond one fist.
❀ Imām Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله stated that ʿUmar رضي الله عنه also trimmed a person’s beard that exceeded a fist length.
❀ Abū Hurairah رضي الله عنه also used to trim his beard beyond a fist.
According to scholars, keeping at least a fist-length beard is obligatory, while trimming what exceeds a fist is not blameworthy.
However, leaving the beard entirely as it is is considered preferable and more cautious.
Summary
❖ Growing the beard is from the Sunnah of the Prophets and part of the natural disposition (Fitrah).
❖ Shaving the beard is an un-Islamic and impermissible act.
❖ Keeping a fist-length beard is obligatory at minimum.
❖ Letting the beard grow naturally is the best and safest course.
هٰذا ما عندي واللّٰه أعلم بالصواب
