The ruling on trimming beards

The answer: The question and what it contains revolves around the ḥadīth that commands trimming the moustache and letting the beards grow. So know that this ḥadīth and those similar to it occur in the chapter of etiquette (bāb al-ādāb). By “those similar to it” we mean such as the ḥadīth concerning eating with the right hand, eating from what is directly in front of the eater, trimming the fingernails, plucking the armpit hair, shaving the pubic hair, and the like. What has come in this chapter is one of the categories of Sunnah.
And the command in it does not go beyond recommendation (nadb), and the prohibition in it does not go beyond dislike (karāhah). The contextual indicator that diverts the command and prohibition from obligation and forbiddance in this chapter is that all of it occurs within the chapter of etiquette.
And we add in clarification of that: that the tribes of the Arabs, including Quraysh, used to conduct themselves with many praiseworthy etiquettes, such as wearing turbans, combing the hair and parting it, cleanliness of clothes and bodies, observing dignity in eating, walking, and speaking, letting the beards grow and trimming the moustache, and so on.
This chapter has distinguishing features and signs, among them:
1. That these etiquettes were known before the coming of the Sacred Law.
2. That it appears that the command and prohibition in this chapter are not based on consideration of benefits and harms in the way that is the case in what has come concerning fornication, wine, theft, prayer, fasting, jihād, and so on.
- A command from the Messenger (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) has indeed come regarding differing from the polytheists, the Jews, and the Magians. As for the matter of the beard, the apparent case is that the polytheists and Jews used to let their beards grow, and perhaps the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) commanded differing from the Magians with regard to the beard and the moustache.
And in summary, what has come from the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) of commands to differ from the Magians, the Jews, or the polytheists is divided into categories:
1. Of it is what occurs concerning something they do which is prohibited; then differing from them is obligatory.
2. And of it is what occurs concerning an act that is recommended; then it is recommended, such as his command to fast the ninth along with the tenth in the fast of ʿĀshūrāʾ, if he indeed commanded that.
3. And of it is what occurs in the chapter of etiquette; then it is recommended, such as what has come regarding beards and the moustache.
Except that there is a special case in which differing from them is obligatory in all circumstances, without looking to anything else: namely, when the Jews or others are distinguished by doing some practice – such as what the Jews in Yemen do of lengthening the hair in what is known as al-zunāratayn (the two sidelocks). Differing from them in that is obligatory.
Likewise, if the authorities of Yemen were to impose upon the Jews wearing blue clothing instead of the two sidelocks, in such a way that wearing blue would become for them a distinguishing mark by which they are known and recognized, just as they are now distinguished by the two sidelocks – then differing from them would be obligatory, not because wearing blue is prohibited in itself, but because wearing it would indicate that the one wearing it is, outwardly, a Jew. He would then have to be treated as a Jew, and a ruling of apostasy would be applied to him according to outward appearance.
And the prohibition of resembling women in clothing and the like is not due to the clothing itself being prohibited, but because the man who wears women’s clothes has, outwardly, not shown regard for Allah’s blessing upon him, in that He honoured him, ennobled him, and raised his rank. It is as if, by resembling women, he has made himself equal to them and has been content for himself with being like them; and that is ingratitude for Allah’s blessing upon him, in that He raised his station above the stations of women.
- Al-Hādī (Peace be upon Him) has stated in Kitāb Maʿānī al-Sunnah that shaving the hair, using the tooth-stick, letting the beard grow, and taking from the moustache are among those things which the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) adopted from himself and by his own choice, and that he regarded them as among those for which neither Allah nor His Messenger, May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace, has made any punishment upon the one who leaves them – such as witr prayer, trimming the fingernails, and like the additional voluntary acts of worship.
Yes, among the contextual indicators that show that a command or prohibition has been diverted from obligation and forbiddance to recommendation and the like, or dislike, is that the thing commanded be something whose ruling was known beforehand – such as wearing the turban, cleaning the hair, combing it and parting it, letting the beard grow, and the like. For the goodness of these etiquettes was known before the coming of the Sacred Law – and likewise eating and drinking of wholesome things, hunting, and the like of what is permissible. So when a command comes concerning such things, it is carried, in the first case, upon recommendation, and in the second upon permissibility, because the ruling in both cases was already known beforehand.
– And the reality of a command is that it denotes obligation, and prohibition denotes forbiddance. What has come of them is carried upon their real meaning, except when there is a contextual indicator that diverts it from its real meaning; and here such an indicator is indeed present, namely what we have mentioned.
– If shaving the beard becomes a distinctive emblem specific to the openly disobedient or to the unbelievers, then it is not permissible to shave it; because the one who shaves it thereby exposes himself to suspicion of debauchery or unbelief.
– In ʿUyūn al-Mukhtār there is a marginal note from our master
al- Imām al-Ḥujjah Majd al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad al-Muʾayyadī . (may Allah have mercy on him) that Imām al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm (Peace be upon Him) used to resemble the Bedouins by lengthening the moustache. Our master mentioned something similar to what we have mentioned, so refer back to his words; from that the school of Imām al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm (Peace be upon Him) is understood. As for al-Hādī (Peace be upon Him), he has explicitly stated that there is no punishment for leaving the beard without letting it grow, and so on.
– It has been transmitted from some of the Companions that he used to trim from his beard, and no disapproval has appeared from the scholars regarding that.
– There is a well-known saying that among the signs of a fool are things including: having a long beard. No criticism appears to have been directed at this statement despite its notoriety.
In the books of legal theory, concerning His saying, Exalted: “And when you have exited the state of iḥrām, then [you may] hunt” [al-Māʾidah:2], some scholars say that a command that comes after a prohibition indicates permissibility; thus, they considered the preceding prohibition to be a contextual indicator for permissibility.
As for the prohibition of men wearing gold and silk, as well as the prohibition of wearing red and yellow for them, and of garments that hang below the ankles, and of walking in a haughty manner, turning the cheek away in arrogance, folding the side of the garment (in pride), undoing the buttons (in a showy way), covering the nakedness, lowering the gaze, and the like: even though these fall within the chapter of etiquette, there has nevertheless come an explicit text from the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) concerning the prohibition of gold and silver for men, and the prohibition of red and yellow has come because of what they contain of ostentatious display that calls to arrogance, self-admiration, and haughtiness. Likewise, whatever is below the ankles is forbidden because of haughtiness; and turning the cheek away and folding the side of the garment are forbidden because of what they indicate of arrogance; likewise, walking in a haughty manner. Covering the nakedness was made obligatory by reason even before the Sacred Law; and lowering the gaze is obligatory in order to block the pathways of Satan.

Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2