the ruling of the beard according to hanafi fiqh

What is the ruling of triming the sides of the beard (to less than a fistful) without trimming anything from the bottom part of the beard i.e the chin & the 2 bottom parts of the jaw to look more presentable & neat. Some muftis say that it is fisq.

However many beards are almost impossible to tame & presenting oneself with an unruly beard in professional/worldly circles leaves a bad image of Islam.

As for scholars themselves I have noticed many who trim their beards from the side & mufti akmal deems it permissible saying it is proven from Rasūlallah ﷺ.

@abu Hasan, would really appreciate an answer

 

Original Fatwa

 

magharibah does not refer to 'westerners' as in europeans; rather the north-western african region, i.e. from "maghreb".

arabs make this distinction by using the words gharbi (western) and maghribi (moroccan, algerian, tunisian, libyan).

 

Why is someone who trims his beard called a faasiq despite having a beard ?

Answer :

The Wujūb (obligation) of keeping a beard is established through Hadith. It is narrated in Sahih Bukhari:

عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ،عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:خَالِفُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ،وَفِّرُوا اللِّحَى وَأَحْفُوا الشَّوَارِبَ، وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ إِذَا حَجَّ أَوِ اعْتَمَرَقَبَضَ عَلَى لِحْيَتِهِ فَمَا فَضَلَ أَخَذَهُ.

Translation of the Hadith: " *_Oppose_* the polytheists; *_Trim_* the moustaches, and *_Grow_* the beard.
When Ibn Umar performed Hajj or Umrah, he would hold onto his beard and trim the excess hairs."

Hadith Number: 5892
This Hadith commands us to keep a beard using the seegha of amr
(Words specifically used for giving an order), and since it is a command from Rasulullah
صلى الله عليه و سلم، it is Waajib.

One might say that this Hadith is مجمل (not explicit) and does not specify the quantity, so the answer is that even though in the beginning it is such but it is afterwards clearly implied that a fistful should be kept.

This is evident from the actions of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, who both kept a fistful beard.

It should be noted that the actions of the Companions here are غير قياسى (It is not a quantity set by themselves) because the quantity is specified, and the rule goes such that specified quantities can only be inferred from the Sharia, not intellect

So there was a mujmal hukm In this hadees which was explained (تشريح) and made clear (توضيح) by the actions of the sahaba.
And this is Qaim maqaam hadeeth (holds the same authority as a hadeeth)

According to Fath al-Qadeer:
۔
الاخذ منھا وھی دون ذلک کما یفعلہ بعض المغاربۃ ومخنثۃ الرجال

"Taking less than that, as done by some effeminate men and Westerners, is prohibited."
(فتح القدیر،باب الصیام باب مایوجب القضاۃ والکفارۃ،مکتبہ نوریہ رضویہ سکھر 2/ 270)

For further details, refer to Fatawa Razawiyyah and the book Ahkam-e-Daarhi

And Allah knows best

 

Shaykh Nidaal is a Syrian shaykh with PhD in Fiqh & Usūl ul fiqh

 

babies should not get into serious discussions. if you are ignorant of usul, qarinah is for you to keep your mouth shut and learn. not dispense ahkam arising from jahalat.

when RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam commands something, it is indication of wujub.

now go and find how many hadith and in how many ways you have been enjoined to grow a beard. if you are capable of reading alahazrat's lama'ah al-duHaa, first read it and then come back explaining how alahazrat did not understand as you have done.

---
whoever wrote that book maslak-e-ikhtilal (مسلك إختلال) also makes exceedingly stupid arguments. incidentally, i got to read the book, last night and found that the author does not even understand what he is himself quoting!


وداء الجهل ليس له طبيب

 

Show a hadith where RasulAllah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) or any of his companions reduced the beard to less than a fistful.

 

1) according to the first definition of wujub which u mentioned above...... proofs that growing beard is not wajib because there is a qarina (indication) against it i.e from the amal of nabi alaihis salaam of cutting his own beard and from the amal of sahaba ikram of the cutting their own beard (tirmizi).

 

1) according to the first definition of wujub which u mentioned above...... proves that growing beard is not wajib because there is a qarina (indication) against it i.e from the amal of nabi alaihis salaam that he cut his own beard and from the amal of sahaba ikram that they cut their own beard

2) qarina (indication) against growing beard is cutting the beard, is present in hadis so bcos of this qarina the command of growing beard doesn't become wajib.

 

"not conceivable" is about as academic as it gets.

and "dude" is the modern academic equivalent of the olde english "sir"

another academic argument - whine and throw a tantrum and hey, argument proved!

lol

 

start a new thread please. and please don't spam this thread when it is clearly marked "hanafi".

fine. readers will judge. mere denial cannot change the fact, no matter how vociferously you contend.

yeah, zabidi wasted paper and he should have taken tips from you on what is hujjah and what is not. it is unfortunate that zabidi did not have eminent thinkers like yourself to coach him on how to compile a book.

also, you write as if you are basirqadri's twin, unless you are the same person. so when are you embarking on a purge of all fiqh books that mention other opinions?

btw, it'Haf is a sharh of iHya. just so that you know - and there is no monopoly of shafiyis on iHya nor is it useless for Hanafis.

don't waste your time. now that i have seen your depth, i won't waste mine. wa's salam.

 

That's not true. Just because you say distorted, it doesn't become distorted. Secondly, why would Hanafi scholars quote Shafi, Maliki, Hanbali scholars when they aren't Hujjah or can be used as Hujjah. Waste of paper and time unless there is another reason which you don't want to the readers to know which will blow up your preconceived notions, that you can take the Rajih Qawl.

anyway dude, it is not conceivable that all 100,000+ sahaba had Minimum and Maximum length of beard as HANDFUL or FISTFUL, if that is your definition of beard (minimum and max lenght handful or fistful otherwise it is not appropriate beard)

Can we make it academic and scholarly. Can you cite the names of scholars who defined BEARD ONLY AS HANDFUL OR FISTFUL Length.

What is the minimum and maximum lengths for beard in all school of thoughts ?

Waiting for your reply.

 

sub'HanAllah.

please read your own quote. you have yourself quoted from zabidi's it'haf and quoted it in a distorted fashion.
i am just correcting it, as a response to your accusation that i didn't read/understand the citation, which you posted twice.

as for subki, iraqi etc - it is pertinent to that discussion and in the context of what other posters have said.

besides, please get this right: our position is only according to Hanafi fuqaha, and that the prescribed length of the beard is fist-length. notice the title of the thread.

 

@Bazdawi @abu Hasan

I don't understand why you Abu Hasan quote Imams Ibn Subki, Iraqi, Subki and other shafi in some of his threads, and I also don't understand why would Imam Murtaza Zabidi who is a hanafi quoting Maliki scholars.

Still waiting for Abu Hasan or Bazdawi to answer

Can we make it academic and scholarly. Can you cite the names of scholars who defined BEARD ONLY AS HANDFUL OR FISTFUL Length.

What is the minimum and maximum lengths for beard in all school of thoughts ?

Waiting for your reply.

 

no did not.

even in qurtubi's and qadi iyad's citation that you have mentioned once again, it is proof for fist-length. other than the fact that neither qurtubi nor qadi iyad are hanafis.

you must understand the context of the statement and the age in which it was made. there was a time when wearing a beard WAS the normal and even fussaq and apostates did not shave their beards as it was deemed unmanly. so qaDi iyaD, talking about it 900 years ago might not be the same as hamza yusuf talking about it in a room full of clean shaven muslims.

looks like you have not noticed wahabis, who do not trim their beard and leave it very long and grizzly. the statement above says, and below i am pasting it with the right emphasis:

The scholar al-Qurtubi said in his Mufham: To cut the beard, to pluck it, and to cut most of it is not allowed. Qadhi Iyaadh has said: To cut the beard from length is “recommended” and to make it so long till the point where fun is made of it, is“disliked” similarly to cut it (excessively) is also “disliked” The early scholars have differed whether there is any limit for cutting the beard or not?​

Some scholars said: There is no limit prescribed for it, however it should not be made so long that it reaches a point where fun is made of, so some of it should be cut.​

----
i tried to highlight the emphasis but sadly, the above quote is incomplete and if deliberate, it is dishonest.

here is what zabidi said, from the exact page number that has been cited (i.e., it is the same edition):

it'Haf sadah al-muttaqin, volume 2 page 419:




=====

...al-iraqi deduced from this, that the majority position (jumhur) is to leave the beard untouched, just as it is and not to trim it at all; and this is the position of shafiyi and his companions.

qaDi iyaD said that it is disliked to shave the beard or to trim it or to distort it [taHrif]; qurtubi in his mufhim said: it is impermissible [laa yajuz] to shave the beard, nor pluck it, nor trim most of it.

qadi iyad said: to trim it along its length is a good thing [meaning not letting it go excessively lengthy; consistent with the fist-length premise]​

 

perhaps you are unaware but if you had bothered to read the title, we are discussing the hanafi position; or maybe you are under the assumption that imam qurtubi al-maliki, qadi iyad al-maliki and imam malik were hanafis.

 

Brother, I think you are not reading the entire text, you are just selecting what suits your purpose.

From my post again:
The scholar al-Qurtubi said in his Mufham: To cut the beard, to pluck it, and to cut most of it is not allowed. Qadhi Iyaadh has said: To cut the beard from length is “recommended” and to make it so long till the point where fun is made of it, is“disliked” similarly to cut it (excessively) is also “disliked” The early scholars have differed whether there is any limit for cutting the beard or not?

Some scholars said: There is no limit prescribed for it, however it should not be made so long that it reaches a point where fun is made of, so some of it should be cut.

Imam al-Malik has called “excessive length” of beard as “disliked” whereas some have put the limit of fistful for it and said: If the beard exceeds fistful then it should be cut, whereas others said: It is “disliked” to cut it except during Hajj or Umra. [Allama Sayyid Muhammad Murtaza al-Zubaydi Hussaini al-Hanafi, in Itihaaf as Sa’adat al Mutaqeen (2/419), Published by Matba Maymana, Egypt]

Can we make it academic and scholarly. Can you cite the names of scholars who defined BEARD ONLY AS HANDFUL OR FISTFUL Length.

What is the minimum and maximum lengths for beard in all school of thoughts ?

Waiting for your reply.

 

Arguing about the beard is arguing about whether to follow a Sunnah. Allah loves those who follow the Sunnah and the extent of that love being exponential to the degree to which a person follows the Sunnah in general. That is why the Sufiya Ikraam have reached what They reached as they are the people of Sunnah who have become drowned in the Ocean of the Sunnah reaching the Ocean bed and are anchored to it in a way they will never again be allowed to come up for air. For these people, they see the missing of even one Sunnah akin to punishment and the severing of a major life dependant limb.

So rather than look at the length of the beard only, rather ask how many Sunnahs are attached to this one Sunnah and ask that you be honoured with Them all for arguing is what wastes time and distracts you from Worship. This is a subtle trap. those who argue on the beard seem to be finding an excuse and a way out but you should find every way in.

Allah Knows Best