Neatening the beard

· 20 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1433 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

Is it allowed in Islam for a male to neaten the beard (NOT CUT) while it is still growing to a fist length (Not yet a fist length) as I am still in my teens and my beard has become extremely wild which is not exactly 'in my opinion' what Islam teaches. To me Islam teaches dignity in portraying ourselves to promote Islam rather than be seen as primitive and uncouth.

Answer

You can neaten it by combing it, not trimming it before a fist length.

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

عن ابن عمر عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال خالفوا المشركين وفروا اللحى وأحفوا الشوارب وكان ابن عمر إذا حج أو اعتمر قبض على لحيته فما فضل أخذه (صحيح البخاري رقم 5892)
( لا ) يكره ... تطويل اللحية إذا كانت بقدر المسنون وهو القبضة ... وأما الأخذ منها وهي دون ذلك كما يفعله بعض المغاربة ومخنثة الرجال فلم يبحه أحد وأخذ كلها فعل يهود الهند ومجوس الأعاجم (الدر المختار 2/417-418)

ودخلا على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وقد حلقا لحاهما وأعفيا شواربهما فكره النظر إليهما وقال " ويلكما من أمركما بهذا ؟ " قالا أمرنا ربنا - يعنيان كسرى - فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " ولكن ربي أمرني باعفاء لحيتي وقص شاربي (البداية والنهاية 6/486)

السيرة الحلبية 3/246

فتاوى رحيمية 10/108

Answered by
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
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People also ask

What is the length of the beard in Islam?

“It is impermissible (makrooh-e-tahreemi) to appoint a person who shaves his beard or trims it less than one fist length as the Imaam. However, if such a person is appointed as the Imaam, the sin will not be upon the musallis,…”

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