One notable characteristic of such people is that many of them trim and style their beards to appear neat or fashionable to onlookers, intending to blend in with the surrounding society and present themselves as exemplary models to the ignorant in our Ummah. This, in turn, prompts their followers to believe that it is not obligatory to leave the beard in its natural state.
They claim that they love Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. But how can one who claims to love Prophet Muhammad ﷺ not follow this basic and simple Sunnah: to grow the beard and leave it as it is? Even worse is when they say that it is not obligatory to grow the beard because it is a matter of dispute among the scholars.
If someone believes that trimming the beard is Makruh (disliked, but not to the extent of being Haram), or that shortening the beard and keeping it neat is sufficient to be considered following the Sunnah, then, in this particular respect, he is not following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. This is because Sunnah Fi’liyyah refers to the actions or conduct practised by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
They may be following the Sunnah in terms of physical appearance by keeping a beard, even if it is short and neatly trimmed. However, in terms of actions and conduct, they are not emulating the way the Prophet ﷺ kept his beard.
Furthermore, even when examined from the perspective of physical appearance, their beards are not the same as the beard of the Prophet ﷺ. The beard of the Prophet ﷺ was certainly much longer because he never trimmed or cut it.
So, how can someone claim to be imitating the Sunnah in terms of physical appearance when the beard of the Prophet ﷺ was much longer because he was not known to have ever trimmed or cut his beard?
Follow the Sunnah by emulating the actions and conduct of the Prophet ﷺ, not merely by imitating his physical appearance or clothing.
According to scholars who adhere to the understanding of as-Salafus-Salih, it is fard (obligatory) to grow the beard and leave it as it is. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ instructed us:
“Be different from the polytheists, trim closely the moustache and grow the beard.” [Sahih Muslim (259c)]
In another hadith, it is narrated:
“Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard (as it is).” [Sahih al-Bukhari (5893)]
Sheikhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The Qur’an, Sunnah and ijma’ (scholarly consensus) all indicate that we must differ from the unbelievers in all aspects and not imitate them, because imitating them on the outside will make us imitate them in their bad deeds and habits, and even in beliefs, which will result in befriending them in our hearts, just as loving them in our hearts will lead to imitating them on the outside. At-Tirmidhi reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘He is not one of us who imitates people other than us. Do not imitate the Jews and Christians.’ [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi (2695)] According to another version: ‘Whoever imitates a people is one of them.’” [Sunan Abi Dawud (4031)]
If we do not grow the beard and leave it in its natural state, not only we are disobeying the command of our Messenger ﷺ, but we will also lose out in practising the Sunnah of passing fingers through the beard when performing ablution that is mentioned in Sunan Abi Dawud (145):
“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed ablution, he took a handful of water and, putting it under his chin, made it go through his beard, saying: ‘HAAKADZAA AMARANEE RABBEE ‘AZZA WA JALLA (Thus did my Lord command me).’”
Do not follow those who cherry-pick from Al-Qur’an and As-Sunnah only what suits their own desires to preach or practise. We should have the mindset of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq رضى الله عنه (may Allah be pleased with him) who is known to follow every sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Abu Bakr رضى الله عنه said:
“I will not leave anything Allah’s Messenger ﷺ used to do except that I will also practise it, for indeed I am afraid that if I leave anything of his commands, then I would deviate (from the right path and be led astray).” [Sahih al-Bukhari (3093)]
Ruling on the Beard: