Keeping a beard is a special sign and one of the symbols of Islam, and the way of the prophets and messengers. From the point of view of Islamic thought, its importance is immense, and keeping a beard is a special duty for every Muslim.

The beard is a shiar, a symbol, of Islam and the Sunnah of all the prophets. Ibn Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) ordered the moustache to be kept short and the beard long.

Islam is a complete code of life. Everything beneficial to people is recognised in Islam and everything harmful is rejected or forbidden. Everything in Islamic sharia rests on the Quran and hadith. Whatever the Quran says comes from Allah, and all of Allah's commands are fard (obligatory); what comes through hadith is sometimes wajib and sometimes Sunnah. Wajib covers acts the Prophet ordered or strongly emphasised, while Sunnah is what the Prophet Muhammad did. As Muslims, all of these are our duty.

In Surah Al-Anfal Allah says: "O you who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger and do not turn away from him while you hear." (Surah Al-Anfal, 20) In Surah Al-Hashr He says: "Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it, and fear Allah. Indeed Allah is severe in punishment." (Surah Al-Hashr, 7)

The article discusses the rulings and virtues of the beard, setting aside the many arguments on the subject and relying on evidence from the Quran and hadith. The Arabic word for beard is lihyah, from lahi, the jaw. The beard is essentially the hair that grows on the jaw and cheeks, including hair below the lower lip, on the chin and under the jaw. It is an important part of a man's face, the article says, because keeping or not keeping it has Islamic and scientific benefits and harms.

A beard is an important sign of a Muslim man and marks him out as a Muslim. There is debate over whether it is fard, wajib or only Sunnah. Since the Prophet's own practice is counted as Sunnah, there is no doubt that the beard is at least Sunnah. Allah says: "Say, if you love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (Surah Al Imran, 31) Aisha narrated that the Prophet said ten things are the Sunnah of all the prophets and messengers, among them trimming the moustache and growing the beard. (Sahih Muslim 1/129)

Nor can the view that the beard is wajib be ignored, the article says, citing the verse: "It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice about it. Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has strayed into clear error." (Surah Al-Ahzab, 36) Many authentic hadiths deal with the beard. Abdullah ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet said: "Oppose the polytheists: grow the beard and trim the moustache." (Sahih Bukhari 2/875, Sahih Muslim hadith 625)

Many also claim the beard is fard, and the article says this cannot be dismissed either, since everything the Prophet did and said was set by Allah and he took no decision without Allah's command. It again cites Surah Al-Hashr, 7. Although the Quran does not mention the beard directly, the Prophet urged it many times, which is why many regard it as fard.

The noted jurist Allama Ibn Abidin Shami said that the essence of the matter is that keeping a beard is wajib and its sharia measure is one fist. It is a symbol of Islam, the Sunnah of all the prophets, and a mark of courtesy, nobility, honour and full manhood. It was the constant practice of the Prophet, and of the Companions, the Tabi'in, the Taba Tabi'in, the jurists, the hadith scholars and the pious predecessors. The Prophet called it fitrah, human nature. So keeping it is necessary, and shaving it off or cutting it shorter than a fist is haram and a major sin.

The key is to keep the beard as the Prophet and his Companions kept it. A hadith says that when the Prophet was worried he would hold his beard in his hand and look at it (Kanz al-Ummal 1/701). Another, narrated from Amr ibn Shuaib, says the Prophet trimmed what went beyond a fistful from beneath and around his beard (Sharh Shir'at al-Islam, 298). This shows, the article says, that his beard was longer than a fist and that one may cut what exceeds a fist. The Companions kept long beards, but cutting beyond a fist is also recorded in their practice.

In light of the Prophet's commands and practice and those of the Companions, the Tabi'in, the Taba Tabi'in, the imams, jurists and hadith scholars, senior scholars have set out the ruling on the beard. After a long discussion, Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri wrote that cutting the beard has in the present age become a symbol of Jews and Christians, adopted even by Muslims with no connection to the faith who prefer to follow English customs. He then quoted Imam Muhammad as saying that cutting the beard is haram, like shaving it (Badhl al-Majhud 1/33). Faid al-Bari, a commentary on Bukhari, states that cutting the beard shorter than a fist is haram by the consensus of all the imams (4/380).

After long discussion, Islamic scholars have ruled that keeping a beard is wajib, its minimum length is one fist, trimming beyond a fist is allowed, and cutting it shorter than a fist or shaving it is completely haram. Among the points to follow, the article lists keeping it at least a fistful long. Abdullah ibn Umar narrated in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that the Prophet said: "Oppose the polytheists: let the beard grow and cut the moustache."

The article also says that no sahih hadith is found on keeping the beard one fist long, though many places place great emphasis on it. It cites Abu Zur'ah narrating that Abu Hurairah would take his beard in his fist and trim the excess (Ibn Abi Shaybah, volume 8), and another report that Abu Hurairah held his beard in his fist and cut the rest (Nasb al-Rayah). There are many hadiths on keeping and growing the beard, so rather than arguing, the article advises keeping it a fistful or longer.

The article says not keeping a beard breaches many Islamic rulings:

• It disobeys the Prophet, who said: "Trim the moustache and grow the beard." (Bukhari, Muslim and others)
• It disobeys Allah, who says in the Quran: "He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah." (Surah An-Nisa, 80)
• The Prophet kept a beard and told his followers to do so, so one who does not keep it strays from his path.
• One who does not keep a beard strays from the path of the believers; in verse 115 of Surah An-Nisa Allah says that whoever opposes the Messenger will have Hell as his abode.
• The beard distinguishes Muslims from unbelievers, which makes it very important.

There are many other harms and severe punishments for not keeping a beard, the article says, so every Muslim should keep one according to Islamic rulings.

According to the article, keeping a beard pleases Allah and His Messenger; earns the Prophet's intercession on the Day of Judgement; follows the likeness of all the prophets and messengers; brings forgiveness from punishment in the grave; enhances the beauty of the face and signals bravery; turns into light (nur) for the believer in the darkness of the Day of Resurrection; means that, if faith and deeds are sound, bearded men will meet and be raised with the prophets and saints; keeps a Muslim away from many sins; is a key symbol of Islamic civilisation that makes a Muslim easy to recognise; and makes the questioning by the angels Munkar and Nakir in the grave easier.

The article says the beard is also good for the face and that there are scientific explanations for this. It cites a study at a hospital in the United States, published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, which found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, an antibiotic-resistant germ, three times more often on the skin of clean-shaven men than on bearded men. The researchers said the scraping of the skin during shaving creates an ideal environment for bacteria, while a beard helps prevent such infection. The article also says London researcher Dr Adam Robert found in a study that beards carry certain microbes that help destroy bacteria.

The article lists further benefits it attributes to the beard: that it increases sexual vigour; that a long beard protects against harmful germs; that it gives freedom from the germs of serious diseases such as pyorrhoea; that it saves time and money; that it enhances physical beauty and attractiveness; and that using a razor or blade on the beard reduces eyesight and hardens the skin of the face, harms that are avoided by keeping a beard.

Finally, the article says hadith mentions the people of Lut, whom Allah destroyed, and that among the ten reasons for their destruction was "not keeping a beard and keeping the moustache long". It urges readers to keep a beard out of respect for religion and thought for the hereafter, and ends with a prayer that Allah grant everyone the ability to understand Islam correctly and act on it.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.