[italertb]

The Shaykh is wrong. One should seek the mu'tamad of a madhab from the scholars of that madhab. There are two views in the madhab on a man removing his beard: 1) haram and 2) makruh.
The first view is related from al-Shafi'i in al-Umm, and is verified as such by the following researchers: Ibn Ziyad, al-Adhra’i, Ibn al-Rif’ah al-Qaffal al-Shashi, and al-Mallibari.
The second view is considered the rajih by al-Nawawi and al-Rafi’i (the Shaykhayn) as well as al-Ghazali before them and Ibn Hajar and al-Ramli after.

Here is the best response in English from Shaykh al-Akiti:

Any Shafi'i fiqh students, who have studied the Fath al-Qarib, Fath al-Mu'in and Fath al-Wahhab (the 3 most important manuals that are usually taught in a systematic Shafi'i curriculum and school) should know the definition of a beard [lihya; not with a fatha, since 'lahya' are the jawbones and is one of the technical terms used when defining the areas of al-fard, namely that which is included in the washing of the face during the wudu']. The lihya is: "that which grows on the chin" [a famous phrase from the Fath al-Mu'in: wa-lihyatin wa-hiya ma nabata 'ala al-dhaqani; I'anat al-Talibin, 1:50]. Indeed, according to the well-established technical vocabulary of our school, the lateral hairs ['aridan] are not considered to be part of the lihya (as the matn of the Fath al-Mu'in, for example, continues to make it unequivocally clear such as when it goes on to define the sideburn or 'arid, anew, and being clearly different from the definition of the beard or lihya above: "the 'arid [whiskers at the side of the face, or for lack of a better term, "lateral hair" or "side hair" of the face which will include "jaw hair" (and including, of course, any "cheek hair" - if it grows genetically that high) or I suppose, another English term maybe sideburns - if this term can accommodate all of these facial hair] is that [of the facial hair] which goes down to [meet] the beard." [Ibid.]). The only thing in common between the lateral hairs and the beard in our school, is that the lateral hairs are treated like the beard in their hukm of washing the face during wudu': if it is khafifa [thin], then, its inner and outer hair and skin beneath must be washed; if it is kathifa [thick], then, it is only obligatory to wash the outer hair but only Sunna or recommended to do takhlil [to comb it with one's wet fingers].

Given that the Qawl Sahih [Sound Position] of Imam al-Nawawi (al-Nawawi, al-Majmu', 1:357-358) which is also the Qawl Mu'tamad [Relied Upon Position] in our school (I'anat, 2:386; this, despite when the author of the Fath al-Mu'in followed the weaker opinion, Sayyid al-Bakri immediately makes known the well-accepted position), that shaving the lihya is only Makruh, and not Haram, the statement made by Habib 'Ali of Dar al-Mustafa, Tarim, is completely justified and free from any blame. Indeed, there is no karaha or dislikedness in shaving the lateral hairs or anything else that is not included to be part of the lihya, defined by our jurists. There is no where more clearer than what can be found in the Fatwa of Imam al-Ramli, one of the principal late figures of the Shafi'i school:

"Question: Is it Haram to shave and trim the [hair of the] chin [dhaqan; i.e., what is meant here is of course, the 'hair of the chin,' that is to say, the beard; notice that Imam al-Ramli purposely used the phrase, 'dhaqan' in the question (and not 'lihya') but used 'lihya' in his answer--this is to prevent any ambiguity arising from what is meant by the word 'beard']? Answer: To shave and trim the beard [lihya] of a man is Makruh, and not Haram. Whereas the statement of [Qadi] al-Halimi [a predecessor of Imam al-Ghazali, a Shafi'i Qadi and Muhaddith in Bukhara; d. 403 H/1012] in his Minhaj [fi Shu'ab al-Iman, (note, not a work of fiqh) that] 'it is not permissible for anyone to shave off his beard and eyebrows', is a Weak Position [Dai'f]." [al-Ramli, Fatawa, 4:69].

If you know Arabic I can give you a host of quotes to support this.