[wizardasa]

I sincerely say that I support mufti Abd al Malik Sa`di in advancing the message of Islam and establishing the Sunnah. May Allah give him success in these matters. And may Allah guide him in leading the people of Iraq in the cause of Allah (SWT).

And may the Sunnah of the Rasulullah (saaw) and the Deenul Islam be supreme in the world.

In my previous posts, I was commenting, and venting, on much more than what the mufti said and undeservedly attacked the mufti, and . From the links provided, the mufti merely mentioned a few things about shaving the beard are the practice of the effeminate and gay men. More importantly, apparently the originator of this thread tried to take the comment by the mufti which apparently was merely his answer to a simple question and make it more than it was. However the mufti answered the question, the matter of the beard today is much more than just one opinion.

So there are differing opinions on the beard:

Tabi`i `Ata' ibn Abi Rabah said: "There is no harm in trimming a little from the length and sides of his beard, if it grows large and long" and al-Nakh`i, another Tabi`i, related that the Companions used to trim their beards on the sides.

In his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, the great Hanafi hadith Imam Badr al-Din al-'Ayni says:

If one objects: "What does 'leave beards be' mean, when 'to leave be' (al-i`fa') literally means 'to make plenteous,' and there are people, who, if they were to leave their beard, following the outward sense of leave beards be, their beard would become outrageous in length and width, and look disgusting, so that the person would become a topic of conversation, or a proverb" - The reply is that it is established from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that this hadith is conditioned by a specific context [i.e. the demand to do the contrary to what the Persians and non-Arabs did, established by the first words of the hadith], and that the amount and definition of the beard that is unlawful to leave uncut have been differed upon by the early Muslims...

The meaning, in my opinion, is "as long as it does not exceed what is customary among [religious] people." `Ata' [ibn Abi Rabah, Mufti of Mecca, d. 114/732), has said, "There is no harm in trimming a little from the length and sides of his beard, if it grows large and long, in order to avoid notoriety, or if one risks being made fun of" ('Umdat al-qari sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, 20 vols. Cairo: Mustafa Babi al-Halabi, 1392/1972, 18.76)


While I dont agree with Kabbani on many matters, this explanation of the hukm of growing, trimming, and cutting the beard is fairly sound as presented by Nuh Keller given that there are differing opinions on the matter among the ulama and the tabiin.

"To summarize, to have a beard is obligatory for the Muslim man. The wording of the above sahih hadith indicates it should be abundant, though this is conditioned by the `urf or common acknowledgement for it among religious, practicing Muslims. The early Muslims trimmed their beards, and there is not an unequivocal text (nass) that establishes a fixed legal limit to length and size. While the sunna is considered by many ulama to be "the handful," my own sheikhs trimmed their beards considerably closer than this, and they were ulama. It is my conviction and the premise of my approach to Islamic law that Allah will not punish the ordinary Muslim for something differed about between traditional ulama.

These considerations are particularly relevant to the circumstance that Islam has now spread to virtually every race on earth, and that genetically, not man can grow a beard like Ibn `Umar's. In my view, the differing capacities make preferable the more general fiqh criteria of (1) having a beard, (2) "abundance" according to one's capacity, so it doesn't look like the shaving of the non-Muslims, (3) and well-keptness that accords with the general

Islamic standards of beauty (among people who are practicing Muslims) and avoidance of notoriety -- rather than a certain mandatory length. And Allah knows best.

http://www.themodernreligion.com/mis...ing-beard.html "

This is another representation on the matter from the Shafii madhab:

Is it haram to shave the beard?

Imam al-Shafi‘i is reported to have said that shaving the beard is forbidden (haram). This is not, however, the position taken by the Shafi‘i school.[1] The soundest position in the Shafi‘i school is that shaving the beard is disliked (makruh) and not forbidden (haram). This is the position of all the important figures in the late Shafi‘i school, such as Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Muhammad al-Ramli, al-Khatib al-Shirbini, and Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari (Allah be pleased with all of them). (I‘anatu’l-Talibin, 2.341). Ibn Hajar has mentioned that this was the position of both Imam Nawawi and Imam Rafi‘i (Hashiyat Shirwani, 9.376). Imam Nawawi explicitly mentions that it is disliked to shave the beard in his commentary on Sahih Muslim and also in his Rawdat al-Talibin. Anyone familiar with the works of the school will realize that the agreement of all these scholars seals the case as far as the position of the school is concerned.

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.a...=1572&CATE=389


The matter which I am most frustrated about was that all authority: governing, legal, moral, religious, should reside with the Allah and His Messenger (saaw).

However, today the Muslim Ummah has allowed authority on many issues to be removed from Allah and His Messenger (saaw).

The kamees being replaced by the suit is a result of Western colonialism and intrusion so that now wearing a suit is NOT a sign of treason today. Its a custom/ urf in many Muslim lands. It was once when the colonizers directly ruled over us.

The matter of the beard is much more complex today. Many Muslim militaries forbid Muslim soldiers from wearing beards, such as Tunisia, Turkey, and others. Moreover, the Kemalist govt intentionally discriminated against Muslims with beards as a way of repressing and denigrating the Sunnah much like they forbid the hijab. As well, many Muslim youth have been raised to think that they have to shave in order to have jobs, careers, professions, and the beard is for elderly retired men, or ulama who otherwise reside in the masjidn and don't partake in daily business life. And even many people in the lands of the Shafii madhab shave or have very closely cut beards under these assumptions and influences.

So the one who deduces that since effeminate and gay men shave their beards, and there are Muslims who shave their beards, therefore those Muslims who shave their beards are gay or effeminate would be soarly mistaken because there are multiple factors involved in this matter, including that entire nations- secularized and repressed by brutal secular powers- that have made wearing beards criminal offenses or a cause for extreme prejudice. So the Sunnah is severely repressed there, or these matters are minimized in the societies and the cause of Islam is repressed and ulama have been, or have accepted, a trivialized and minimalized role in the entire society allowing generations to be robbed of the flowers and blessings of the Deen of Allah (SWT).

This is what Im concerned about regarding the original post here- that there's more to the story than simply sticking a label on Muslim people by the appearance of their personal practices.

Perhaps the orginal poster may have had some message to say by quoting the mufti of Iraq regarding men who shave their beards. I don't know. Personally, I support growing the beard and letting it grow and I support those who support the Cause of Allah (SWT) and the Message of our Rabb.

If I offended anyone here, I apologize, and any misguidance is my own, and may Allah forgive me, and guidance is from Allah, and Allah knows best.