[Caunnysup]

My beloved brothers,
Please do not let the discussion get too heated where we call each other "Jahil" and what not.

Sidi Abdulwahhab:

The point is not the beard. You and I can both keep our beards, as I am sure we do insha'Allah. The point is that almost instantly the title of the video was criticized, for Shaykh Babikir (ha) could not possible be a true Sufi-shaykh due to the shortness of his beard, or so it was claimed. Such criticism and attacks on the Shaykh are unwarranted, whether one believes that his lack of beard is haram or sufficient to fulfill the Sunnah of the beard. It is not just Shaykh Babikir, but the general trend of attacking Shuyukh as soon as we A) disagree with them, or B) spot something that we consider a flaw or shortcoming. It is not a healthy approach for (presumably young) students to have.

While unrelated to the inner state of scholars; there have been instances where brothers have rejected taking knowledge from some scholars, while later finding out that they are considered to be from amongst the greatest of Muhaddithun and Fuqaha. Just like some brothers called Shaykh Akram Nadwi, "some random uncle in the masjid". People have this idea of how a scholar, pious, or even generally decent brother is supposed to look and talk like. Like I said, not a very healthy approach.

wassalam