IMPORTANCE OF BEARD IN ISLAM

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

 

Concerning Adherence to the Sunnah in the Noble Qur'an:

 

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (Quran 4:59)

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah and His Messenger, and turn not away from him when ye hear (him speak)." (Quran 8:20)

"O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered."(Quran 8:24)

"Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exempler for him who hopes in Allah and the Final Day, and who remembers Allah." (Quran 33:21)

Ahadith of Rasoolullah (SAS)

Aa'isha RA. relates that Rasulullah said: 'Ten things are of nature, in which cutting the moustache and growing a fall beard are mentioned'. Abu Dawood.

Quoting from Ibn Hibbaan the following Hadith is reported by Abu Hurairah As ; 'Rasulullah has said: 'Amongst the fitrat (Deen) of Islam is the cutting of the moustache and the lengthening of the beard for surely the Majoos (fire worshippers) lengthen their moustaches and cut their beards so oppose them by cutting your moustaches and lengthening your beards'.

Ibn 'Umar relates from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that he said: "Do otherwise than those who ascribe partners to Allah (al-mushrikin): leave beards be, and trim mustaches." And ibn 'Umar, when he went on hajj or 'umra, grasped his beard with his hand, and removed what was in excess of it (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Growing the beard is a wajib (mandatory) for all males who are capable of doing so. This has ample evidence in the Sunnah (as will be shown below) and is the unanimous opinion of the ulamaa of Islam.

Messenger (S) said: He who starts a good sunnah (way) will be rewarded for it, in addition to receiving rewards equal to the rewards of those who follow him into it. Whereas he who starts a bad sunnah will be burdened with it, in addition to receiving burdens equal to the burdens of those who follow him into it. [Muslim]

The ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisraa, sent two envoys to the Messenger (S) to summon him. When they came into his presence, he noticed that they had shaved their beards and grew their moustaches. He hated to look at them (because of their odd appearance) and he said: Woe be to you, who told you to do so? They replied: "Our lord! (referring to Kisraa.)" The Messenger (S) then said:

But my Lord, may He be exalted and glorified, has commanded me to leave alone my beard and to trim my moustache. [Recorded by Ibn Jar r a-abar , and judged to be Hasan (good) by al-Albani.]

Shaving the beard is a deviation from the way of believers. All the prophets (S), the sahabah (Prophet's companions), the great `ulamaa, and the righteous early Muslims of this Ummah (Nation) grew their beards. There is no report of a single one of them ever shaving his beard. Thus, this is their way, and Allah (T) says (in the meaning):

Cut your moustaches and leave your beards alone. Be different from the people of the scripture. [Muslim]

And His Messenger (S) said: Whoever imitates a people is but one of them. [Recorded by Abu Dawud, and judged to be authentic by al-Albani]

POINTS TO PONDER UPON:

My Dear Brothers, Alhamdulillah Allah SWT has given us the pure deen of Islam, unadulterated, the Quran which has not been tampered upon and the sunnah of Rasoolullah (SAS) in front of us. The sahaba made such an effort that the ummah today can understand the life of Rasoolullah (SAS) very clearly by reading the books of seerah, ahadith etc. We can derive guidance for every aspect of our life from the life of Rasoolullah (SAS).

If we follow the sunnah, we will be successful and if we leave the sunnah, it will lead us to failure. It’s a very sad situation in the ummah today that the ummah is suffering so much because we have left the deen. One great scholar remarked, that the people of the book are successful today because they have left their books (bible, torah) and the muslims are failing today because we have left our book too (the Quran). Allah SWT has promised this ummah victory and inshaAllah the victory is near. But it will happen only if we go back to the Quran and the sunnah of Rasoolullah (SAS).

One very important sunnah that has been left out today is the growing of the beard by the muslim men. Due to the prevalence of the media and satellite television, we are continuously bombarded by the faces of men who are clean shaved. That is shown as a manly thing. The heroes of movies are clean shaven and the bad guys have a beard, all these things subconsciously affect our minds and we relate the beard to a quality of a bad person. Also there has been an effort by the media to terrorise the muslims by showing pictures repeatedly of people with beards and linking them to terrorists etc. This has made us distant from this very important sunnah. Imagine what will happen if Jesus pbuh comes today, will the media say he is a terrorist?

Another important point is that the past 150-200 years have been very painful for the ummah, going through one humiliation to the other. Whereas Allah has opened the technology and modern science to the non believers. Now there are two aspects, one is the scientific advancements and the other is the culture. The culture of the west is morally bankrupt. Extra marital affairs, broken marriages etc is the norm. when a civilization dominates the other, the one that has been subjugated tries to imitate the dominant one. But what mistake we made is that we thought that the west has progressed because of its culture which is wrong. They progressed because of their hard work. But we took up their culture and in trying to imitate their ways, gone further lower. To progress in our life, we need to work hard and it has got nothing to do with the culture. So we should get this point clear in our minds. Adopt the good qualities from them like their hard work, sincerity etc and leave out the filth.

Also there is a misconception that people will not get jobs if we have beards etc, we will be discriminated at our workplaces etc. this is not true. Civil rights mandate that if a person has beard for religious reasons and he is discriminated, then he has every right to sue the employer for discriminatory reasons.

Also Muslims are afraid today to be identified as Muslims, citing that there is a lot of inconvenience while traveling with extra security checks etc at the airport. Believe me, Alhamdulillah I have traveled a lot and never did I face discrimination at the airport. Lot of my friends, who have beards, never had any problem at the airports. In fact the security people understand and respect the Muslims with beards. On the other hand, something irony, is that Muslims who do not have beard had to undergo lots of hardships at the airports. Isn’t that something to ponder upon?

I would like to encourage all the brothers here to read the history of Islam, educate ourselves. When we followed Rasoolullah, we were the leaders of the world. Europe was in dark ages but Muslims were reveling in the scientific inventions and the Islamic civilization was the dominant force throughout the world. People from all over the world used to travel to Baghdad and Spain to get education just like we came here today to America. I would encourage the brothers to watch the documentary, Islam – Empire of Faith. It has highlighted very clearly the advances made by the Muslims and this documentary was created by non Muslims. The Muslim scientists and scholars, everyone had beards and wore turbans.

If we have beards and we behave in a decent manner that will break many stereotypes splashed by the media. People will look at us and understand that men with beards are not terrorists as shown by the media. That will at least break the false propaganda. Also remember that in the grave we will be shown the noble face of Rasoolullah (SAS). If we follow his teachings, then we will be able to identify him. Also on the day of judgement, we have to face Rasoolullah (SAS) and ask for his intercession. Imagine that day we go in front of him, leaving behind his precious Sunnah.

 

So I will encourage each one of us here to grow our beards, only for the sake of Allah SWT and following the sunnah of Rasoolullah (SAS). If with my talk today, even one brother grows a beard, I will think Allah SWT has accepted my concern.

Posted by Arshad at 10:19 AM 

 

 

 

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