Hair removal and the beard

Shaving the pubic hair (istihdad)

Linguistically, the pubic hair is the hair growing above the private parts (Al-Misbah al-Munir). The technical meaning of the term does not depart from its linguistic meaning. Al-Adawi and an-Nafrawi say: the pubis is what lies above the male member and the vulva, and between the buttocks and the private parts (Hashiyat al-Adawi on Sharh ar-Risala 2/353, Al-Fawakih ad-Dawani 2/401).

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) specifies: what is meant by the pubic hair is the hair above and around the male member, and likewise the hair around the woman's private part. It is transmitted from Abu al-Abbas ibn Surayj that the pubic hair would be the ring of hair around the anus; he comments: this statement is strange, but there is no objection to shaving the hair of the buttocks; as for its being recommended, I have seen nothing of the sort; if the aim is cleanliness and ease of istinja, it is good and approved (Al-Majmu' 2/304).

The jurists are therefore unanimous that shaving the pubic hair is a sunna. An-Nawawi says: shaving the pubic hair is agreed to be a sunna as well; does it become obligatory upon the wife if her husband orders it? Two famous views exist; the sounder is the obligation, provided it is not excessive in a way that repels the eager husband; if it is so excessive as to repel him, it becomes unconditionally obligatory (Al-Majmu' 2/303 and 304, Kifayat at-Talib ar-Rabbani 2/353, Hashiyat Ibn Abidin 5/261, Al-Furu' 1/130, Al-Mughni 1/108).

There is no disagreement among the jurists on the permissibility of removing the pubic hair by any means: shaving, trimming, plucking or a depilatory (nura), for the root of the sunna is fulfilled by removal by whatever means (Al-Majmu' 2/304, Al-Mughni 1/108, Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/76, Fath al-Bari 10/356). Nor do they disagree that shaving is the best means of removing the pubic hair for the man (Fath al-Bari 10/356, Al-Majmu' 2/304, Sharh Sahih Muslim 3/121, Al-Ikhtiyar 4/167, Hashiyat Ibn Abidin 5/261, Kifayat at-Talib ar-Rabbani 2/353, Al-Mughni 1/108). As for the woman, the Hanafis and the Shafi'is hold that plucking is preferable for her.

The beard: the prohibition of shaving it and the limits of trimming it

9. Shaving the beard: the Hanafis, the Malikis, the Hanbalis and Imam ash-Shafi'i himself, explicitly, hold shaving the beard forbidden, for it contradicts the prophetic command to let it grow and spare it.

Among these commands, Abdullah ibn Umar reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"Be different from the polytheists: trim the mustaches and leave the beards full"Narrated by Bukhari (5892) and Muslim (259)

And according to the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), raised to the Prophet:

"Cut the mustaches, let the beards grow, and differ from the Magians"Narrated by Muslim (260)

Ibn al-Humam the Hanafi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: as for taking from the beard less than a handful, as some Maghrebis and effeminate men do, no one has permitted it (Sharh Fath al-Qadir 2/348, see Hashiyat Ibn Abidin 2/418, Al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq 2/302). Ad-Dasuqi the Maliki says: it is forbidden for a man to shave his beard, and the one who does so is disciplined (Hashiyat ad-Dasuqi 1/348, Munh al-Jalil 1/82, Hashiyat al-Adawi 2/444). Al-Qurtubi says in Al-Mufhim: it is not permitted to shave it, pluck it or cut much of it (Tarh at-Tathrib 2/78). And Abu al-Hasan al-Maliki notes that the scholars' wording specified "the flesh" to the exclusion of the hair of the head and the beard, for shaving these is an innovation.

Al-Adawi comments: this innovation is a forbidden innovation regarding the beard for the man; as for the woman, it was stated earlier that shaving her beard (if one grows) is obligatory for her (Hashiyat al-Adawi on Kifayat at-Talib ar-Rabbani 2/580). Among the Hanbalis, Ibn Muflih, after quoting the hadiths, concludes: this wording entails, with our companions, the prohibition (Al-Furu' 1/10). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya says: shaving the beard is forbidden (Al-Fatawa al-Kubra 4/388, Al-Ikhtiyarat 19, see Al-Insaf 1/121, Ar-Rawd al-Murbi' 1/45, Al-Mubdi' 1/105, Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat 1/44, Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/75).

Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) transmits a consensus on the prohibition of shaving the beard: they agreed that shaving the entire beard is a mutilation which is not permitted, whether for the caliph, the virtuous or the scholar (Maratib al-Ijma' p. 57, see Al-Furu' 1/10).

As for the Shafi'is, it is stated in I'anat at-Talibin: "shaving the beard is forbidden"; but the position adopted by al-Ghazali, shaykh al-Islam, Ibn Hajar in At-Tuhfa, ar-Ramli, al-Khatib and others is mere dislike (karaha). The same work adds: the 2 shaykhs said shaving the beard is disliked, and Ibn ar-Rif'a objected in Hashiyat al-Kafiyya that ash-Shafi'i (may Allah be pleased with him) explicitly stated the prohibition in Al-Umm. He writes there: if the barber shaved it and the hair grew back as before or finer, nothing is held against him; shaving is not a tort since it involves little pain; and although in the beard it is not permitted, it involves neither great pain nor loss of hair since it grows back (Al-Umm 6/82 and 83, I'anat at-Talibin 2/340, Hawashi ash-Shirwani 9/376).

Az-Zarkashi reports the same from al-Halimi in Shu'ab al-Iman and from his teacher al-Qaffal ash-Shashi in Mahasin ash-Shari'a. Al-Adhra'i says: the correct view is the prohibition of shaving it altogether, without any specific cause (I'anat at-Talibin 2/340, Hawashi ash-Shirwani 9/376). Imam an-Nawawi says: the choice is to leave the beard as it is, without touching it with any shortening at all (Sharh Sahih Muslim 3/124, Al-Majmu' 2/304). Abu Shama, of the Shafi'is, adds: people have appeared who shave their beards, which is graver than what is reported of the Magians, who merely trimmed them (Fath al-Bari 10/363).

As for trimming the beard when it is long, the majority of the jurists (Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis) explicitly state that it is not forbidden to cut what exceeds a handful; the Shafi'is say it is disliked. A hadith exists on this, not extremely weak: from Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father and his grandfather, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from his beard both in width and in length (hadith graded defective (mu'dal): narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2762)).

Imam al-Mawsili the Hanafi says, concerning letting the beards grow: Muhammad reports from Abu Hanifa that it means leaving them until they become dense and abundant; trimming them is a sunna: the man grasps his beard and cuts whatever exceeds his grasp, for the beard is an adornment, its abundance belongs to the perfection of adornment, and its excessive length contradicts the sunna (Al-Ikhtiyar 4/208). Imam Ibn Abidin confirms: "the sunna therein is the handful", that is, the man grasps his beard and cuts whatever exceeds a handful; this is what Muhammad mentioned in Kitab al-Athar from the Imam, and he adds: this is the view we follow.

Anecdote: at-Tabarani narrates from Ibn Abbas, as words raised to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Among the happiness of a man is the lightness (shortness) of his beard". It has become widespread that the length of the beard is a sign of weak intellect; some composed these verses: "No one saw his beard grow long and add to his appearance, without his intellect losing more than his beard gained."

Curiosity: it is transmitted from Hisham ibn al-Kalbi that he used to say: "I memorized what no one memorized and forgot what no one forgot: I memorized the Quran in 3 days; then I wanted to cut from my beard whatever exceeded the handful, and I forgot, and cut from its upper part" (Hashiyat Ibn Abidin 6/407, Durrar al-Hukam 4/27, Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya 5/358).

Among the Hanafis, one view goes further: cutting whatever exceeds "the handful" becomes obligatory, which entails the sin for whoever neglects it (Al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq 2/302, Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar 2/417). Ibn al-Qasim reports: I heard Malik say: there is no harm in cutting whatever of the beard grows long and strays; he was asked: and if it becomes very long? among beards are some that grow very long; he said: I see that it be cut and shortened (At-Tamhid 24/145).

Imam Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him) says: what Malik deemed good, namely taking from the beard when it becomes excessively long, is good and contains nothing that contradicts the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to let it grow; he commanded letting it grow because shaving or cutting it is a disfigurement and a mutilation; likewise its excessive length amounts to haughtiness and seeking notoriety: if some people stopped trimming their beards, it would end up reaching their chest or lower, which is unseemly. Success belongs to Allah (Al-Bayan wa-t-Tahsil 17/391).

Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Ibn Umar's taking from the end of his beard during the hajj is evidence for the permissibility of taking from the beard outside the hajj: were it not permitted, it would not be permitted during the hajj, for they were commanded to shave or shorten, upon entering ihram, what they had been forbidden during their pilgrimage. Yet Ibn Umar himself narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Let the beards grow", and he knows best the meaning of what he narrated; accordingly, in his view and that of the majority of the scholars, it is permitted to cut whatever strays from the beard. And Allah knows best.

Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is reported to have cut from his beard whatever fell upon his face. Ibrahim said: they used to cut from the sides of their beards. Ibrahim himself cut from the side of his beard. Abu Hurayra is reported to have cut from his beard whatever exceeded the handful; the same is reported from Ibn Umar, and likewise from al-Hasan. Qatada said: they did not cut from its length except in hajj or umra; they cut from the 2 sides (Al-Istidhkar 4/317 and 318).

Qadi Iyad (may Allah have mercy on him) says: cutting from its length is good; notoriety is disliked in exaggerating its length just as in cutting or shaving it. The early generations differed on whether there is a limit: some set no limit, avoiding only notoriety, while still trimming it; Malik detested excessive length; others fixed the limit at whatever exceeds the handful, to be removed; others yet disliked cutting it except in hajj or umra (Tarh at-Tathrib 2/78).

An-Nafrawi the Maliki specifies: shaving the beard is forbidden for a man; trimming it while it is not long is likewise forbidden; but if it grows very long, Malik said: there is no harm in cutting from its length when it grows beyond the customary appearance of most people; the excess is cut, for keeping it makes the appearance repulsive; the basic ruling is recommendation, so there is no objection here to what is better; custom has no defined limit, and one should confine oneself to whatever improves the appearance. Al-Baji says: he cuts whatever exceeds the handful, as indicated by the practice of Umar and Abu Hurayra: both used to cut whatever exceeded the handful. The "length" refers to the length of the hair, which includes the sides of the beard; cutting from them is therefore permitted as well. Malik's statement is not unique: the recommendation of trimming the long beard preceded Malik, held by many Companions and many successors (Al-Fawakih ad-Dawani 2/307).

Among the Hanbalis: taking whatever exceeds the handful is not disliked. Imam Ibn Muflih (may Allah have mercy on him) says: there is no harm in taking what exceeds the handful and what is under the jaw, according to the practice of Ibn Umar; however he only did so in hajj or umra, narrated by Bukhari. In Al-Mustaw'ab: leaving it is preferable; others say it is disliked. Ahmad used to take from his eyebrows and his temples; transmitted by Ibn Hani (Al-Furu' 1/100, Al-Mubdi' 1/105, Al-Insaf 1/121, Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/78).

Ibn Hani relates: I asked Abu Abdillah (Ahmad) about a man taking from his temples. He said: he takes from the beard whatever exceeds the handful. I said: and the hadith of the Prophet "trim the mustaches and let the beards grow"? He said: he takes from its length and from under his jaw. And I saw Abu Abdillah take from its length and from under his jaw (Al-Jami' li-ulum al-Imam Ahmad 13/380).

As for the Shafi'is, Imam an-Nawawi says: in Bukhari's narration comes "spare the beards"; 5 wordings thus appear: "leave, spare, loosen, let hang and increase them"; all of them mean leaving the beard as it is: such is the apparent meaning of the hadiths, held by a group of our companions and other scholars (Sharh Sahih Muslim 3/151).

An-Nawawi also mentions that the scholars listed 10 blameworthy practices regarding the beard, some uglier than others:

• dyeing it black, except for the purpose of jihad;
• dyeing it yellow in imitation of the righteous, not in following of the sunna;
• whitening it with sulfur or otherwise to hasten old age, out of thirst for leadership and veneration, so as to pass for an elder;
• plucking or shaving it at its first growth, preferring a smooth face and good looks;
• plucking the white hairs;
• styling it laboriously so that women and others find it attractive;
• adding to it and taking from it, by implanting hair taken from the temples or by shaving part of the head, by plucking the sides of the forelock, and the like;
• combing it with affectation before the people;
• leaving it disheveled and neglected, so as to display asceticism and indifference to oneself;
• contemplating its black and white, in self-admiration, arrogance, delusion of youth, boasting of gray hair or condescension toward the young;
• knotting it and braiding it;
• shaving it, except if a beard grows on a woman: it is then recommended for her to shave it. And Allah knows best (Sharh Sahih Muslim 3/149).