Obligatory means fard, right? To not do something that is fard puts one outside the fold or realm of Islam, right? If one does not pray 5 times a day (2 fajr, 4 zuhr, 4 asr, 3 maghrib, 4 isha) according to the methodology of the sunnah, then one is not a Muslim, right? Fasting the month of Ramadhan (for all), paying zakat (for those with a certain amount for 1 year), and making hajj (for those with the means to do so) are also fard, or obligatory requirements. Not eating pork, blood, carrion, or drinking alcohol or taking other intoxicants are all likewise fard.
There are certain other things that are sunnah that we should all strive or intend to do. I see that wearing a beard for men and a hijab for women falls into this category. To deny that these are sunnah and to dismiss them as not being a part of Islam puts one in a predicament in the manner of one who would deny any accepted sunnah such as eating with the right hand or saying alhamdulillah after sneezing. We should acknowledge what is absolutely required (fard) for a Muslim and differentiate it with what is sunnah that are much preferred, but not absolutely required.
I have had a beard continuously since 2002, but the length is only about 1 inch or the length of the first joint on my finger. If one says that keeping a beard is fard, then it must also be fard to keep it at least a fist length or about 4 inches. My intention in growing a beard was to more closely follow the sunnah, but I stopped short at the length of my beard as I don't like my appearance with a longer beard (shabby, unkempt) and I don't feel as strongly about that part of the sunnah. Am I not a Muslim because my beard is not 4 inches long or is my Bangladeshi brother not a Muslim because he shaves his beard every day? Is the sister who wears a head scarf only to pray and on the Eid a Muslim or is she not?
Not doing something that is obligatory puts you out of the folds of Islam? Really? When did I say that?
Can you prove to me from the Qur'an and Sunnah that the person who drinks and commits zinah is a kafir, because it is obligatory to refrain from them?
As for al-manar and Tyrion, I will advise you with the following:
I'm not going to get into a detailed discussion about fiqh and its principles simply because I don't have the time to type it all out. But I will say this: for you to lower the obligation of growing the beard to a sunnah is ignorance on your half of what makes something obligatory and what makes something a sunnah. But to inform you regardless of what you know: anything that is a
command from Allah and His Messenger :saws1: is obligatory and anything other than that is a sunnah of the Messenger :saws1:. Both have a reward: you are rewarded greatly for following a command and as well you are rewarded for following a sunnah though you are not necessarily sinful if you leave it.
This is proven from many verses in Qur'an and just as many ahadeeth that obligate Muslims to follow the command of Allah and His Messenger. This command to follow Allah and His Messenger is because you did not create yourself, nor did you play any part in bringing about your own existence in this world, then can you guide yourself? Can you show yourself the right way and not be among those who are deaf, dumb and blind? If you are unable to do any of this then you have no option but to submit to the One who created you, put you on this earth and then shows you the straight path.
Of the characteristics of the men on the straight path are those who grow a beard. This is because the Messenger :saws1:
commanded to grow the beard. The Messenger of Allah :saws1: said: "Be different from the mushrikeen: let your beards grow and trim your moustaches."
According to another report: "Trim your moustaches and let your beards grow."
In Saheeh Muslim, Allah's Messenger :saws1: said, "Cut the moustache and grow your beards. Be different from the Magians."
Another Narration in Muslim says, "Cut your moustache and spare your beards – be different from the people of the scripture."
Jabir ibn Sumarah (r) and Ali ibn Abu Talib (r) said that the Messenger :saws1: had a large beard.
The wife of the Messenger :saws1:, A'ishah (r), said "..by the One who has beautified men with beards..."
The above ahadeeth have affirmed the beard, the following hadeeth negates the lack of a beard.
Abu Hurairah (r) repoted that the ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisra, sent two envoys to the Messenger :saws1:. When they came into his presence, he noticed that they had shaved their beards and had grown large moustaches. Disliking their appearence, the Messenger :saws1: turned his face away from them and said: "Woe be to you, who told you to do so?" They replied, "Our master did!" The Messenger :saws1: responded, "But my Master [Allah] has commanded me to spare my beard and trim my moustache."
This is how much the Messenger disliked the those who belittled the beard, so much so that he :saws1: refused to look at the one who disobeyed the command of Allah of growing the beard.
Furthermore, if the Messenger :saws1: made growing of the beard obligatory we can still, in essence, call it a sunnah because this was "his way". But as some sunnah (way of the Messenger:saws1
are obligatory to follow, such as the way in which he prayed because he :saws1: made this obligatory with the hadeeth: "Pray as you see me pray", the beard also becomes obligatory because the wording of the hadeeth is a command, not an option.
As for the madhabs, I will go back to what is actually said by the madhabs itself.
Maliki view
Shaving the beard is prohibited, as is cutting so short as to clearly change one's appearance. But if it becomes oversized, and if cutting it would not appear as a mutilation, then it may be cut; but that would be disliked and contrary to that which is better. (Sharh ur-Risalah by Abu Hasan and the commentary on it by al-Adwi)
There are more quotes like this that I can provide.
Shafi'ee view
Imam Shafi'ee said in his famous book Al Umm that it is prohibited to shave the beard. So did Zarkashi, Al Halimi in Shu'ba ul-Imam. Ath-thowri (r) said: "It is prohibited to totally shave the beard without a medical reason.
Hambali view
Ibn Taymiyah said: "It is prohibited to shave the beard."
Other scholars have said the same. It is not upon you to cherry-pick opinions from different madhabs, quoting as evidence distant sayings from people of knowledge who are not an authority in Islam. The only authority in Islam is Allah and then His Messenger :saws1: and their command is to grow the beard.
In addition to this, Ibn Mas'ood (r), a sahabi, advised all Muslims to follow the way of those who have passed away (i.e. the sahaba) because they have been given jannah due to their steadfastness on the straight path and dying upon it. All the sahaba are people of paradise and they all grew beards, the Messenger :saws1: grew a beard and every single Prophet and Messenger before him grew a beard, and they are the ones whom we take our guidance from.
Whoever disputes this is not only disputing the command of the Messenger, but is looking for an excuse to fit in a society that has gone astray and is destined as the people of hell fire, unless Allah decides to have mercy upon them.
I will not allow the hadeeth of the Messenger to be disputed against and discarded for two reasons:
1 - No Muslim has any right to go against the authority of the Messenger :saws1: or have any opinion or say after the Messenger :saws1: has spoken;
2 - The source of every madhab is Quran and Hadeeth, and since we all follow the same source one must not submit to his whims;
:threadclo
