Assalam alaikum,

Mr. T told one of his senior officers who is religious about your website. The officer asked Mr. T to ask you the following questions.

1) What is the status of a beard in Islam i.e. is it wajib,fardh or sunnah moakkidah, etc.?

2) How long should the beard be?

Name Withheld

Answer:

Walekum Assalam! May Allah help the officer and Mr. T to adopt the Sunnah of the Prophet (S), Amen!

Abdullah bin Umar has narrated that Prophet (S) told Muslims to grow beard and trim/shave moustache to distinguish themselves from majusies (who did not grow beards). (Bukhari)

Now two points are very clear:

First, it is a muakkadah (emphasized) Sunnah, as Prophet (S) has ordered it. It is neither wajib nor Fard as Qur'an does not talk on this subject.

Second, The Prophet (S) has not specified its length. In another hadith, The Prophet (S) has said to trim beard length and side-wise. (Tirmidhi) 

Fuqaha (Islamic jurists) have two opinions on it: 1. Grow beard as long as sahabas used to grow (i.e. one fist long). It was a custom at that time. 2. Grow beard as long as it can be seen from a distance to distinguish between a bearded and a non-bearded person (i.e. fulfill the command).

I hope it will satisfy the friend of Mr. T.

Wassalam

 

Syed Hasanuddin Ahmad