imam nawawi on shaving the beard

[greenshirt]

asalaamu alaikum

there is something that has been confusing to me.

i had always heard(literally for 2 years) that the imam nawawi(ra) believed shaving was makruh, but not haram.

but today i remember reading some article where it said that at FIRST, nawawi believed it to be makruh, but then later changed his view and believed it to be haram.

so what did imam nawawi(ra) end up ruling in this, do any of you know? perhaps there may be an article that some can present :)

wa salaam

[Madarijas-Salikeen]

wa alaykum salam wa rahmatullah,

Im not sure what his final ruling was on though I heard in a lecture by Shaykh abu Yusuf Riyad ul haq that he mentioned the shafiiyah as forbidding shaving the beard. Allaahu alim. You can find the lecture online.

[C47]

walaykum-asalaam

greenshirt it doesnt really matter what Imam Nawawi (RA) *might* have said.

According to the Hanafis:
“It is prohibited for a man to cut his beard ... as for cutting it shorter than a fist-length - as is done by some people from the west and by the effeminate men - no one permits this. And as for shaving it completely, it is the doing of the Indian Jews and the Persian Magians” [Persian Magians-Followers of an old religion, possibly the same as the "Zoroastrians"] [Ad-Durr ul-Mukhtar].

Ibn-Abidayn said:
“It is prohibited for a man to cut his beard.” (Radd ul-Muhtar [2:418])

[C47]

According to the Malikis:

“Shaving the beard is prohibited, as is cutting it if it causes a (clear) mutilation. 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 al-Hasan, and the commentary on it by al-Adwi]

Al-`Adwi said:
“It has been reported from Malik that he hated shaving anything under the jaws, until he said, ‘It is from the doing of the Magians.’ And it is prohibited to remove the hair of the beard.” [Sharh ur-Risalah by Abu al-Hasan,
and the commentary on it by al-Adwi (2:411)]

Ibn Abd al-Barr said:
“It is prohibited to shave the beard, and it is not done except by effeminate men.”[At-Tamhid]

[C47]

As for the Shafi’is,

al-Imam ash-Shafi’i has expressed that it is prohibited to shave the beard [al-Umm]. Also, al-Athru’i said, “The correct position is that it is prohibited to totally shave the beard without a (medical) problem with it.”
[Sharh ul-Ubab].

[C47]

According to the Hanbalis:

The Hanbali's agree without exception that it is prohibited to shave the beard
[Al-Insaf, Sharh ul-Muntaha, etc.].

Ibn Taymiyyah stated:
“It is prohibited to shave the beard.” [Al-Ikhtiyarat ul-Ilmiyyah (p.6)]

As-Saffarini said:
“It is agreed in our mathhab that it is prohibited to shave the beard.” [Ghitha ul-Albab (1:376)].

Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi said:
“All of the scholars agree that shaving the beard is a form of mutilation, and is prohibited.” [Maratib ul-Ijma' (p.157), and al-Muhalla (2:189)]

[Husayn ash Shafi'iy]

Assalamu Alaykum

If Allah permits I will clarify some issues regarding Imam Nawawiys position on the beard and its relation to the Shafi'iy mathab.

One must understand that when it comes to the Shafi'iy school, Imam al-Nawawiys position is held in the highest esteem. Imam Nawawiy, Imam Rafi'iy, Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Shaykh al-Ramli, Shaykh Zakariyah al-Ansari all agreed that it is makruh. Anyone with some knowledge of the school are well aware of that this couldn't be anything but the established position of the school, as it is known that Imam Nawawiy and Imam Rafi'iys positions are the strongest, and when they disagree Imam Nawawiy comes first. To understand the Shafi'iy school one should go through Shaykhayn (Nawawiy and Rafi'iy). Imam Ibn Hajr al-Haytami says in Tuhfat al-Muhtaj that if Imam al-Shafi'iy held such an opinion, if it can't be interpreted in a different manner, then his opinion is contrary to the established position of the mathab. I am sure that if Imam Nawawiy changed his opinion, then Imam Ibn Hajr and Imam Ramli would have known this. But they said that the relied-upon opinion of the mathab is that it is makruh, following the fatawa of Imam Nawawi and Rafi'i.

There is an even more lenient position within the mathab which says that as long as one keeps a short beard, one has fulfilled the Sunnah. Hujjat al-Islam Imam Ghazali he held it to be mubah to shorten it. He said that excessive beard may look ugly, and there is no harm to shorten it to make sure one has a good appearance. In matter of fact it would be concidered makruh to have an excessive beard.

Ibn Hajr rejects this in Tuhfa [12:303] saying what makes it appear ugly is that one does not take care of it. It is to be known that Imam Nawawi concidered it makruh to take anything from the beard, and did not set a minimum nor a maximum length for the beard. So it would be concidered makruh for Hisham Kabbani to trim his beard a bit, just as it is makruh to be clean shaven.

Imam Ghazali quoted Abu Talib al-Makkiys Qut al-Qulub [3:361]:

“Al-Nakha’i (radiallahu anhu) said: “I am amazed at why a reasonable man whose beard is long does not cut it off, and make it ‘between two beards’ [i.e. a beard that is neither too long or too short], for moderation is good in everything.” For this reason, it is said: “The longer the beard, the smaller the mind.”"

If one wants to look into Imam Ghazaliy said one can refer to "Ihya" - 1:168.

There is also a position in the Malikiy school stating that a short beard fulfills the Sunnah.

Al-Hafeth Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani quoted Qadiy Iyad as saying that it is makruh to shave, cut, or trim the beard. (Fathul Bariy - under hadith 'Trim the moustache and leave the beard)

Yes, some scholars concidered it unlawful to shave the beard.
Among them is Qaffal ash-Shashiy, Adhra'iy, and Qadi al-Halimiy. But this is concidered a weak opinion within the mathab, and is rejected.
One would be allowed to follow a weak opinion as personal preference, but not try to enforce it on others. One can never blame one for following the relied-upon opinion, which is that it's mandub to grow a beard and makruh to trim it.

There is also misconceptions regarding what is concidered part of the beard. Fath al-Mu'in, Fath al-Qarib, and Fath al-Wahhab all defined the liyha (that which we were told to keep - note: different from layha - meaning jawbone) to be "that which grows on the chin". The vocabulary of the Shafi'iy mathab says that other facial hair such as sideburns, what grows on the cheeks and under the lips, are not concidered to be from the lihya.

wassalam
husayn

[Bint_ul_Islam]

The Opinions of the Four Schools of Thought<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P></O:P>
The Hanafis: They say that it is forbidden for a man to shave his beard, and they have instructed shaving any excessive hair over a handful; cutting anything from what is less than a handful is not allowed.<O:P></O:P>
The Malikies: They ruled on the prohibition of shaving the beard, as well as shortening it if this would result in any disfigurement. If cutting parts of it when it gets too long would not result in any disfigurement, then it is allowed. However, some said that this would be Makrooh (undesirable).<O:P></O:P>
The Shafi'is: They said that shaving the beard is Makrooh (undesirable), although Ibn Al-Rif'ah opposed this ruling, and said that Imam Ash-Shafi'i has stated in his book "Al-Umm" that this is Haram, not just Makrooh. Al-Athra'iy said that the correct opinion amongst the Shafi'is is that shaving it is Haram, unless it had defects.<O:P></O:P>
The Hanbalis: They ruled that shaving the beard is forbidden. No disagreement about this has been reported in the Hanbali school of thought, as stated in "Al-Insaf".<O:P></O:P>
[The above narrations were mentioned by Sheikh Ali Mahfooz, in his book Al-Ibdaa', page 410].<O:P></O:P>
Imam Ibn Hazm said: "And they (scholars) have agreed that shaving the beard is a disfigurement, and is not allowed". [Al-Muhallah, 2/189] Sheikhul-Islam Ibn Taimiyah also stated that: "Shaving the beard is forbidden". [Al-Ikhtiyarat Al-Ilmiyyah, page 6]. Ibn Abdul-Barr stated in his book "At-Tamheed" that shaving the beard is Haram and that it is only done by the effeminate (those who imitate women).<O:P></O:P>
Many of the recent scholars have also ruled on the prohibition of shaving the beard and the necessity of growing it. Among these scholars are: Sheikh Al-Albany in his book "Adaab Az-Zafaf", and his students, Sheikh Ali Mahfooz in his book "Al-Ibdaa'", Sayid Sabiq in his book "Fiqhus-Sunnah", Mahmoud Al-Istanbuli in his book "Tuhfatul Arous", Al-Qaradawi in his book "The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam", Sheikh Ismail Al-Ansari as well as all the scholars of the Arabian Peninsula who clearly ruled and explained the prohibition of shaving the beard in their books and lectures. And if we were to state the opinions of the different scholars in this matter, the whole issue of this magazine will not be sufficient, although we believe that the above should be sufficient for those who are sincere in looking for the truth.<O:P></O:P>

[Bint_ul_Islam]

Proofs for Prohibition<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P></O:P>
* Shaving the beard involves altering the creation of Allah, which is forbidden as stated in the Qur'an: "Allah cursed him. And he (Shaytaan) said: 'I will take an appointed portion of your slaves. Verily, I will mislead them, and surely I will arouse in them false desires; and certainly I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah.' And whoever takes Shaytaan as a Wali (protector or helper) instead of Allah, has surely suffered a manifest loss" [4: 118-119]. Sheikh Al-Albany said regarding this verse that it is "a clear statement that changing Allah's creation without His permission is obeying Shaytaan, and that there is no doubt that shaving the beard for beauty reasons comes under the rule of this verse" [Adabul-Zafaf, PP 119-120]. There are also numerous verses which command Muslims to follow the tradition of the Prophet (s.a.w) as Allah (s.w.t) says: "And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)" [59: 7]. <O:P></O:P>
* Shaving the beard involves disobeying the order of the Prophet (s.a.w) who commanded us to grow our beards, as he (s.a.w) said "contradict the non-believers, grow the beards and cut the moustaches" [Bukhari and Muslim]. Ibn Jarir have also narrated to the story of the two messengers of Kisra (the Persian king) to the Prophet, who entered to where the Prophet (s.a.w) was, and they had shaved their beards and grown their moustaches, the Prophet (s.a.w) hated to even look at them and told them: "Woe to you! Who ordered you to do that?" They replied: "Our lord (i.e. Kisra) ordered us". The Prophet then said: "But my Lord ordered me to grow my beard and clip my moustache". Here we see that the Prophet (s.a.w) hated to even look at the unbelievers, so how would his reaction be had he seen those who claim to be his loyal followers imitating the unbelievers and shaving their beards? Also, it is important to note that the Prophet (s.a.w) attributed the order of growing the beard and clipping the moustache to Allah (s.w.t), so it becomes an order from Allah (s.w.t) to the believers, which makes it mandatory on the believers to follow, and forbidden to disobey. <O:P></O:P>
* Shaving the beard is a way of imitating the disbelievers, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, and the Prophet of Allah has commanded us in numerous hadiths to contradict the people of the book (Jews and Christians) and to contradict the pagans and Magus. So since shaving the beard is a tradition practiced by non-Muslims, it makes it mandatory for the Muslims to contradict them by growing it. <O:P></O:P>
* The imitation of women, and there is no doubt that shaving the beard is an imitation of women, and Imam Ibn Hajar Al-Haythamy n his book "Az-Zawajir" stated that such imitation is amongst the Major Sins in Islam. <O:P></O:P>
* Contradicting the traditions of the Prophets and righteous men. Imam Al-Shanqiti said in his commentary on the verse "He (Harun) said: O son of my mother! Seize (me) not by my beard, nor by my head" [20: 94], that it is a Qur'anic proof that growing the beard is the tradition of the Prophets of Allah. <O:P></O:P>
* Finally, shaving the beard is a contradiction of the Fitrah (nature) which was intended for us by Allah, since growing the beard is one of the ten natural instincts as maintained by the Prophet (s.a.w). The fact that Arabs before Islam used to grow their beards can be explained by the fact that they inherited it from the Prophet Ibrahim (a.s). <O:P></O:P>

[Abu wakee]

Cut and paste job doesn't always help. According to Shafi'is, and this is the majority and the popular view in madhhab, whatever that is on the chin constitutes a lihya, they rest is not lihya shar'an.

[Bint_ul_Islam]

Well , dont u think that its better to copy and paste useful informations rather than doing useless " quack-quacks "

[Abu wakee]

Well , dont u think that its better to copy and paste useful informations rather than doing useless " quack-quacks "

Cut and paste should be from the 'proper' sources. If it isn't that makes you a quack, innit.

[Umm Ahmed]

Please if we can just react to a criticism with nice manners , there would be less arguments that get a bit out of control.

[Bint_ul_Islam]

Sister, i prefer not to answer him.There is one wise word in russian
" Boltat zrya ne dostoynaya zanyatiya " which means " Speak in vain is an unworthy work" and also its better to remain silent

[junaid123]

Assalamu Alaykum

If Allah permits I will clarify some issues regarding Imam Nawawiys position on the beard and its relation to the Shafi'iy mathab.

One must understand that when it comes to the Shafi'iy school, Imam al-Nawawiys position is held in the highest esteem. Imam Nawawiy, Imam Rafi'iy, Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Shaykh al-Ramli, Shaykh Zakariyah al-Ansari all agreed that it is makruh.

I had a question. Does imam nabawi´s(rh) position is held more higher than imam shafii´s(rh) position?

Position = opinion

Imam shafii (rh) says its haram and imam nabawi(rh) says its makruh. so which opinion speaks for the school?