Why The Beard?

Do Muslim men have to grow the beard?

That’s funny. Why do you have eye brows? Allah put it there. Are you asking me why don’t I shave it up? Why don’t you shave your eyebrows? Why? If you’re going to say, "Well because everybody does it", well now that’s always a good reason to do something, isn’t it? If everybody else does it, that’s your excuse?

What do the majority of the people do on a Friday night? They don’t come to religious lectures do they? And most of them are going to have a hangover the next day because of it. The most of the people in the world today, the free world that I know about, get drunk, waste money, and act like fools on Friday and Saturday night. So is that an excuse that I go and do it too? Is it?

So when you cut your beard off, why did you do it? Why? Did Rasulullah (Peace and blessings be upon him) tell you to cut it? Or let it grow?

In Sahih Bukhari (Volume 7, Hadith 780) it says, "Let it grow", "Leave it alone", "Let it grow out and cut the moustache."

But a brother comes to me and he says, "Imam, please make Du'a for me." I said, "Ok, for what? " He said, "Make Du’a I'll grow my beard." I said, "I can't do that!" He said, "Why?" I said, "That’s Shirk." He said, "Shirk! How is it Shirk that you make Du’a for me to grow my beard?" Shirk means to make partners with Allah, I said, "You want me to make partners with Allah?" He said, "No, I am just asking you to make Du’a that I grow my beard, just make Du’a I grow my beard!" I said, "I can't! Because it is Allah who grows your beard, not you! But I will make Du’a you quit cutting it off!!"

One brother said, "But yeah you know my wife said, she really likes me to shave it off and keep it smooth." I said, "You got to wonder about a woman who wants her husband to look like another woman!" Do you know they never invited me back to that community again? I don’t know why.

Sheikh Yusuf Estes


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