Divine Command to Grow the Beard

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

وَسَلٰمٌ عَلَی الۡمُرۡسَلِیۡنَ

وَالۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰہِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِیۡنَ

The fitnah of Ghamidi is spreading like a virus in the body of the Muslims. Among his perversions is the idea that growing a beard for a man is not a religious commandment but a discretionary matter. To refute such nonsense I shall quote a Hadith of the most holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم which explicitly states that for a man to trim his mustache and grow a beard is a divine command of the Lord Himself:

أَخْبَرَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ أَخْبَرَنَا سُفْيَانُ عَنْ عَبْدِ الْمَجِيدِ بن سهل عن عبيد الله ابن عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ جَاءَ مَجُوسِيٌّ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ أَعْفَى شَارِبَهُ وَأَحْفَى لِحْيَتَهُ فَقَالَ مَنْ أَمَرَكَ بِهَذَا قَالَ رَبِّي قَالَ ‌لَكِنَّ ‌رَبِّي ‌أَمَرَنِي ‌أَنْ ‌أُحْفِيَ ‌شَارِبِي وَأُعْفِيَ لِحْيَتِي

Ubaid Allah bin Abd Allah narrates: A Magian came to the Messenger of Allah [sall Allahu alaihi wasallam], his moustache left untrimmed and his beard shaven, so the Messenger of Allah asked, “Who ordered you with this?” He said, “My lord [Chosroes, the Persian emperor]”, the Messenger of Allah said, “But my Lord [Allah] ordered me to trim closely my moustache and leave my beard” (Tabaqat al-Kubra, v.1, p.347):

ودخلا على رسول الله ص وَقَدْ حَلَقَا لِحَاهُمَا وَأَعْفَيَا شَوَارِبَهُمَا فَكَرِهَ النَّظَرَ إليهما ثم أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْهِمَا فَقَالَ وَيْلَكُمَا مَنْ أَمَرَكُمَا بِهَذَا قَالا أَمَرَنَا بِهَذَا رَبُّنَا يَعْنِيَانِ كِسْرَى فَقَالَ رسول الله لَكِنَّ رَبِّي قَدْ أَمَرَنِي بِإِعْفَاءِ لِحْيَتِي وَقَصِّ شَارِبِي

Yazid bin Abi Habib narrates that two Magians entered upon the Messenger of Allah, their beards were shaved while their moustaches were left [untrimmed]. So the Messenger of Allah disliked looking at them, then he turned to them and said “Woe unto you! Who ordered you to do this?” They said, “Our lord ordered with this” meaning Chosroes. So the Messenger of Allah said, “Rather my Lord has ordered me to leave my beard and shorten my moustache” (Sahih Tarikh at-Tabari, v.2, p.235):

Both of these routes for the transmission of the Hadith are mursal. However, the muhaddith al-Albani declared this narration hasan (Fiqh us-Sirah of Muhammad al-Ghazali, p.389) due to the corroborating Hadith narrated by sayyidina Abi Hurairah رضى الله عنه

أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ مَرْوَانَ الْأَنْصَارِيُّ الْأَبْزَارِيُّ بِالْكُوفَةِ قَالَ ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْأَنْصَارِيُّ الْأُبَيْسِيُّ ثنا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْأَنْصَارِيُّ ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى ثنا عِصْمَةُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيِّبِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ دَخَلَ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَجُوسِيُّ قَدْ حَلَقَ لِحْيَتَهُ وَأَعْفَى شَارِبَهُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَيْحَكَ مَنْ أَمَرَكَ بِهَذَا قَالَ ‌أَمَرَنِي بِهِ كِسْرَى فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَكِنِّي ‌أَمَرَنِي رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَنْ أُعْفِيَ لِحْيَتِي وَأَنْ أُحْفِيَ شَارِبِي

A Magian entered upon the Messenger of Allah [sall Allahu alaihi wasallam] with his beard shaved and his moustache left untrimmed. So the Messenger of Allah [sall Allahu alaihi wasallam] said: “Woe unto you! Who ordered you with this?” He said, “Chosroes ordered me with this” so the Messenger of Allah said, “But my Lord [Allah], Mighty and Majestic, ordered me to leave my beard and trim closely my moustache” (al-Amali li-Ibni Bushran, p.73):