Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Salaam,

Just wondering, what does it mean to keep your moustache short ? Does it mean that the hair must not cover the lip or does it mean that the sides must not be longer than the top lip half ?

Jazak`allah

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Mustache short

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,  no grave, no prophet,  no imam,  no dai,  nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.21c

Ibn 'Umar related that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Differ from the polytheists: let your beards (grow) and trim your moustache."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 501      Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘Trim closely the moustache, and let grow your  beards, and thus act against the fire-worshippers.’

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4438        Narrated by Zayd ibn Arqam

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who does not take something off his moustache is not one of us."

Your Question: Does it mean that the hair must not cover the lip or does it mean that the sides must not be longer than the top lip half ?

Al-Muwatta Hadith 49.4

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "One takes from the moustache until the edge of the lip appears, that is the rim.  One does not cut if off completely so that one mutilates oneself."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.780         Narrated by Nafi

Ibn Umar said: The Prophet (saws) said, "Do the opposite of what the pagans do. Keep the beards and cut the moustaches short."  Ibn Umar used to cut his moustache so short that the whiteness of his skin (above the upper lip) was visible, and he used to cut (the hair) between his moustaches and his beard.

The practice of the noble companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was to cut or trim the moustache short enough for the whiteness of their skin above the upper lip to appear.  The majority of the jurists in Islam are of the opinion that the hair from the moustache should be short enough so that any part of the upper lip is not covered by it. 

There is absolutely no harm or restriction if one wishes to trim the sides according to the size of one’s moustache, or leave them slightly longer; this is left to one’s personal preference.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan