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:

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A BEARD IN ISLAM?

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Answer:

What is the significance of beard in Islam?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever 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.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 20 Surah Ta Ha Ayaat 94: ... And Haroon said, "O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard nor pull the hair of my head."

The story as related in the Quran in the same chapter from verses 83 onwards is when Moses went to speak to God and left Prophet Haroon behind with the people of Bani Israel, Samiri misled the Bani Israel into making and worshiping a god which resembled a calf and made a hollow sound. When Moses returned and saw what the Bani Israel were doing, he was extremely upset and rebuked their idol-worship and then turned to Haroon, whom he had deputised in his absense. Moses must have been so angry at this abomination, that he seized Haroon's beard and head in disgust. This is when Haroon replied the above sentence as related in the above aayat. And that is simply what it means. Moses held Haroon responsible for the act of the Bani Israel, and Haroon was trying to give evidence saying that he was not responsible for the Bani Israel for doing the act of idol-worship.

Thus the significance of the beard in the above aayat is simply that Prophet Haroon had a beard!! And so did all the Prophets of Allah ... each and every one of them. Actually, in those days, all men used to keep beards. It was basically what all men did!!! Clean-shaven men were just not a thing that could be imagined.... it just did not happen. Clean-shaven is a fashion that took over the last couple of centuries.... before that, every man just naturally kept a beard.

Today, the beard has taken on a significance in Islam because of a hadith of Prophet Mohamed (saws), who said:

Do the opposite of what the pagans do. Lengthen your beards and cut the mustaches short.

As Muslims, we follow everything the Prophet Mohamed (saws) said or did. He had a beard. All his companions had a beard. And in the above narration, he recommended Muslims to keep a beard. Now the question arises, why should we keep a beard?

The answer is simple. Today, you might have seen youngsters copy the fashion of sport-stars, hollywood-stars or anybody else whom they love. If you notice today, many hot hollywood stars and sport stars are sporting a "goatie" beard! And true to fashion, you see a lot of people around today who keep "goatie" beards!!! As Muslim, our role model should be the Prophet (saws). We love to copy everything he did ... he had a beard and thus we keep the beard.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21: There is indeed the best model for you in the Messenger of Allah, for every such person looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah much.

In another narration, the Prophet of Allah said in narrating a prophecy of times to come:

There will emerge from the East some peole who will recite the Quran, but it will not exceed their throats, and who will go out of the deen of Islam as an arrow passes through the game. They will never come back to it unless the arrow comes back to the middle of the bow by itself (i.e. impossible!). The companions asked, "What will their signs be?". The Prophet (saws) said: "Their sign will be the habit of shaving off of their beards".

Thus the keeping of beards is a Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) and every muslim must strive to keep a beard, if his model is indeed the Prophet of Allah (saws). He will get his due reward from Allah, Insha Allah, if he keeps the beard to follow the Sunnah and for Allah's pleasure.

May Allah guide you and us all to the Straight Path of Islam.

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

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan