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 has asked this question:

Asalaumu alaykum,

i have a question which is causing alot of trouble in my local mosque, what is disturbing is that our mosques are now becomming a place for people to distribute thier political views, a place where young muslims are discouraged from spending more time and effort there from the beurachacy of the elders. my question is regarding the adhan (the call for prayers. simply the question is, if the adhan was given by a muslim without a beard would the namaz of the congreation behind the imam be valid. I have been told that no muslim without a beard can give the adhan and if he was to do so then the namaz of the prayers will not be accepted.

please can give me evidence fropm the hadith or the quran which will
answer this correctly so that i can show the poeple in question.

hudahafiz

(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:

Is Adhaan without beard allowed?

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.

The mosques should be honored as the houses of Allah, and dedicated as places of worship of the Lord of the Worlds. A believer, who truly fears in Allah and the Last Day, must not desecrate or violate this sanctity by making it a place to further his personal political ambitions, or create discord or disunity among the believers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 72 Surah Jinn verses 17-18:(O Prophet say) that whoever turns away from his Lord’s remembrance, his Lord shall punish him with a severe torment. And that the mosques are for Allah! Therefore, do not call upon anyone else in them along with Allah.

Your Question: The question is, if the adhan was given by a muslim without a beard would the namaz of the congreation behind the imam be valid.

If the adhaan is given by a clean-shaven believer, the prayer of the congregation behind the imam will be absolutely valid. In fact, even if the imam who leads the prayer does not have a beard, the prayer is valid.

Some orthodox people have made the issue of the beard a bigger issue that it is supposed to be. True, the beard is a Sunnah of not only the Messenger of Allah (saws); but it is a Sunnah of all the Prophets before him. And without a doubt, whoever grows a beard with the intention to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws), Allah will give him a great reward. But if, for whatever reason, a believer chooses not to grow a beard; the most that can be said is that he is missing out on an opportunity to receive a huge reward from Allah Subhanah!

In the beautiful deen of Islam, Allah and His Messenger (saws) have graded each act according to its importance. What is extremely important is that one lives his life in obedience to the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws); sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day; abstains from the haraam; and does righteous good deeds… that is what will lead him to the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah Subhanah. When a believers does the above, the beard will automatically follow!

Brother, there are no specific aayahs in the Quran or any specific hadiths of the Prophet (saws) whereby it is mentioned that only a person with/without a beard can give adhaan in the mosques, simply because at the time of the Prophet (saws) it was not conceivable that a person was a man, and did not have a beard on his face! Even the staunch enemies of Allah and His Messenger (saws) like Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab, etc. had beards! It was just something that all men did naturally…. This concept of being clean-shaven is a new issue which was started by the pagan west only a couple of centuries ago, and has unfortunately been accepted by some believers.

All the scholars of all the schools of thought are unanimous in their opinion that growing a beard is a preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws). But not one of them have stated that a clean-shaven believer cannot give the adhaan or lead the prayers in congregation.

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 and well wisher in islam,

Burhan