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One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As-Salamualaikum dear brother;

May Allah reward with the best of both worlds for the pious service you are imparting through Islam Helpline. I have a question & will appreciate your response on this.

Question: When one is fasting, can he shave his beard ? I have heard that it is possible but before noon (12pm). Please clarify in the light of quran & hadith.

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Answer:

Shaving beard while fasting

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.

Your Question: When one is fasting, can he shave his beard ? I have heard that it is possible but before noon (12pm). Please clarify in the light of quran & hadith.

Ibn 'Umar related that the Messenger of Allah (sws) said, "Do the opposite of what the pagans do!: Let your beards grow and trim your moustache."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 9.651 Narrated by Abu Said Al Khudri

The Prophet (saws) said, "There will emerge from the East some people who will recite the Qur'an but it will not exceed their throats and who will go out of (renounce) the religion (Islam) as an arrow passes through the game, and they will never come back to it unless the arrow, comes back to the middle of the bow (by itself, i.e., impossible!).’ The people asked, "O Messenger of Allah (saws), what will their signs be?" He (saws) said, "Their sign will be the habit of shaving of their beards.’

We assume that by the term ‘shave his beard’ you mean to inquire the permissibility of ‘trimming’ one’s beard.

There is absolutely no restriction in Islam (except if one is in the state of ‘ehram’ for the Pilgrimage of Umrah or Hajj) if one wishes to trim or shape his beard, regardless of whether it is day or night, whether one is fasting or not fasting, etc. The shaving or trimming of the beard has absolutely no relation to the validity of one’s fast, one may trim or shape it whenever one wills.

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