Is shaving the beard Haram?

Question

Is shaving the beard Haram? Is there any authentic hadith about it? What is the opinion of the Quran about it? (Sunni and Shia)

Answer 1

Growing the beard is mandatory for all males; And our prophet(SAW) 's Sunnah shows it:

• The ruler of Yemen, appointed by the Persian emperor Kisra, sent two envoys to the Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) to summon him. When they came into his presence, he noticed that they had shaved their beards and grew their moustaches. He hated to look at them (because of their odd appearance) and he said: "Woe be to you, who told you to do so?" They replied: "Our lord! (Referring to Kisra.)" The Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) then said: "But my Lord, may He be exalted and glorified, has commanded me to leave alone my beard and to trim my moustache." [Judged to be Hasan (good) by Al-Albani.]

• "The Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) used to have a large beard." [Muslim]

Also In many Hadiths, the prophet (SAW) recommend men to leave alone their beards; such as:

• "Trim the moustache and save the beard." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

• "Cut your moustaches and leave your beards alone. Be different from the people of the scripture." [Muslim]

• "Be different from the Mushrikin (those who worship other than Allah); trim your moustaches and save your beards." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

• And prophet said:"Allah curses those men who imitate the women, and He curses those women who imitate the men." [Al-Bukhari]

And pay attention The beard is a major distinction between men and women.

So as Allah said in Quran that we should obey prophet("He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah..."[Surat An-Nisā',verse80]),men should Trim the moustache and save their beard.

Also there are this documents in Shia view:

• It is reported in Bihar al-Anwar in the chapter concerning the beard (Kitab al-Mahasin) in which:Imam Musa b. Ja’far, al-Kazim (as) was asked:“Is it recommended to wear the beard?” he said: “Yes”, then he was asked: “Is it permissible for one to shave one’s beard?”, Imam (as) replied: “It is permissible to shave the sides of the face where the beard grows, however, to shave the front (chin) is not permissible”.

• Imam al-Sadiq (as) states: “If the hair (on the mans face) were not to grow within a specific given period, would the male not remain in a state like that of the young immature boy and a female?, And as a result of this, the male would not command any respect nor esteem”.

• Imam al-Sadiq (as) states: “From amongst the laws of the Lord of the Universe was that He granted the male gender from amongst the humans a beard so that there may be a difference (in appearance) between them”.

Also Shaykh al-Baha’iy, al-Damad and Kashif al-Ghita’ are grand Shi’ite jurists, who have given rulings to the unlawfulness of the shaving of the beard, based on consensus, in their books al-I’tiqadat and Resalah al-Shar’ al-Muqadas.