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Post by loveprophet on Jan 18, 2017 9:32:34 GMT
Salam What do people make of the following sunniforum.net/showthread.php?t=73Some people claim that there is ijma that having a fist length beard is wajib. However if one looks at the early Shafi scholars and the mutamad works and opinions of the school, the sources are clear that it is makruh to trim to below a fist. The idea that it is only the opinion of contemporaries is incorrect. The idea that it is wajib (fist length) across all four madhabs' mutamad positions or that there is an ijma, is also incorrect. This is simply known by looking at the mutamad positions of the madhabs and their mutamad works. To read the works of Imam Shafi etc claiming that shaving is haram, is different to claiming it is wajib to have a fist length beard. One does not logically imply the other. In sha Allah I will post the mu'tamad positions and fatwas of the non-Hanafi madhabs in this thread.
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Post by loveprophet on Jan 18, 2017 9:33:38 GMT
Quote start " Compiled by Abul Layth From Seekingilm For some time now it has been my intent to do a research paper on the beard. Then I came across the fatwa of Shaykh Muhammad Al-Akiti that surpassed anything that my lowly uneducated soul could produce. With the encouragement of Brother Hussain, I have decided to do my own minimal research and to summarize the research of Shaykh Muhammad while adding a few more quotes prior to it. Ibn Hajr Al-Haytami mentions the following in his Tuhfat Al-Muhtāj: قال الشيخان يكره حلق اللحية واعترضه ابن الرفعة في حاشية الكافية بأن الشافعي رضي الله تعالى عنه نص في الأم على التحريم قال الزركشي وكذا الحليمي في شعب الإيمان وأستاذه القفال الشاشي في محاسن الشريعة وقال الأذرعي الصواب تحريم حلقها جملة لغير علة بها كما يفعله القلندرية ”The two Shaykhs (i.e. Nawawī and Rāfi’ī) considered it makruh to shave the beard. Ibn Ar-Rifa’ah opposed [their opinion] in Hāshiyat Al-Kāfiyah due to the fact that there is a decisive proof (nass) from Imam Ash-Shāfi’ī in his Al-Umm for it being harām to shave the beard. Az-Zarkashī stated that the same was stated by Al-Halīmī in his Shu’ab Al-Imān, as well as his teacher Al-Qaffāl Ash-Shāshī in Mahāsin Ash-Shari’ah and Al-Adhru’ī stated, ‘And what is correct is that it is harām to shave it as the Qalandaris do.’” Without going into incredible detail the following scholars according to the above quote, as well as the articles that will follow conclude the following: Not Haram to Shave it but Makruh 1. Imam An-Nawawi 2. Ar-Rafi’i 3. Ar-Ramli 4. Shayk-ul-Islam Zakariya Al-Ansari 5. Ghazzali (though he believed trimming is mubah unrestrictedly) 6. Shaykh Muhammad Al-Akiti states, “…the relied upon fiqhi opinion for the Shafi’is, for ‘amma (public) as well as khassa (scholars), by living (such as Habib Zayn Ibn Sumayt al-Madani) as well as those recently moved-from-this-world authorities (such as, the well-known Musnid al-Waqt, Shaykh Muhammad Yasin al-Fadani al-Makki) is still that it is Makruh (all four Tawa’if of the school, al-Nawawi and al-Rafi’i, Ibn Hajar and al-Ramli, including Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari, concur on this hukm)…” In support of Shaykh Muhammad Al-Akiti’s establishment of Imam An-Nawawi’s view, I would like to mention the statement recorded by Imam Ash-Sha’rani who quote the Mujtahid Imam As-Suyuti as saying, لما بلغتُ مرتبةَ الترجيح لم أخرجْ في الإفتاء عن ترجيح النوويِّ وإن كان الراجحُ عندي خلافَه “Even when I became qualified to independently determine the official, relied-upon position of the school (rajih), I refrained from going against the verdicts of An-Nawawi, regardless if [what I determined was the] correct view was with me, I did not contradict him.” Haram to Shave it: 1. Al-Qaffal Ash-Shashi 2. Al-Halimi (أبو عبد الله الحَلِيمي) died in 403 A.H. 3. Al-Adhra’i1 4. Ibn Ar-Rifa’ah who said Imam Ash-Shafi’i held this view as well. 5. The Mufti of Zabid, al-Ashkhar (d. 903 H/1497) Those who deemed it haram to shave the beard are not lightweights either. Al-Qaffal Ash-Shashi is said to be the “Scholar of his time!” He was a student of the great Shafi’i Imam Ibn Khuzaymah as well as the non-Shafi’i Mujtahid and Mufassir Ibn Jarir At-Tabari. Al-Hafith Ibn Hajr quotes Qadi ‘Iyad as saying, “It is makruh (disliked) to shave, cut, and trim the beard.”2 The Shafi’i Imam of our era, Shaykh Muhammad Afifi Al-Akiti was asked the following question: Some people have quoted from Habib ‘Ali (he was just here on his first ever trip to Syria) that according to the Shafi’is, the beard is only that which grows on the chin so [? to be deleted I think] and so there is no karaha in shaving everything else. My sheikh for Shafi’i fiqh does not agree with this, and he said that several of the Yemeni Shafi’is that he has met disagree with what is being quoted from Habib ‘Ali. One of the proofs for this is something that Imam al-Nawawi quotes from Imam al-Ghazali in Al-Ihya, quoted from Qut al-Qutulub [al-Qulub; by Abu Talib al-Makki] regarding several things that are disliked with the beard. They include taking too much or leaving too much, which is explained to mean shaving the head and taking too much of the beard with it or leaving too much of the beard. These two scenarios can only be understood if the sideburns (’aridan) are included as part of the beard. His Response was beautifully poignant and for this reason I have decided to place it on our site for the Shafi’is to read for themselves: Any Shafi’i fiqh students, who have studied the Fath al-Qarib, Fath al-Mu’in and Fath al-Wahhab (the 3 most important manuals that are usually taught in a systematic Shafi’i curriculum and school) should know the definition of a beard [lihya; not with a fatha, since 'lahya' are the jawbones and is one of the technical terms used when defining the areas of al-fard, namely that which is included in the washing of the face during the wudu']. The lihya is: “that which grows on the chin” . Indeed, according to the well-established technical vocabulary of our school, the lateral hairs ['aridan] are not considered to be part of the lihya (as the matn of the Fath al-Mu’in, for example, continues to make it unequivocally clear such as when it goes on to define the sideburn or ‘arid, anew, and being clearly different from the definition of the beard or lihya above: “the ‘arid [whiskers at the side of the face, or for lack of a better term, "lateral hair" or "side hair" of the face which will include "jaw hair" (and including, of course, any "cheek hair" - if it grows genetically that high) or I suppose, another English term maybe sideburns - if this term can accommodate all of these facial hair] is that [of the facial hair] which goes down to [meet] the beard.” [Ibid.]). The only thing in common between the lateral hairs and the beard in our school, is that the lateral hairs are treated like the beard in their hukm of washing the face during wudu’: if it is khafifa [thin], then, its inner and outer hair and skin beneath must be washed; if it is kathifa [thick], then, it is only obligatory to wash the outer hair but only Sunna or recommended to do takhlil [to comb it with one's wet fingers].
Given that the Qawl Sahih [Sound Position] of Imam al-Nawawi (al-Nawawi, al-Majmu’, 1:357-358) which is also the Qawl Mu’tamad [Relied Upon Position] in our school (I’anat, 2:386; this, despite when the author of the Fath al-Mu’in followed the weaker opinion, Sayyid al-Bakri immediately makes known the well-accepted position), that shaving the lihya is only Makruh, and not Haram, the statement made by Habib ‘Ali of Dar al-Mustafa, Tarim, is completely justified and free from any blame. Indeed, there is no karaha or dislikedness in shaving the lateral hairs or anything else that is not included to be part of the lihya, defined by our jurists. There is no where more clearer than what can be found in the Fatwa of Imam al-Ramli, one of the principal late figures of the Shafi’i school:
“Question: Is it Haram to shave and trim the [hair of the] chin [dhaqan; i.e., what is meant here is of course, the 'hair of the chin,' that is to say, the beard; notice that Imam al-Ramli purposely used the phrase, 'dhaqan' in the question (and not 'lihya') but used 'lihya' in his answer--this is to prevent any ambiguity arising from what is meant by the word 'beard']? Answer: To shave and trim the beard [lihya] of a man is Makruh, and not Haram. Whereas the statement of [Qadi] al-Halimi in his Minhaj [fi Shu'ab al-Iman, (note, not a work of fiqh) that] ‘it is not permissible for anyone to shave off his beard and eyebrows’, is a Weak Position [Dai'f].” [al-Ramli, Fatawa, 4:69].
The text of the Ihya’ (which is not a fiqh work, but a work on adab and tasawwuf, that usually presents rulings stricter than the official Shafi’i positions – for reasons following the way of Wara’ and scrupulousness out of piety, taking the way of caution and leaving the rukhsa and dispensations), in this case, does not, in the end, depart from the minimum legal position that shaving the beard is Makruh. In fact, al-Ghazali, caused a stir amongst our jurists when he presented a more lenient ruling such as when he said that it is permissible [Mubah; in that, it is not Makruh] to trim the beard for the sake of ‘keeping up appearances’ (while the position of our school is still, shaving or trimming the beard in any way, is Makruh):
“The directive here [of Ibn 'Umar and a group of the Tabi'in, which al-Sha'bi and Ibn Sirin consider good [meaning Mandub or recommended], that there is no harm in a man grasping his beard with his hand, and whatever exceeds that, he cuts] is more accurate [qarib; as opposed to the opinions of al-Hasan al-Basri and Qatada (may Allah (SWT) be pleased with all of them, notwithstanding their khilaf!) (which is the position of the Shafi'is) that it is unconditionally Makruh to trim the beard, even if it is longer or lesser than what some say to be the minimum, that is, a 'handful'] if* it does not lead to cutting off the beard [completely] and rounding it off the sides [i.e., a clean-shaven face]. Because [read "fa'-ta'lil" here because of "inna"] [the resulting] excessive length may make the appearance ugly, and may incite backbiters with ridiculing him, then, there is no harm [if the beard is trimmed] in accordance with this intention, [that is] to guard against (the excessive length that may make the appearance ugly). [al-Ghazali, Ihya', 1:168].
* “if” is understood as “when at the same time,” because the conditional particle, “in-shartiyya” is read like “idh-zarfiyya” or “idha” here." Rest od discussion is there also
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Post by loveprophet on Jan 18, 2017 10:10:06 GMT
"For this reason, al-Nawawi (in the Majmu’, above) and Ibn Hajar, immediately corrected al-Ghazali and reaffirmed the well-accepted Shafi’iyya position, that is, to remove the beard in any way, even if a little, is Makruh. That is why Ibn Hajar says in the Tuhfa: “Whereas the claim [i.e., made by al-Ghazali], then, that ‘it makes the appearance ugly’ [and therefore it is not Makruh to trim the beard for this reason] is rejected [mamnu']. On the contrary, what is ugly [mushawwah] is to abandon its maintenance by [not] washing and oiling.” [Ibn Hajar, Tuhfa, 12:303].
Given that the Shafi’i school has the most lenient fiqhi position regarding the beard (in that it is not Haram to shave it off, even completely (but like leaving the khuff, above, it becomes Haram when one does this, intending to go against the Prophetic Example or thinking that the sunna of the non-Muslims is superior to ours), unlike the Hanafis, for instance, that to trim the beard when it is less than the minimum is Haram), our Imams stress the ‘unconditional’ nature of the dislikedness in trimming the beard; and because of the absolute Makruh, our school does not strictly set a minimum limit for the beard. This explains why scholars like al-Nawawi and Ibn Hajar, consider the opinions of those setting a minimum limit for the beard (such as al-Ghazali and later on, the Mufti of Zabid, al-Ashkhar (d. 903 H/1497), who followed one of Imam al-Adhra’i’s conflicting opinions, set the minimum limit of the beard to be the throat or the ‘handful’, which basically means that what grows beyond the ‘handful’ or the ‘minimum limit’, so to speak, is no longer considered Makruh to cut off [Ba 'Alawi, Bughya al-Mustarshidin, 20]) to be even more lenient than what is already a lenient position vis-a-vis the four schools of fiqh. That is why the position of the school remains that it is unconditionally Makruh to trim or shave the beard in any way.
As from your statement, “They include taking too much or leaving too much, which is explained to mean shaving the head [? - this explanation, I'm sure, is not what was meant] and taking too much of the beard with it or leaving too much of the beard. These two scenarios can only be understood if the sideburns (’aridan) are included as part of the beard,” the explanation and the inference made that the beard includes other than that which grows on the chin, is, I am afraid, wrong (mamnu’; for reasons that will be made clear below, but most important of all is, what is found in the Ihya’ is not a hukm fiqhi or legal judgement). Al-Ghazali goes on to say (this is the point where Imam al-Ghazali begins to selectively borrow from the Qut al-Qulub of Abu Talib al-Makki):
“Al-Nakha’i (may Allah (SWT) be pleased with him!) said: “I am amazed at why a reasonable man whose beard is long does not cut it off, and make it ‘between two beards’ [i.e., a majaz or figurative expression to mean 'a beard that is not too long and not too short'], for moderation is good in everything.” For this reason, it is said: “The longer the beard, the smaller the mind.”" [Ihya', 1:168; cf. al-Makki, Qut, 3:361].
The ‘taking too much or leaving too much’ from the beard or more appropriately, the ‘avoiding its being too long and its being too short’ scenario appears only in this metaphor of al-Nakha’i, still, not, as you thought, in the Qut al-Qulub part VIA al-Ghazali’s Ihya’, which discusses the ten Makruh (note, still not Haram) practices relating to the beard. Instead, what appears in that latter part, contradicts the ‘avoiding its being too long and its being too short scenario’, since there, al-Ghazali was actually saying: to exceed (ziyada) the beard (and no mention of naqs or reduction here, in spite what was originally written by al-Makki) beyond ‘its limit’ is what is in fact Makruh (and incidentally, there is already mention of lateral hairs here):
“The seventh [practice that is Makruh concerning the beard] is: allowing it to exceed [ziyada; notice al-Ghazali kept the verb 'zada yazidu ziyadatan', and did not replace it with tawfir (to let grow) or i'fa (to keep or leave it alone), while ziyada has also the meaning of to add or make addition of something to something else]. That is to say, to exceed the lateral hairs [growing out] of the temples [in fiqh, this is technically known as the 'idhar], namely, [that it grows] from the hair of the head until it goes beyond the jawbones and reaching ultimately to halfway down the cheeks. This [to allow the 'excesses' of the 'beard'], is inconsistent with the state of the people of righteousness [i.e., the Pious Predecessors or the Salaf].” [Ihya', 1:170]. (This circumstance can be seen clearest when the head is shaved and if that person is genetically able to grow the lateral hairs and the ‘idhar; in the published version of this answer, there will be an illustration, insha’ Allah (SWT)!)
It should be mentioned here (without, I hope, making it complicated, or ’surprising’), that al-Ghazali had, in fact, edited the original words of Abu Talib al-Makki. Al-Makki, for example, originally mentions that among the disliked practices relating to the beard, is to exceed it and to be deficient of it (in other words, defining the maximum and what is less than the minimum limits of the beard, according to al-Makki (whose tariqa in fiqh was not Shafi’i, but Hanafi):
“Among this [from the 12 Makruh (not the 10 like in the Ihya') practices relating to the beard] is its deficiency [nuqsan] and excess [ziyada]. That is to say [the excess is], to exceed the lateral hairs [growing out] of the temple [bones] from the hair of the head until it goes beyond the jawbones, and that is the limit [hadd] of the beard. Or, the deficiency of the beard, is to be deficient [by omitting, not letting it grow, or trimming it] from the jawbones to halfway up the cheeks, and that is similar to (the hukm of exceeding the beard).” [al-Makki, Qut al-Qulub, 3:357].
So it should be clear to us by now that the words of al-Makki’s Qut al-Qulub have been carefully and purposely emended by al-Ghazali, and in the edited version (which we can now say, al-Ghazali’s own words), al-Ghazali does not define the lateral hairs to be a part of the beard. (In particular, the absence of al-Makki’s original words, wa-dhalika huwa haddu l-lihyati [and that is limit of the beard], is telling.) That is why al-Ghazali does not mention his source here (that it is from the Qut al-Qulub), and specialists on Ghazalian studies will be able to confirm that this is the usual practice in almost all of al-Ghazali’s works: not to mention the source when the carefully edited portions of the source text makes subtle but crucial departures from the original author. The fact that al-Ghazali’s emended discussion is now about the dislikedness of letting the ‘beard’ grow (not to mention the conspicuous omission of al-Makki’s ‘nuqsan’), should, for Shafi’is, be a clear indication that he is not talking about the ‘conventional’ beard (i.e., that which grows on the chin); because the alternative would mean that it will not be Makruh to trim off the beard. This is the removal of your obstacle [zawal al-mani', Amin]! Moreover, even if one wanted to push the boundaries of Arabic majaz, of al-Nakha’i’s ‘between two beards’ to include the lateral hairs as a part of the beard, then one must remember that this still does not amount to a legal definition [hadd] of lihya, for neither the Ihya’ nor the Qut are works of fiqh. In fact, rhetorical and figurative devices (found aplenty in works like the Ihya’) are not a normal feature of fiqhi literature. Rather, fiqhi works are supposed to be ’sober’ and ‘dry’ so that it should be crystal clear in order to leave no room for confusion, since the ‘minimum’ legal rulings are what are sought for from these works, as any beginner students of Fiqh who are familiar with the Mawdu’ [subject-matter] of ‘ilm fiqh, knows that it concerns “the actions of the Mukallaf [legally responsible person] in which the [five] legal rulings are presented to them.” Failing that, we have the shuruh [commentaries] and the hawashi [super-commentaries] to shed light upon anything that seems unclear in the matn [main text]. (We can already see that the style of al-Ghazali’s works on ‘proper’ fiqh like the Wajiz and Wasit differs considerably from the style of the Ihya’ and his other popular works.)
In the fiqhi literature, we find for example, Sayyid al-Bakri confirming that al-Ghazali followed the majority [Jumhur; Shafi'i] opinion, in that it is Makruh to shave or trim the beard. [I'anat, 2:386]. (Al-Ghazali’s two surviving works on fiqh, the Wajiz and Wasit, the Short and Middle Abridgement of his teacher’s massive commentary on the Mukhtasar of Imam al-Muzani, al-Juwayni’s Nihaya al-Matlab, do not have a discussion on the beard; his Longest Abridgement, the Basit, is not extant in full and as far as we know today, only fragments of this work survives in manuscript form–and it is in the interest of Shafi’i scholars worldwide to seek out this lost treasure! His shortest work on fiqh, the Khulasa (al-Ghazali’s own abridgement on al-Muzani’s al-Mukhtasar), which fortunately survives, but unfortunately, the 100 folios of handwritten manuscript remains unedited in the Sulaymaniyya Library at Istanbul (MS Sulaimaniye 442; for which the author has a copy of it), too, does not discuss the beard. As for his earliest ‘work(s)’ on fiqh, the Ta’liqa fi Furu’ al-Fiqh al-Shafi’i – which is lost – was never published by him.)"
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Post by loveprophet on Jan 18, 2017 10:12:36 GMT
"Furthermore, unlike the khilaf whether it is Makruh or Haram to shave the beard in the first place, there is no khilaf in our school regarding the definition of the beard that includes other than ‘what grows on the chin’; otherwise we will have to find in places where the hukm of trimming the beard is discussed (either in Bab ‘Aqiqa or Siwak), a qualification saying that the lihya also includes the ‘aridan (for which there is no such precedent). Imam al-Ramli’s unequivocal fatwa above is the standard qawl used by any Shafi’i teachers to dispel the notion that the lateral hairs are a part of the beard. So with all due respect to your Shafi’i teachers, their objections to Habib ‘Ali’s statement that “there is no karaha in shaving everything else [other than what grows on the chin]“, is either:
(a) with the hukm of Makruh or dislikedness for shaving the beard itself, or
(b) with the definition of a beard that includes other than what grows on the chin.
If it is with the latter, then their objection has to be off the mark, since that understanding of the beard, as such, is alien to our school, and if they were teaching the Fath al-Mu’in, for example, they would surely know this fact. If it is with the former, then your teachers are following the Qawl Marjuh or the alternative position (in fact, strictly speaking, it is the Qawl Da’if or the Weak Position) of the school in saying that it is Haram to shave the beard (which only a minority of Shafi’i jurists adopted this position such as, the most cited one was Qadi al-Halimi above; and even with this stricter hukm, it is only what grows on the chin). (Normally, one is not allowed to follow the weak position, except if it is for personal practice [li-'amal nafsih], and if it is not for taking rukhsa–in fact, in this case, it is leaving a rukhsa in view of adopting the more strict or ‘azima position.) Despite this, the relied upon fiqhi opinion for the Shafi’is, for ‘amma (public) as well as khassa (scholars), by living (such as Habib Zayn Ibn Sumayt al-Madani) as well as those recently moved-from-this-world authorities (such as, the well-known Musnid al-Waqt, Shaykh Muhammad Yasin al-Fadani al-Makki) is still that it is Makruh (all four Tawa’if of the school, al-Nawawi and al-Rafi’i, Ibn Hajar and al-Ramli, including Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari, concur on this hukm)–and if someone wants to follow the qawl and position which says that it is Haram to shave, then yes by all means please do so, but know that that person is following the ‘alternative position’, and one must not, therefore, censure others for following the well-accepted position of the school. Furthermore, that when one does that, one is intending to follow the stricter position, and doing so out of Wara’ and doing what is better (and better still to keep to oneself), but, the minimum fiqhi position for ‘amal and ta’lim, for practice and instruction, is still, as far as the Shafi’is are concerned, that I’fa’ wa Tawfir al-Lihya [leaving or keeping the beard] is Sunna or recommended, not Wajib, while Halq al-Lihya [shaving or removing the beard] is Makruh, not Haram. The fiqh ruling is always easy, the difficulty is always with its adab; fiqhi works and judgements are always dry save with its close companion, Tasawwuf. It could be, therefore, that one may be conflating the minimum ruling (its fiqhi ruling) with the optimal ruling (its adab/tasawwuf judgement).
In the case that your teachers have raised those objections, then it would only be appropriate for us as students to think the best of our teachers in return (and hasten to remember the service they have rendered to us – no matter how small – and the big debt we will owe them in the hereafter), and to assume (without asking them) that they are in fact taking the way of caution that is beyond the fiqhi ruling; after that, if any conflicting issues remain, then as students, it is only right that we make ta’wil and interpret their confusing statements in order to do what students are expected to do in this situation, to prevent mukhalafa al-qulub (between the student and teacher)–doing all of this on account of acknowledging our ignorance, iftiqar and weakness on our part, and our inability to understand the wisdom behind what they were saying.
To sum up, yes, for us, legally, “the beard is only that which grows on the chin and so there is no karaha in shaving everything else.” It is well-known that the Shafi’is hold the most lenient position concerning the beard. Dhaqan or what grows on the chin is the real or ‘legal’ beard, while what grows on the ‘aridan or lateral hairs is the pseudo-beard. (That explains why the pseudo-beard is to be treated like the lihya during the wudu’, despite the fact that they are, legally, two different things.) The fiqhi ruling that it being Makruh to remove in any way, applies only to what is the legal minimum, namely, the lihya and not to any of the ‘arid.
On this note, I think it appropriate that we end with the following wisdom of our ‘ulama al-’amilin:
rahmatu l-ummati fi ikhtilafi l-a’immati [The Umma's mercy is in the khilaf of the Imams].
May this be of benefit, wallahu wa-rasulu ahkam bi-s-sawab!
Your weak brother,
Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti © Oxford 16 Rabi’ II 1424 17 VI 2003
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Shaykh Amjad Rasheed affirms that the mu’tamad (relied upon) opinion in the Shafi’i school is that it is makruh to shave and trim the beard. He stated, حلقُ اللحية أو تقصيرُ شيءٍ منها ولو تحت القبضة مكروهٌ وليس بحرام على المعتمد في مذهبنا كما عليه الشيخان النووي والرافعي وجمهورُ المتأخرين كالشيخ ابن حجر الهيتمي
“Shaving the beard or trimming any part of it, making it less than a fistful, is makruh and it is not Haram upon the relied upon view of our madh-hab as was the two Shaykhs An-Nawawi and Ar-Rafi’i, and the majority of the later scholars such as Shaykh Ibn Hajr Al-Haytami.”"
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Post by loveprophet on Jan 18, 2017 13:19:50 GMT
islamqa.org/shafii/qibla-shafii/33257" The Position of the Shafi`i School The Shafi`is have differed among themselves about the ruling of shaving the beard. Some scholars such as the Shaykhs Ibn al-Rif`ah, Halimi, and Adhra`i have held shaving the beard to be unlawful, Others, such as the Imams Ghazali, Nawawi, and Rafi`i have held it to be offensive. The two foremost figures in the late Shafi`i school, Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami and Shaykh Muhammad al-Ramli–along with Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari–have confirmed the latter position (Sayyid al-Bakri, I`anat al-Talibin, 2.340). This latter position is, in fact, the official position of the Shafi`i school. The School and the Imam One of the arguments for the unlawfulness of shaving the beard is that Imam Shafi`i himself said in al-Umm that it is unlawful. Shaykh Ibn Hajar explains that this is insufficient proof to establish this position as the official position of the Shafi`i school, saying, “The scholars of exacting verification have reached consensus that the official position of the Shafi`i school (al-mufta bihi) is what [h: Nawawi and Rafi`i] have mentioned, followed by what Nawawi [h: alone] has mentioned. They have also reached consensus that if someone objects to [h: Nawawi and Rafi`i] by citing an explicit statement from al-Umm, or by claiming that the majority [h: of Shafi`i’s] have held a contrary position, or the like, then this does not change the official position of the Shafi`i school [h: that Nawawi and Rafi`i have agreed on]. This is because [h: Nawawi and Rafi`i] have more knowledge of what Imam Shafi`i has said, and of what the early Shafi`is have said than the one who objects to them. They therefore only went against [h: the text of Imam Shafi`i or the positions of the early Shafi`is] because of a reason that is known by those who know it and not known by those who are ignorant of it.” (Muhammad b. Sulayman al-Kurdi, al-Fawa’id al-Madaniyya, p. 19) Imam Shafi`i is known to have held multiple positions (at different times) on the same issue, and the early scholars of the Shafi`i school differed greatly among themselves. Determining the official position of the school is not as easy as citing a single reference; rather, one needs to have complete knowledge and mastery of all of the statements and positions of the Imam and the early scholars. Imam Nawawi and Imam Rafi`i both had this knowledge; most of those who objected to them did not. Scholars who came after Nawawi and Rafi`i held that the only way to understand the works of the Shafi`is who came before these two scholars (including the words of Imam Shafi`i himself) is through the books of these two scholars themselves, who had read and understood what all the Shafi`is before them had said, and then worked with this knowledge to determine the official position of the school. If we find a solitary quote from one of Imam Shafi`i’s books that goes against what Nawawi and Rafi`i said, then, in all likelihood, they were aware of the quote and held a contrary position because of other quotes and other positions that have not reached us. This is why when Shaykh Ibn Hajar discusses the positions of those who held shaving the beard to be unlawful, he doesn’t even deem it necessary to verify what al-Umm says. Rather, he simply says that the alleged quote from al-Umm should either be interpreted in other than its immediately obvious sense, or, if that’s not possible, then it is simply contrary to the official position of the Shafi`i school (Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 9.376). The position of the school, in other words, remains what Imam Nawawi and Imam Rafi`i have determined. Shaykh Nuh Keller has written a short, yet beautiful and inspiring biography of Imam Shafi`i (Allah have mercy on him) at the end of The Reliance of the Traveller. He says of the great Imam, “The author of some 113 works, it was nonetheless Shafi`i’s hope that “people would learn this knowledge without ascribing a single letter of it to me,” and as Zakariyya Ansari remarked, “Allah granted his wish, for one seldom hears of any position of his, save that it is ascribed to others of his school with the words, ‘Rafi`i, or Nawawi, or Zarkashi says …’ and the like.”” (Reliance of the Traveller, x324) May Allah be pleased with Imam Shafi`i and benefit us because of him. Ameen. And Allah knows best. Hamza."
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Post by loveprophet on Jan 18, 2017 20:54:44 GMT
The Maliki position malikifiqhqa.com/uncategorized/trimming-the-beard-shaykh-abdullah-bin-hamid-ali/ Answer from Shaykh Abdullah bin Hamid Ali: Abdullah ibn Abi Zaid says in his Risalah, “And the Prophet (pbuh) ordered that the beard be left alone and allowed to grow abundantly and that it not be trimmed. Malik said: “And there is no objection in trimming from its length when it becomes very long.” And what Malik said, more than one of the Companions and the Successors also said.” [Hashiyat al-‘Adawi: 2/445] According to Shaykh Al-’Adawi the order given by the Prophet (pbuh) to let the beard grow long is indicative of encouragement, not obligation. But he does say that if shortening the beard leads to disfigurement (muthlah) – like making a man take on the appearance of a woman – the order is taken to imply obligation in which case it would be haram to shorten or shave it. However, if shortening it doesn’t lead to disfigurement, there is no sin in shortening or trimming the beard. He states that Ibn Naji considers it recommended to trim hair from the width of the beard also when it grows too long. ‘Adawi also states that some of the commentators on the Risalah state that the beard being ‘too long’ is determined according to custom in that if one’s beard is longer than the average (Muslim)man, then it is considered too long. In such a case, it is recommended to trim what exceeds the norm, since it mars one’s appearance and one may be accused of seeking to be noticed (shuhrah) as stated by Abu al-Hasan (another commentator). But the general rule is that one should not touch the beard and let it grow long. As for when someone has only a short beard, ‘Adawi relates that some commentators rule that trimming such a beard is haram (forbidden) just like shaving. . Then ‘Adawi states that the apparent context of this opinion is premised on whether or not trimming or shaving it produces disfigurement muthlah – like if doing so makes a man look like a woman. So if disfigurement occurs, it would be haram. But if it doesn’t, then there will be no objection. But in the case of the long beard, it is always recommended to trim it when it exceeds the customary norm of men and mars a person’s appearance. As for the goatee, the hair of this area should not be touched at all. But remember to apply this ruling based on all that has been mentioned."
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