#96. CAN I REDUCE MY BEARDS FOR FEAR OF LOSING MY JOB?
” As salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Please I have a question, and I would like the house to help me with the answer. A brother who is bearded just got a job, and he was told but his colleagues at work dat he will have to cut it off when work starts fully, but he should reduce it before d management tells him to, so as to be on a safer side. Is it good to reduce bear or not. If it is not can necessity allow someone to cut it( say somebody work is at stake)”
ANSWER
Wa alaykum salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh
Alhamdulillāh
The obligation of sparing the beards and allowing it to grow is of the matters that the Ulamā of the various Madhāhib have formed a consensus upon. This is due to the Hadīth of Abdullāh Ibn Umar – radiyallāhu ‘anh – as was recorded by both Imām Al-Bukhāri and Muslim that the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:
(خالفوا المشركين، وفروا اللحية وأحفوا الشوارب)
“Go against the Mushrikīn; make abundant your beards and trim the moustaches.”
The principles of _Usūl Al-Fiqh_ makes it abundantly clear that the default ruling as regards command tenses is Obligation. ( _Al-Aslu Fi Al-Amri Al-Wujūb_ )
It is therefore not permissible to cut off the beards in its entirety unless there is a serious and actual necessity to do that such as the fear of harm and the delicacy of need. The situation you have described nearly fits into that category of needs.
Imām Ibn AbdilBarr – rahimahullāh – said in the *Tamhīd*:
_”It is harām to cut off the beards, and nobody does that but the men that try to look like women.”_
As for trimming, then there is difference of opinion in its regards.
Of the Ulamā are those that hold that it is also Harām while others hold that it is Makrūh.
In whichever case, what is obligatory upon you in that situation is not to be carried away by the statements of those that advised you to trim it unless the situation presents itself from your employer. When that happens, it would be permissible for you to trim, not to shave if there is no alternative work that you may take up in that situation.
And remember the verses in which Allāh said:
: وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا* وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا. {الطلاق:3،2}.
_”And whosoever fears Allāh, He will find for him a way out. And He will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whosoever trusts in Allāh, He indeed will suffice him; surely Allah is dominant on His affairs. Allāh has indeed made for everything its portion.”_
Remain steadfast on your Dīn and do not allow anything to dissuade you from it.
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran.
