{"_id":"668da0250b76658b4c232f5a","title":"Are beards required or recommended for Muslim men?","question":"I have been told that beards for men are not required (i.e. that it is not haram to not have a beard) but rather, they are strongly preferred. Is this true?","answer":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"Keeping a beard is an established prophetic tradition (sunnah) and has always been a distinctive mark of Muslim men. However, scholars disagreed on whether it’s ḥarām/sinful to shave one’s beard.\\n\\nThe position of the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, and Ḥanbalī schools of law appears to be that it’s forbidden, while the Shāfiʿī school says it’s not forbidden but rather disliked (makrūh). Since my expertise is in the Shāfiʿī  school, I can tell you that according to Shāfiʿī  jurists, the beard is what grows on the chin, keeping it is recommended, and shaving it is makrūh/disliked.\\n\\nThat said, there are people on both extremes on the beard issue: Those who trivialize it and those who use the beard as a yardstick for measuring a person’s faith and character. I ask Allah the Almighty to keep us far away from these extremes and to place in our hearts a deep love for the prophetic sunnah and compassion for one another.\\n\"}]}","tags":[{"_id":"668da0230b76658b4c232f29","tag":"Men: Facial Hair","count":10}],"createdOn":"2024-07-09T20:40:05.263Z"}