Beard (lihya), fiqh rulings

Lihya, in lexicon, is the hair that grows on the cheeks and chin; the jurists take it as the hair on the cheeks, the sides, the lower face and the chin. The ʿidhar is the side that faces the ear, the ʿarid is the hair below the ear that meets the chin, the dhaqan is the joint of the jaw, the ʿanfaqa is what lies between the lower lip and the chin, and the sibal are the ends of the moustache ^{1 2}.

Keeping the beard is required by agreement, on the hadiths: differ from the idolaters, let the beards grow and trim the moustaches, and the hadith that letting it grow is one of the fitra customs. Ibn Hajar takes letting it grow to mean making it thick, and Ibn Abidin says it means leaving it until it is full, while Ibn Daqiq al-Id did not allow treating it to thicken it ^{3 4}.

Al-Nawawi holds that the beard should be left as it is. The Hanafis and Hanbalis hold that the excess beyond a fistful may be trimmed, as Ibn Umar did after the hajj and umra; the Hanafis call it a sunna, and a Hanafi view calls it obligatory. Others, including Ibn Hajar, al-Hasan and Ata, hold the beard may be trimmed only when it is deformed by excess length or breadth; no one permitted trimming less than a fistful without deformity ^{4 5}.

Most jurists, the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis, and a Shafi'i view, hold that shaving the beard is forbidden, since it contradicts the command to let it grow; the sounder Shafi'i view holds it disliked. Shaving may not be a ground for discretionary punishment ^{4 5 6}. Abu Shama said that shaving it was worse than what the Magians did when they trimmed theirs ⁵.

The jurists differ on whether the sibal belong to the moustache or to the beard. The Hanbalis hold they are part of the moustache, so they are trimmed with it; Ibn Umar would take hold of his sibal and cut it. The Hanbalis allow removing the hair under the throat, since it is not part of the beard ⁵.

Caring for the beard is a sunna: combing and perfuming it, on the report of Aisha that she perfumed the Prophet ﷺ with the best scent she found so that its shine showed on his head and beard. Disliked: whitening the beard to seem older out of pride, plucking, shaping it to show off, and tying it, on the report of Ruwayfi'. Dyeing with other than black is a sunna when grey shows; the majority dislike black dye except in war, and the Shafi'is forbid it to all but fighters ^{7 8}.

In ablution the skin under a thin beard must be washed, and the beard washed outside and inside; under a dense beard the inside need not be washed, only the outside ^{8 9}. The hair that falls beyond the face is disputed: the Hanafis and Malikis in one view and the Shafi'is in one view hold it need not be washed; the Malikis in another view and the apparent Hanbali view hold that the outer hair of a dense beard, as far as it lies on the face, must be washed ⁹. Combing the beard with water as khilal is a sunna for the Shafi'is and Hanbalis and a view of Abu Yusuf; Abu Hanifa and Muhammad hold it a virtue ¹⁰. In ghusl after sexual defilement, the skin under the beard must be washed, thin or thick, on the view of most jurists, citing the hadith that under each hair is defilement ^{10 11}.

In tayammum the beard must be wiped with the face, on its outer hair ¹¹. The pilgrim in ihram may not shave or trim his beard except out of need, by analogy with the ban on shaving the head in the verse of the surah of the Cow (verse 196), and may not oil or perfume it; the Shafi'is recommend trimming the moustache or the beard when leaving ihram ^{11 12}.

If the hair grows back there is nothing owed beyond discipline for intent; if it does not, the Hanafis and Hanbalis owe the full blood-money when it is all lost, and a share by area when part is lost. The Hanafis say nothing is due for a sparse beard of a few hairs on the chin, and the wait is a year to see if it grows back ^{12 6}.

The Hanafis dislike combing or trimming the beard of the dead, the Malikis hold shaving the beard of a dead man forbidden, and the Hanbalis dislike combing and forbid shaving; the Shafi'is hold combing the beard of a dead non-pilgrim good, to remove dirt and remains of lote-tree leaves ⁶.