al-Lihya Limadha
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar Taybah lin-Nashr wat-Tawzi'
al-Lihya Limadha (The Beard: Why?) is a legal and devotional treatise on the obligation of growing the beard and the prohibition of shaving it in Islamic law, written by the Egyptian scholar Muhammad Ismail al-Muqaddim.
Background and Composition
The book is an abridgment of al-Muqaddim's more comprehensive work, Adillat Tahrim Halq al-Lihya (Evidences for the Prohibition of Shaving the Beard). In his introduction, the author states that he prepared this concise version to make the subject accessible and simple in expression, omitting detailed scholastic inquiries, lengthy hadith verifications (takhrij), precise citation references, and technical digressions, while reformulating the discussion into an engaging presentation suitable for general readers.
The author completed the text in Alexandria on 24 Sha'ban 1413 AH (15 February 1993 CE). Its first edition was published that same year (1413 AH / 1993 CE) by Dar Taybah in Riyadh.
Content and Structure
The book is arranged under thematic section headings that examine the religious, legal, and social dimensions of maintaining the beard:
- Obedience and Prohibition: The work opens by presenting the maintenance of the beard as an obligation (wajib) commanded by the Prophet ﷺ, arguing that shaving or excessively trimming it near the skin is an act of disobedience and a deviation from prophetic guidance.
- The Prophetic Model: It outlines reports detailing the Prophet's physical description as having a full, thick beard and underscores the religious duty of following his example. It characterizes shaving as a departure from his explicit instructions and practice.
- Innate Human Nature (Fitrah) and Creation: Drawing on prophetic traditions that classify beard growth among the qualities of fitrah, the author argues that shaving constitutes an impermissible alteration of Allah's natural creation.
- Path of the Early Generations and Non-Imitation: The text cites the physical practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the early Muslims, asserting that shaving only spread among Muslims through contact with foreign cultures. It categorizes shaving as an imitation of non-Muslims and an unlawful imitation of women.
- Masculinity, Adornment, and Juristic Rulings: The author presents the beard as an intrinsic marker of manhood and dignity. To demonstrate its legal gravity, he cites classical jurists—including Abu Hanifa, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Sufyan al-Thawri—who ruled that permanently destroying someone's beard through injury warrants full blood money (diyah), as well as historical rulings where intentional shaving incurred judicial censure or the invalidation of legal testimony (radd al-shahadah).
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