Tahrim Halq al-Liha - Wujub I'fa al-Lihya
- Author died
- 1392 AH
- Editions
- General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, Da'wah and Guidance - Department of Printing and Translation
Tahrim Halq al-Liha – Wujub I'fa al-Lihya (The Prohibition of Shaving Beards – The Obligation of Letting the Beard Grow) is a legal treatise authored by the Hanbali scholar Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim (d. 1392 AH / 1972 CE) addressing the Islamic jurisprudential rulings on growing, trimming, and shaving facial hair .
Composition and Structure
The primary treatise, titled Tahrim Halq al-Liha, was completed by Ibn Qasim in Jumada al-Ula 1354 AH (August 1935 CE) . In published compilations, it is followed by an additional tract and responsa on the same topic:
- Tahrim Halq al-Liha: The core treatise detailing the textual evidence for the impermissibility of shaving the beard and the obligation to trim the mustache .
- Wujub I'fa al-Lihya wa-Tahrim Halqiha wa-Taqsiriha (The Obligation of Letting the Beard Grow and the Prohibition of Shaving and Shortening It): A targeted legal response addressing inquiries about whether shaving or trimming the beard constitutes an act of disbelief or a sin .
- Supplementary Responsa: A series of legal answers (Fatawa Tata'allaq bi-Halq al-Lihya) responding to practical questions on mustache maintenance and beard cultivation, including an appended ruling by Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz .
Content and Legal Arguments
The author begins by defining the beard (al-lihya) linguistically as the hair growing on the cheeks and the chin, and explains i'fa' as leaving it in its natural state . He marshals canonical hadiths from Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, notably the narrations of Abd Allah ibn Umar and Abu Hurayrah instructing believers to differ from the polytheists and Magians by trimming mustaches and letting beards grow abundantly .
To corroborate the ruling of strict prohibition (tahrim), Ibn Qasim cites scholarly consensus (ijma') recorded by Ibn Hazm, alongside legal positions from classical Hanbali manuals such as al-Furu' and al-Iqna', as well as statements from Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Qurtubi, and al-Nawawi . He underscores that the imperative forms in the hadiths denote obligation (wujub) rather than mere recommendation (istihbab), and that outward resemblance to non-Muslims or women fosters inward conformity and spiritual corruption .
Addressing specific doctrinal and legal questions, the work clarifies that while shaving the beard is a major outward disobedience (ma'siyah zahirah), an individual who shaves it believing it to be permissible out of ignorance, misinterpretation, or blind imitation of certain scholars is considered a sinner ('asi) rather than a disbeliever (kafir) . Ibn Qasim also critiques narrations permitting the trimming of the beard's length and width, classifying the report attributed to the Prophet ﷺ in Sunan al-Tirmidhi via Umar ibn Harun al-Balkhi as baseless (batil) due to the narrator's unreliability .
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