Narratives Ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) Regarding Beard... In your reply to " Wearing Beards " can you note the example Hadith etc. that you referred to in your statement: "There are however, a few narratives of the Prophet (pbuh) in this regard. The directives in these narratives refer to particular and specific contexts. For instance, if the Prophet (pbuh) saw some deviancies in this nature of man or where a particular style of beard was wrongly held to be divinely ordained, the Prophet (pbuh) gave the ascribed remarks to correct the concept. It is primarily in such contexts that the Prophet (pbuh) gave the ascribed directives regarding beard." Raqueeb Albaari Reply According to Tabari , also recorded by Abu Zuhra in his biography of the Prophet (pbuh) " Khaatam al-Nabiyyeen " [1] , when Bazaam (the deputy of Kisraa in Yemen ) sent two of his messengers to the Prophet (pbuh) in response to the Prophet (pbuh)'s letter to Kisraa , the Prophet (pbuh) looked at them with disgust, as they had shaved off their beards and had grown big moustaches [2] . Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) asked these messengers what had prompted them to such appearance, to which they responded that it was according to the directives of their Lord (the king). The Prophet (pbuh) in return said that my Lord (God) has ordained growing the beard and trimming the moustaches. It should be remembered that all that is according to the nature of man is actually a commandment of God. The Qur'an has also referred to actions that are in conformity with the nature of man as actions in conformity with God's directives. In the above-mentioned incident, the Prophet (pbuh)'s disgust toward shaving off the beard is a clear evidence of the fact that he considered growing of the beard to be in conformity with man's physical nature, rather than a directive of the Shari`ah . Had it been a directive of the Islamic Shari`ah , the Prophet (pbuh) would not have shown disgust toward these people for showing disregard toward a directive of the Shari`ah, for they were yet not even aware of the basics of the Shari`ah . According to another narrative of an incident, as reported in Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal [3] , Abu Umaamah (ra) reports that once the Prophet (pbuh) came upon a group of old people of the Ansaar with beards that were completely white. He said to them: 'O people of the Ansaar , dye your beards red or yellow [4] and (thus) be different from the people of the Book. [ Abu Umaamaah says:] I asked: 'O Prophet the people of the Book wear [clothes like] pants and avoid wrapping the loincloth, [what should we do?]'. The Prophet (pbuh) said: 'You should wear [clothes like] pants as well as wrap the loincloth and [thus] be different from the people of the Book'. I asked: 'O Prophet, the people of the Book walk bare feet and avoid wearing shoes, [what should we do?]'. The Prophet (pbuh) said: You should walk bare foot as well as wear shoes, and [thus] be different from the people of the Book'. Then we asked: 'O Prophet, the people of the Book keep their beards closely trimmed and let their moustaches grow long, [what should we do?]'. The Prophet said: You should trim your moustaches and let your beards grow and [thus] be different from the people of the Book'. In this narrative, it seems quite clear that the Jews of the time had added many things to their Shari`ah on their own - as bid`ah in God's Shari`ah . The Prophet (pbuh) in this narrative is reported to have directed the Muslims to show their differences with the Jews in all those aspects which they had added to their Shari`ah . One such aspect was to trim the beard and to let the moustaches grow. As this was not only an unauthorized addition to God's Shari`ah but also made one look arrogant and profligate, the Prophet (pbuh) directed his followers to disregard such self-made Shari`ah of the Jews and to do exactly the opposite of what they were used to doing. I hope this helps. In case any aspect of your question remains unanswered or inadequately answered, please feel free in writing back to me at your own convenience. May the Almighty guide us all to the path of His liking. My fondest regards to you and those around you. The Learner [1] Vol. 3, Pg 862 - 863. [2] It should be remembered that in almost all the eastern cultures, big moustaches have generally been considered a symbol of an arrogant and a profligate personality and shaving of the beard, as has been mentioned in our referred response, were considered to be against the nature of man. [3] Narrative No. 21252 the text follows: [4] These were normally the colors used for dying in the Arab culture. The Prophet (pbuh) did not like dying one's beard or hair with black color as that could imply giving a wrong impression about one's age.