Thank YOU faisal bhai for that. Even though all posts stated the same reasoning (differentiating from the kuffar and it being part of fitrah), you mushed it up well for the others to swallow easily :k:
Re: Beards
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by PyariCgudia: *
Why? Does it really make you more spiritual?
And is this just a cultural preference the prophet had, that we've turned into something "spiritual" and something that should or must be done?
I mean, who decided that beards are recommended or mandatory in Islam? And WHY??
[/QUOTE]
Pyarigudia
From the information i found it is recommended if you don't have a beard then fine you will not be punished for that.
If you have beard then you will be rewarded for that because your intention is what to be close as possible to muhammad(saw). If you wear beard for position on commitee or mosque board i don't think you will get reward because your intention changes for a position rather than the sunnah.
so a muslim should always seek the reward but if he does'nt have beard he cannot be called all kinds of names etc because he has been given the option depending on the madhab he follows i.e hanafi,hanbali etc.:maulvidis
By the way, one thing I forgot to mention earlier... just having a beard does not make a person more pious. As the famous urdu saying goes:
Islaam mein daarhi hai
Daarhi mein islaam nahi
Although chances are that those who grow a beard to emulate the Prophet (sallalah o alaihai wassalam) are more likely to do other good deeds as well.
Whether daarhi is farz or wajib or mustahib is a long discussion, best left to the scholar of your choice, your own understanding and inclination.
With regards to the purpose of keeping yourself distinct from others...
It is very possible that at the time, non-muslims did not wear beards, and this was a social function to diffrentiate between muslim and non-muslim men. However, many non-muslims wear beards now....so how will you make yourselves distinct from them?
Also, it doesn't seem like the Prophet was advocating beards as a mandatory law, just as a recommendation. You know like "well, i like my potatoes cooked this way...maybe you might also".
PCG- beg to differ. If you read Faisal’s post again, you’ll see that people kept beards even back then. and how do you combat the point of being different from the females? Also- lots of non-muslims keep beards… where do you live??? 
and frankly the example you use of potatoes is the most far-fetched and hilarious thing I’ve read in a while. Frankly, I dont think the Prophet (sallalhu-aleyhe’wasallam) used to give out commands to his companions (radiallahu-anham) which were just as important as having potates cooked a certain way, since he understood how difficult it would be for the Ummah to follow him in trivial matters.
The wordings of the ahadith, if you’d like to focus are: ‘leave the beard alone’, ‘let the beard grow’.
i'm sure the prophet was human, last time i checked, and i'm sure he was prone to joking (as he is described to have a sense of humour), and he was prone to casual talk, like all humans.
We need to stop thinking of him as some half-godling. He was human too, and I dont know of any human who doesn't casual talk. Plus, this whole argument will go back to the whole sunnah vs. hadith, hadith vs. Quran, sunnah vs. Quran issue.
So lets stick with the topic. If the intent was to diffrentiate between men and women...i'm sorry, are u telling me a clean-shaven man looks like a woman or can be mistaken with a woman??
Also, the argument about let what's natural grow is not too great an argument, cuz women are allowed to shave their legs. So why can't they let their natural fur grow??
And ammarr, that IS what i'm saying...men back then and men now, regardless of religion keep beards or dont keep them. There are nonmuslims with beards, and muslims w/o beards. So how is the beard diffrentiating you as a muslim?
much better explanation
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PCG. Please read 53:3-4 (Click Here for Original Arabic with English translation). That is just to answer for your statements that “he was prone to joking” and “and he was prone to casual talk”. Sure he was human (as Quran reaffirms) but he did not joke around on such issues and clearly distinguished between rulings which are de-facto orders for all muslims and those which were merely his personal preferences or dislikes.
To give you an example, on a personal level he did not like the taste of garlic, so he did not eat it, but he never “joked around” to suggest that eating garlic is prohibited. There is no such thing as casual talk when it comes to matter of religious rulings.
In any case, the ruling on beard is not unique to muslims. If you do a little research, you will find that all Prophets (Allah-e-salams) before Muhammad (Sallalah o Alaihay Wassalam) had beards. Why? Is it just a matter of personal taste of Muhammad (Sallalah o Alaihay Wassalam) which he casually mentioned to his friends or is it something which our Creator ordered implicitly and explicitly throughout the ages.
In present times, having a clean-shaven (clean-cut) look is fashionable. People find all kinds of excuses not to grow beard. That is fine, since all of us are responsible for our own deeds. However, what is not fine, is to try and negate the ruling itself, just because we do not like it or deem it unfashionable.
yes, Breads are good for you. especially the italian garlic breads.
Faisal :k: :k:
Just to add to the earlier comments. There is also the hadith in which Abu Hurairah (r) asks the Prophet (s): “O Allah’s Messenger (s), do you joke with us?” He replied: “Yes, except that [even then] i say only what is true.”
Recorded in Sunan at-Tirmidhi (#1991) and Musnad Ahmed (2:360)
Iqbal
I believe 53:3-4 are not about everything the prophet ever said, but about his proclamation of the message. It is strictly about the revelations he received from Allah.
Kindly use verses in their correct context and not to prove absurd self imposed rulings ‘agreed upon by scholars’ like keeping mandatory facial hair 
God doesn’t forget.. if it were that important to our salvation, somewhere in the six thousand odd verses of His Book, He’d have mentioned it.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
*
God doesn't forget.. if it were that important to our salvation, somewhere in the six thousand odd verses of His Book, He'd have mentioned it. **
[/QUOTE]
Interestingly, Prophet Harun's beard is mentioned in the Qur'an:
"He [Harun] said: O son of my mother! Clutch not my beard nor my head! I feared lest thou shouldst say: Thou hast caused division among the Children of Israel, and hast not waited for my word." (20:94)
Of course, it doesn't prove beards are mandatory, but it does show that he kept one. Not only that, but it was obviously long enough that someone else could clutch/grasp it.
Iqbal
Religious Trivia:
Q) How do you recognise a male Lion from a Female one?
A) From its mane (beard) of course!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Ok, let me make it simple. Reading some of the responses above I can see why some people are getting frustrated. :)
The reason why muslim men are instructed to grow beard and trim moustache, is to differentiate muslim men from men of other nations.
There are certain aspects of dress and get-up which are particular to certain nations. For example, the black robe and white collar is representative of christian priests. The simple dress of buddish monks is very specific to them. In Prophet's (Sallalah o alaihay wa'salam) time jews used to have what we now call "french cut" beard or goatee, and thus Prophet actually asked a muslim tribesman to grow full beard and not the sort of beard which is similar to jews. Similarly, muslims are required to keep a distinctive appearance by growing their beards and trimming their moustache.
Now, you may ask, why it is necessary to differenciate between the appearance of men from different nations (the word "nation" is used in terms of religion)?
There is a hadith that on the day of judgement you will be raised with the nation whom you emulate in your appearance. It is implied in this order that anyone should be able to recognize a muslim just by his appearance. If you think about it, it is clear that a long beard, no moustache (and a turban on the head) will almost always be a muslim. Hijaab for muslim women also is typical muslim dress.
In addition, if you read about it, you will notice that all Prophets (Allaih Salaam) sent by Allah Ta'llah had beards. Why? Because Allah wants men to look like .... men. Women don't have facial hair like men and so men should not try to look like women by being clean-shaven. Heavy moustache is discouraged because it is taken as a sign of arrogance, similar to why muslim men are required to keep their dresses above their ankles. These represented pride and arrogance, however according to islamic thought-process, all glory is to Allah and all our wealth is a gift of Allah. That is nothing for us to be proud of. Its only our good deeds which will make us successful.
*
Disclaimer: The above answer is for those who use quran and sunnah as sources of sharia. It is only for informational purposes. For most accurate religious knowledge, as always, please consult a proper islamic scholar.*
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note the bold part of the quote.
don't you think that the "appearence" about which is talked about here, is more or less a 'spiritual' appearence....a 'mental' appearence....that you will be raised together with people whom you resemble with respect to mentality, with whom you SHARE your views about life, religion......in other words belief/faith?
sounds more plausible at least to me.
furthermore, why would men be recognized by a 'body-attribute' (= the beard) and women by a cloth (=hijaab)???? strange, isn't it.......whereas if you take the spiritual appearence, both can be recognized using the same criterion. (=equality between men and women perhaps?)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Athari: *
A List of Violations: Shaving the beard results in a series of Islamic violations, as is obvious from Allah's Book and His Messenger's Sunnah. The following is a list (not necessarily comprehensive) of such violations:
A. Disobedience to Allah
[/quote]
**
How is that? Please prove it by Quran.
[quote]
*F.Changing Allah's Creation without Permission
[/quote]
*
Please clarify whom do we seek permission from? I think this one is not applicable. If there is anything that Allah SWT allowed or prohibited it would be in Quran not in Sunnah or Hadith or any fatwa.
[quote]
*G. An Imitation of Women
[/quote]
*
I'd say it as "part of imitation" because you'll have to grow your head-hair as well etc.
[quote]
H. Shaving the Beard Contradicts the Pure Fitrah (Nature)
[/quote]
**
Is there a punishment in Islam for "contradicting **pure fitrah??
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
**I believe* 53:3-4 are not about everything the prophet ever said, but about his proclamation of the message. It is strictly about the revelations he received from Allah.
[/QUOTE]
I believe that you believe wrong. There you go! :)
This is what I said yesterday:
In present times, having a clean-shaven (clean-cut) look is fashionable. People find all kinds of excuses not to grow beard. That is fine, since all of us are responsible for our own deeds. However, what is not fine, is to try and negate the ruling itself, just because we do not like it or deem it unfashionable.
In addition, you are one of the minority members on this forum who refuses to accept quran and hadith (both) as sources of sharia. You have made your point repeatedly in all kinds of threads. You will be well-advised not to repeatedly interfere in threads which are a discussion amongst those who do believe in all appropriate sources of sharia. For all practical purposes, your narrow view of Islam, and of quranic verses, is quite irrelevant in such discussions.
Faisal,
You are wrong in your (ab)use of the subject verses and it has nothing to do with my suspicions of the veracity of hadith literature.
The subject verses cannot be used to prove anything uttered by the Prophet was a divine revelation. Try again.
..so God made man, gave him two objects, yet only enough blood for one to function at a time.
From "I believe" to "you are" in such a short time? Now that was quick! :)
In any case, the discussion has come full circle. All the responses have been given. Those who can read, can make their own conclusions. Those who agree are welcome. Those who disagree are welcome too. Any more time spent to go back and forth will just be a wastage (IMO). Those of you who wish to indulge, can do so, as much as they want.
Good day to all! :)