as I promised to get back on this one. allhamdulillah, I was wrong and you are right: beard is wajib and not fardh. barak Allahu feekee
However, such difference is only theortical when the application of two terms is same. They both mean an obligation and only the ahnaf make distinction between the two terms due to them being Ahl al-Rai'i.
like who? your sufi ashari scholars who call for shirk and bidah? Maybe you can give us list of all these "so many scholars"; I am sure it would start with Nuh keller and end with Hamza Yusuf.
Well thanks for agreeing with* something*...lol
“Yūsuf ibn Khālid As-Simtī told Abū Hanifah that he was a kāfir for saying witr was wājib, thinking by that he meant it was the same as fardh. Abu Hanīfah stated, “You can’t scare me with your takfīr, since I know that the difference between Fardh and Wājib is like the difference between the heavens and the earth **(al farq bayn al wājib wal-fard**h ka farq mā bayn as-samā’ wal-ardh).”
[Tāj 5:66, and Badā’i` - Beirut: Dār Al Kitāb Al-‘Arabi, 1402/1982 print pages 1:271]
No it's not only the "mushrik" and "bidati" sufi ashari scholars....you will find many people who find faults in their translation.
may Allah help us.