Q339 :May I ask how did Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) wear his beard and mustaches? Was it U or V shape? Or did it
cover only his chin? Is there any minimum or maximum limit to the
length of a beard?
A339 : May I begin by reminding you of what Allah
tells us in the Qur’an about the Children of Israel and the sort of
questions they put to him through Prophet Moses. Allah had netmanded
them to slaughter a cow. Had they treated that netmand with the
seriousness it deserves and immediately slaughtered any cow, they would
have fulfilled their duty. They, however, put to him so many questions
about what sort of cow they should slaughter, what color, how fit and
what work it did, etc. The result of their questioning was the
limiting of their choice, time after time, until, when they realized
that they had a full description, they discovered that there was only
one cow in the whole netmunity which answered that description. Its
owner, a pious and God-fearing man whom Allah wanted to benefit by this
situation, demanded a very high price for the cow and they had to pay
it. The Prophet’s netments: “The Children of Israel made things
difficult, so Allah made it more difficult for them.” We say that
Muslim men should wear a beard, because the Prophet has given
instructions to that effect. Many scholars maintain that this is a
duty, while others say that it is a Sunnah. Whichever ruling we take,
it relates to wearing a beard. At no time did the Prophet say that it
should be a U or V-shaped, or indeed any other. Why should we make
things difficult for ourselves; when He wants our faith to be easy to
implement. Besides, if your face is of the long type, you cannot make
your beard in U-shape.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )