This episode discusses the importance of following the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. Dr. Zakir explains that there are three types of Sunnah: sayings of the Prophet, actions of the Prophet, and approval of the Prophet. He provides examples of each. Dr. Zakir emphasizes that the Sunnah is the second most important source of guidance in Islam after the Quran, and outlines several Quranic verses that stress obeying both Allah and the Prophet. Neglecting the Sunnah could result in punishment in the hereafter.

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Ramadhaan – A Date with Dr. Zakir
Episode - 24
Ramadhaan - The Month of Self-Improvement &
Islaah
[Part 3]
Duration: 47 minutes
Yusuf Chambers: Dear brothers and sisters in Islam and Humanity,
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh, may the peace, the
mercy & the blessings of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) be on all of you.
Welcome to the show ‘Ramadhaan - A Date with Dr. Zakir’, I am your
host, Yusuf Chambers, and today we will be discussing the topic
‘Ramadhaan – The Month of Self-Improvement & Islaah’ Part 3. Dr.
Zakir, Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
Dr. Zakir: Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
Yusuf Chambers: Dr. Zakir, we’ve come to the next episode
regarding the topic Self-Improvement and Islaah in the month of
Ramadhaan and this is such a wonderfully large topic so Dr. Zakir in
the last 2 episode, of course, we covered the 70 majors sins and we
were urging them in this month of Ramadhaan, the month of self
improvement and Islaah to recognize these mistakes and change
them.
Dr. Zakir: InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: Now InshaAllah, let’s hope that I have taken some
note of that and the viewers have as well. Ah… what I’d like to
concentrate on now during this episode is the Sunnah of the Prophet
Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) and how we can best
implement these wonderful guidelines…our beloved Prophet
Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) has given us in this month of
self improvement and Islaah. So first of all could you explain to us
what is a Sunnah, what does it mean and how many types of Sunnah
are there?
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Dr. Zakir: Alhumdulillah was salaatu was salaam ala rasoolillah wa ala
aalihi wa ashaabihi wa ajma’een. Amma Ba’ad
A’uzu billahi minash shaytan nir-rajeem,
Bismillah hirrahman nirraheem,
Rabbish rahli Şadri Wa Yassir Li 'Amri Wa Ahlul `Uqdatan Min Lisani
Yafqahu Qawli
The word Sunnah literally means the way or the custom and the
Sunnah of the Prophet means the way of the Prophet or the Prophet’s
traditions. The word Sunnah, it indicates and means the sayings, the
deeds and the approval of the Prophet in the span of 23 years during
the Prophethood, it means what the Prophet said, what the Prophet
did, what the Prophet approved in the span of 23 years during the
Prophethood. And the Sunnah of the Prophet can be divided into 3
types
The first is Sunnat-e-Qaullee, that means the sayings of the Prophet,
The second is Sunnat-e-Faiyle that means the actions of the Prophet
and
The third is Sunnat- -Takreere which means the approval of the
Prophet.
So basically these 3 types of Sunnah are there in the 3 different
categories.
Yusuf Chambers: Okay, that seems very straight forward but could
you perhaps ah… for the benefit of the viewers and myself… could you
cite some examples of each of the different categories you have
mentioned?
Dr. Zakir: The example of the first type of Sunnah, that’s Sunnat-e-
Qaullee, the sayings of the Prophet, for example Muhammad
(Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said in
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 1 in the Book of Adhaan Hadith no. 631, the
Prophet said,
“Pray as you see me praying.”
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So this is the commandment of the Prophet, it’s a sayings of the
Prophet and it is the duty of us Muslims that we should follow it.
The example of the second type of Sunnah, Sunnat-e-Faiyle i.e. the
deeds of the Prophet is mentioned in …for example
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 1 Book of Adhaan Hadith no. 736, here it says
that, the Sahaaba who narrates
“Whenever I saw the Prophet offer Salaah, he used to raise his hands
up to the shoulders and then when he said the Takbeer, he again did
the same action, raised the hand up to the shoulders and then he
bowed down. When he came up, he said “sami Allahu liman hamidah"
that Allah hears those who praise Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and
again same with the same action that he raised his hands up to the
shoulders but he did not do the action, raising the hands up to the
shoulders, between the 2 prostrations when he said the Takbeer.”
So this is the action of the Prophet, the Sahaba sees the action and
narrates it, this becomes Sunnat-e-Faiyle
The third type of Sunnah is the Sunnat-e-Takreere i.e. the approval, of
the Prophet and the example is given in
Sunan Abu Dawud Vol. no. 1 in the Book of Salaah Hadith no. 1262
where
“Once the Prophet, he prays the Fajr Salaah, he leads the Fajr Salaah
in the congregation and after the salaah is over, he sees a man, after
Salaah, he gets up and he offers 2 Rakaat Salaah. So the Prophet says
“the Fajr Salaah is only of 2 Rakaat” indicating why did you offer 2
Rakaat again. So he said that “I did not offer the 2 Sunnat Salaah
before the Fajr Farz that’s the reason I am offering it now” and the
Prophet kept silent.”
Now because the Prophet was silent it gives an indication that he
approved it. Because if something is wrong its the duty of the Prophet
to correct it so because he kept silent, it gives an approval so this
comes ion the 3rd category of Sunnah of Sunnat-e-Takreere, approval
of the Prophet.
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In this 3 types of Sunnah if all the Hadiths are authentic, all the Hadith
are Sahih, the Sunnah that carries the maximum weight is Sunnat-e-
Qaullee i.e. the sayings of the Prophet because that is the general
ruling because if the Prophet says something or if the Prophet
commands something, it means he has done it intentionally and with
the purpose that is the highest degree among the 3.
The next is Sunnat-e-Failyee i.e the action of the Prophet. What the
Prophet did, may be a Sahaba saw it and he narrates it but there can
be occasions where the Prophet does certain things out of necessity
which may not be the normal norm, therefore the action of the Prophet
carries less weight than the sayings of the Prophet. Saying is with
consciousness and that is a general ruling and if there is a difference
between the saying and the action of the Prophet, the saying of the
Prophet carries more weight because may be the action was done out
of some reason or out of some purpose which the person who is seeing
it, he may not be aware of it and we’ll have such examples, I will give
you some examples in future, InshaAllah, in this episode
And the third amongst the 3 is the Sunat-e-Takreere, approval of the
Prophet that means he kept silent it is approved, it is permissible.
Yusuf Chambers: Dr. Zakir what is the importance and the authority
of the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa
sallam)?
Dr. Zakir: As far as the Sunnah is concerned it is the 2nd unavoidable
source of Islam. If you have to understand Islam, no. 1 source is the
Qur’an and the 2nd is the Sunnah of the Prophet. To understand the full
Islam you cannot understand without these 2 sources both are
important, the Qur’an as well as the authentic hadith, the authentic
Sunnah of the Prophet and as far as the importance of the Sunnah is
concerned, Allah says in the Qur’an in
Surah Nisa ch. 4 verse no. 59
“ateeoo Allaha waateeoo alrrasool”
“Obey Allah and obey the messenger and those charged with authority
amongst you but if you differ among your self refer it back to Allah and
His Rasool if you believe in Allah and the last day. This is the best and
the most suitable for the final determination”
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Here the word used in the Qur’an is “ateeoo” which means to obey
and it is used for “ateeoo Allaha wa ateeoo alrrasool” Obey Allah
and obey the messenger.
So the obey word is used for Allah and the messenger but its not used
for those charged with authority among you that means the
undisputed obeying is only for Allah and His Rasool and further goes
on and saying that if those among you, those charged with authority,
if you differ among yourselves refer it back to Allah and His Rasool. So
Allah and His Rasool are the final authority, it doesn’t say refer it back
to those charged with authority because we know that many a times
the scholars, they differ among themselves so if they differ, if any
scholar differs refer it back to Allah and His Rasool and the scholar who
is in line with Allah and His Rasool we have to follow him. So this is the
importance of the Sunnah.
And further there are 2 separate things, it says “ateeoo Allaha
waateeoo alrrasool” obey Allah and obey the messenger. So obey
Allah means follow the Qur’an and obey the messenger means follow
the Sunnah of the messenger i.e. the authentic Ahadith. Furthermore
it says that both these two sources are different, Qur’an is different
and the Sunnah, authentic Hadith are different.
And further if we analyze, the word “Wa” is used between them
indicating that you have to follow both. It doesn’t say ‘Suma…,
ateeoo Allaha suma ateeoo alrrasool’ that then you follow the
Rasool, you have to follow both of them simultaneously then only will
you understand Islam in the right perspective.
And here the word that is used here that t is obey Allah and the
messenger, both are equally important when it says refer back to Allah
and His Rasool that means you have to refer it back to Allah and His
Rasool not only to Allah or not only to the Rasool, both are important
for you to understand the true Shariah.
And the last point to be noted is that the starting of the Qur’anic verse
says
“Ya ayyuhallazeena amanoo”
“O you who believe”
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“ateeoo Allaha waateeoo alrrasool”
That means obeying Allah and obeying the messenger is for all the
believers, it’s not only for the companions or for some of the believers;
it’s for all the believers.
Further it’s mentioned in Surah Jinn Ch. no. 72 verse no. 23, it says
that
“If you disobey Allah and His Rasool then your place will be in the
hellfire to dwell therein forever.”
That means if you disobey Allah and His messenger, your place will be
in the hellfire, you will not enter paradise.
Further it’s mentioned that if you don’t obey Allah and His messenger,
your deeds will be in vain.
Allah says in Surah Muhammad ch. No. 47 verse no. 33
“Obey Allah and obey the messenger and let not your deeds go in
vain.”
Further as far as the authority of the Sunnah is concerned, and the
importance is concerned, obeying the messenger is obeying Allah
(Subhanahu wa Ta’ala).
Allah says in Surah Nisa ch. no. 4 verse no. 80 that
“If you obey the messenger, you obey Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)
and if you turn away, We have not sent the Messenger to look after
your affairs especially your evil deeds.”
And further it’s mentioned in a Hadith of
Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 3 (Book of Imaraah) Hadith no. 4518, our
beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said that
“If you obey me, you obey Allah. If you disobey me, you disobey
Allah.”
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So obeying the messenger is same as obeying Allah (Subhanahu wa
Ta’ala).
And furthermore Allah says in the Qur’an in
Surah Najm ch. no. 53 verse no. 3 & 4 that
“The messenger does not speak out of himself, it is nothing more than
an inspiration sent down to him.”
And beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said, its
mentioned in
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 9 (Book of Itisaam) Hadith no. 7280, the
beloved Prophet said that
“There are among the believers who will enter paradise and some will
refuse to enter paradise. So the Sahabas asked “Who would refuse to
enter paradise?” So the Prophet said “Those who obey me, they’ll
enter the paradise. Those who disobey me, they refuse to enter it.”
And finally, the Qur’an says that if you obey the messenger, Allah will
love you.
Allah says in Surah Ale Imran Ch. no. 3 verse no. 31, Allah says to
Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam)
“Say”…”Tell them”
“If you love Allah, follow me” i.e. follow the messenger “and Allah will
love you and He will forgive your sins”
So following the messenger is loving Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). So
this is the importance of the Sunnah in Islam.
Yusuf Chambers: Following on from your answer Ahm.. Could it be
said that a person who intentionally neglects the Sunnah, will that
person be punished in the hereafter?
Dr. Zakir: Before I reply to your question I’d like to clarify certain
points, as far ass the actions and deeds of any Muslim is concerned,
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they are broadly divided into 2 categories, one is Halaal and the other
is Haraam.
Halaal is the permissible category; Haraam is the forbidden, prohibited
category.
Furthermore the Halaal category is further divided into 4
subcategories.
The First is the Fard which is obligatory, which is compulsory.
Second is the Mustahab, the things which are encouraged in Islam.
Third is the Mubah, the things which are optional in Islam.
The fourth is the Maqrooh, the things which are discouraged in Islam
or detestable.
So in all there are 5 categories no. 1 is Fard which is obligatory and
compulsory
No. 2 is the Mustahab, things which are encouraged
The third is the Muba, things which are optional
Fourth is Maqrooh, the things which are discouraged or detestable in
Islam
And fifth is Haraam, things which are forbidden and prohibited.
Now if a person does an act of Fard, any compulsory act, he gets a
reward i.e. he gets positive points. If a person does not do a Fard
thing, he gets a punishment, he gets negative points.
As far as the second category is concerned i.e. Mustahab if a person
does a Mustahab act, he gets a reward, he gets the positive points but
if a person who does not do a Mustahab act, he gets no punishment,
he gets no negative points.
The third category, that’s Mubah, optional whether a person does the
Muba, optional act, or not or does not do an optional act, he gets no
positive, no negative points he gets no reward, he gets no
punishment, its absolutely neutral, its optional.
The Fourth category is the Maqrooh i.e. discouraged or detestable. If a
person abstains from things which are Maqrooh, he gets positive
points, he gets a reward and if a person does the Maqrooh thing, he
gets no punishment, he gets no negative points.
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As far as the last fifth category is concerned i.e. Haraam that’s
prohibited, if a person abstains from doing the Haraam thing then he
gets a positive point, he gets a reward. If he does the haraam act, he
gets a punishment, he gets negative points.
So these are in brief as far as the 5 categories are concerned.
Now coming to the question of Sunnah. Sunnah are of 2 types, one is
the Lugvi Sunnah i.e. the literal meaning of Sunnah i.e. the sayings,
the actions and the approvals of the Prophet so as far as the Lugvi i.e.
the literal meaning of Sunnah is concerned, it can fall in the first 4
categories, it can either be a Sunnah which is Fard, a Sunnah which is
Mustahab, a Sunnah which can be Mubah or a Sunnah which is
Maqrooh.
So the Lugvi Sunnah, the literal Sunnah can fall under any 4
categories.
For example. Sunnah falling in the Fard categories, Muhammad
(Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) prayed the Fajr Salaah, he prayed the
Zuhar Salaah, he prayed all the 5 prescribed Salaah… that were the
actions of the Prophet and also saying of the Prophet but it falls in the
Fard category.
The example of the Mustahab Sunnah is, the Prophet, he prayed the 2
Rakaat Sunnah before the Fajar Salaah. It’s not a Fard to pray 2
Rakaah Sunnah before Fajr but it is Mustahab, it is encouraged. This is
the second category.
The third category of Mubah will be Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa
sallam) had long hair, it was optional, you know, so anyone who has
long hair, its optional, it is permissible.
The example of the 4th category, Maqrooh, people will think that can
the Prophet do something which is Maqrooh? And they may be
shocked, “what is Zakir speaking? Prophet.. Sunnah of the Prophet is
Maqrooh!” I’ll give you an example there is a Hadith saying that
Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) he said that
“Do not drink while standing.”
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So drinking and standing is Maqrooh, fine. So the right Mustahab is to
sit and drink but there is a Hadith also saying that the Prophet, he
stood and he drank water. May be there was a reason, there was a
requirement. So standing and drinking is Maqrooh, sitting and drinking
is Mustahab. Standing and drinking is discouraged, sitting and drinking
is encouraged.
So there are times in case of necessity when the requirement is there,
the Prophet did do sometimes things which are Maqrooh so this will fall
under the category of Sunnah which is Maqrooh in the Lugvi sense.
Not in the Fiqhi sense, I’ll come to it later on otherwise people will say
that “what is Zakir saying that Sunnah means doing Maqrooh”, no it is
not. Lugvi, yes it can be. Because the Prophet did it, he stood and he
drank water. But normally, most of the times, almost all the times, he
sat and he drank.
So there are times of necessity but since a person does Maqrooh, he
will get no negative points, no punishment, the Prophet didn’t get
punishment but neither will he get any reward.
So this was in brief talking about the Lugvi Sunnah i.e. the literal
definition of Sunnah, it can fall under any 4 categories.
Fard, Mustahab, Mubah or Maqrooh.
Now coming to the second category of Sunnah i.e. the Fiqhi Sunnah
which we normally when we talk about Sunnah, it’s taken for granted;
it is the Fiqghi Sunnah and i.e. Sunnnah in Fiqh and Usool, you know,
when we talk about Sunnah.
So this basically is the 2nd category of Mustahab when we say that you
pray the 2 Rakaat Sunnah before Fajr, it is Sunnah of the Prophet, it is
Sunnah of the Prophet to sit and drink water., when they say this
Sunnah, it is talking about the Sunnah of Fiqh, it indicates the word
Mustahab.
So normally in day to day life when we Muslims say it is Sunnah to do
this and Sunnah to do that, most of the times, almost all when they
use the word it is Sunnah of the Prophet to sit and drink, it is Sunnah
of the Prophet to pray 2 Rakat Sunnah before the Fajr Salaah, it is
Sunnah of the Prophet to read 2 Rakaat Tahiyatul Masjid when you
enter the Mosque, all these mainly come under the category of
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Mustahab, so the Fiqhi Sunnah is Mustahab, things which are
encouraged and in all these 5 categories of Fard, Mustahab, Mubah,
Maqrooh and in Haraam there are sub categories like as we discussed
last time. Sins: major sins, minor sins. So in Haraam things, there are
haraam which are major, haraam which are minor. Same thing
Maqrooh which are less Maqrooh some are more Maqrooh. Mubah, fine
the Prophet kept long hair, its Muba, optional but someone does that
optional thing for the love of the Prophet, yet he’ll get Sawab though
it’s optional, no punishment, no reward but if you are doing for the
love of the Prophet then for that he will get. Again for these optional
things which the Prophet did that carry more weight than the optional
things which the Prophet did not do.
Furthermore in Mustahab there is Sunnat-e-Muaqeda, Sunnate Gair-
Muaqeda, Sunnat-e-Muaqeda means a more important Sunnah, the 2
Sunnah before the Fajr Salaah, is Sunnat-e-Muaqeda, it’s a more
important Sunnah than the other Sunnah, So Sunnat-e-Muaqeda,
Sunnate Gair-Muaqeda same thing in the Faraiz, in the Farz thing
there are some which are more important, some which are less
important for example the 5 pillars of Islam, no. 1 is Tawheed which is
a Fard, offering Salaah, fasting in the month of Ramadhaan, doing Hajj
if you can do, giving Zakaat all these are more important Faraiz and
abstaining from major sins this itself..all we discussed in 70, major
Faraiz then there will be less Faraiz. So now all these categories, there
are sub categories but coming to your basic question that will we be
punished, if he intentionally do not do the Sunnah of the Prophet now
this Sunnah you are talking about, I assume, it is the Fiqhi Sunnah, if
it’s a lugvi Sunnah I have already given the answer, the first 4
categories, Fiqhi Sunnah means it falls under the category of Mustahab
which I already discussed earlier that if you do a Mustahab act i.e. a
Fiqhi Sunnah, you will get reward for it, you will get blessing for it, if
its Sunnat-e-Muaqeda, then more blessings as compared to Sunnate
Gair-Muaqeda there also you will get blessing but if a person does not
do it intentionally or unintentionally, he will not be punished for that.
But that does not mean because we will not get punishment for not
doing the Sunnah, we should abstain from doing it because we human
beings, we make so many mistakes, we do so many faults, we are
involved in so many sins, these Sunnah, when we do, we get
additional points, we get rewards, this will help us in fulfilling the
lacuna which is there in the other faults. What the other faults we do,
it helps in covering up our faults, some of our sins so therefore a
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Muslim should do as much as Sunnah as possible, just because he will
not get a punishment that doesn’t mean that he should not do it infact
he should try and do as much as Sunnah, Lugvi Sunnah, Mustahab
acts so that it will help him to cover up the other faults which the
human beings do and it will help him to go to Jannah.
Yusuf Chambers: O SubhanAllah. The system that you have
described is so equitable that if one makes a mistake in one area that
you can make up for it in another area.
Dr. Zakir: Alhumdulillah, Allah is the Most Merciful.
Yusuf Chambers: SubhanAllah
Dr. Zakir: That’s the reason He gives us chance more and more
opportunities to come on the straight path and to enter Jannah.
Yusuf Chambers: SubhanAllah. Dr. Zakir is keeping a beard Fard or
Sunnah and what is the ruling for a person who shaves his beard?
Dr. Zakir: As far as keeping a beard whether it’s a Fard or Sunnah
and I understand that whenever you use the word Sunnah in future it
will be the Fiqhi Sunnah or the word Mustahab. Therefore I prefer
using the word Mustahab for Sunnah so that there is no 2 difference of
understanding. So as far as keeping a beard whether it is a Fard or a
Mustahab or Sunnah, most of the scholars, majority almost all, they
say that keeping a beard is Fard for all the Muslim men. There is no
verse in the Qur’an which says that keeping a beard is Fard or not
except there’s one verse which speaks about the beard in
Surah Taa Haa ch. No. 20 verse no. 94 where
Aaron (peace be upon him), Haroon (Alaihe Salaam), he tells to his
brother Musa (Alaihe Salaam) that
“O son of my mother, do not hold me by my beard or by the hair on
my head.”
Indicating that Haroon (Alaihe Salaam), he had a beard. And when we
read the Seerah of the Prophet, Qasasul Ambiya and all, we come to
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know that all the Prophets of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), had a
beard, Alhumdulillah.
And all the righteous people and all the friends of Allah (Subhanahu wa
Ta’ala), righteous people, the Sahabas we realize that they had the
beard.
The ruling as far as it is Fard is based on the Hadith of Muhammad
(Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) of
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 7 in the Book of Dress Hadith no. 5892
“Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he says that the Prophet
said “Do the opposite of what the Mushrikeens do”, what the pagans
do, “keep the beard and trim your mustaches short.”
Now based on these Hadith and several Sahih Hadith, it’s mentioned in
Sahih Muslim and other Hadith, the scholars said that because it’s a
commandment of Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam), Call,
commandment therefore it becomes Fard on every Muslim to keep a
beard.
Most of the scholars, Alhumdulillah, all the scholars including the 4
A’imma, the 4 A’immaas, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam
Shafai, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal (may Allah have mercy on them all)
all of them said that keeping a beard is Fard. So according to all 4
schools of thought , keeping a beard is Fard even according to the
scholars, the Shuyookhs of Salafus-Saliheen, the Salafi scholars, all of
them say that keeping a beard is Fard. There is no difference of
opinion and according to Shaikh Ibn Taimiyah, he says that according
to the Qur’an and according to the Sunnah and the Ijmah of the
scholars, keeping a beard is Fard and anyone who shaves off the
beard, it is haraam, it is prohibited. And even the scholars of the 4
schools of thought Hanafi, Shafi, Malki, Humbali, all of them say that
shaving the beard is haraam, all the scholars.
There are a few scholars, very hardly any amongst the old scholars
who have said that keeping a beard is Mustahab and shaving is
Maqrooh, keeping the beard becomes Mustahab, shaving becomes
Maqrooh, very few amongst the old scholars but recently among the
new scholars you have little bit more numbers who say that its not
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Fard, it is Mustahab like Shaikh Abu Zohra, Shaikh Jadu al Haqq who is
the ex vice chancellor of Al Azhar University, Shaikh Yusuf Al Qardawi,
few that have come recently and specially if you go to North America,
if you see the Fatawas of the North American Fiqh Council, the Ulemas
of this Fiqh council many of them have said that keeping a beard is not
Fard, it is Mustahab, you will get reward but its not Fard and if you
shave it, its not Haraam, its Maqrooh but as a whole, the scholars of
the past, almost all there is a consensus that keeping a beard is Fard
and shaving it off is Haraam.
Yusuf Chambers: Okay, Dr. Zakir but what about the required length
of the beard because there are many people with different lengths and
its rather confusing when you look outside and you think “Oh what
should I be doing?” What did the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu
alaihe wa sallam) do?
Dr. Zakir: As far as the length of the beard is concerned, the scholars
are divided there are different opinions and as for what is the length of
the beard, there are 2 opinions, one group of scholars say that
because the Hadith of
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 7 in the Book of Dress Hadith no. 5892 says,
the Prophet said,
“Do the opposite of what the pagans do! Keep the beard and trim your
moustaches.”
So because the commandment is keep the beard that means they say
that it should be kept, that’s it. And there is a second Hadith of
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 7 in the Book of Dress Hadith no. 5893 says
that
“Cut your moustaches short and grow the beard.”
So the first group of scholars say that grow your beard means keep on
growing, you should not touch it. Keep the beard means let it be
therefore you should not at all neither trim the beard, nothing at all,
you should let it grow as much as possible. This is their view.
But if you read, there is not a single Sahih Hadith which speaks about
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the length of the beard of the Prophet, not a single Sahih Hadith, there
is not a single Sahih Hadith but according to Shaikh Uthaymeen, he
says that we understand that the Hadith says that keep the beard or
grow the beard, it means you should leave it, you should not touch it,
and let the length be as much as possible and if someone shaves it, it
is Haraam and if someone trims it, to the size of the fist that is the
other view then it is Maqrooh. So there is one group of scholars say
that let it grow as much as possible.
The other group of scholars, what they say that the length of the
beard should be one fist as I mentioned earlier that there is no Sahih
Hadith which speaks about the length of the beard of the Prophet,
there is a Hadith which is a Da’if Hadith or a Mauwdhu Hadith which
says that
“The beard of the Prophet, it touched the chest”
But that’s a Da’if or a Mawdhu Hadith according to Shaikh Nassiruddin
Al Albani.
There is a Hadith mentioned in
Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 4 (Book of Fadhaa’il) Hadith no. 5789 where
Jaabir Bin Samoora, he says (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
“Prophet had a thick beard.”
There are many Sahih Hadith which says that the Prophet had thick
beard but doesn’t mention the length. But this group of scholars, they
say that since the length of the beard is not mentioned what we have
to do, we have to look at how the Sahabas kept the beard. The length
is not mentioned, we have to look at the Sahaba because the Prophet
said if you don’t find in my example then look at the people around me
in this generation, that’s the companions, the Sahabas and when we
look at the Sahabas we find several authentic Ahadith, more than 10
Sahih Hadith which say that the Sahaba, they kept their beard at the
length of one fist and whatever is below the one fist, they trimmed the
beard including Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), Ibn Abbas
(may Allah be pleased with him), Abu Hurraira (may Allah be pleased
with him) all these Sahabas which were very close to the Prophet, they
trimmed their beard. Even those Sahaba who narrated the same
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Hadith, Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) Hadith of
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 7 Book of Dress Hadith no. 5892
“Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who narrated the Hadith
that the Prophet said that do opposite of what the pagans do, keep the
beard and trim your moustaches”
Immediately after that the Hadith continues and says that whenever
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he used to go for Umrah
and Hajj, after Umrah and Hajj he used to catch the beard with his fist
and whatever was below the fist, he used to cut it.
So imagine those Sahabas who narrated the Hadith and all these
Sahabas Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurraira (may Allah be pleased
with them all) they were staunch followers of the Sunnah of the
Prophet and they narrated the Hadith. When they narrate the Hadith of
trimming the moustache and keeping the beard, growing the beard,
they understood the way the Prophet wanted. So why did they trim
the beard if the view of the first group of scholars that’s right that
keep on growing, growing means how to grow, the way the Prophet
grew and if there is no Hadith indicating his sayings or actions then
you look at the ways the Sahabas did. That’s the way how you analyze
the Hadith. That’s the reason Shaikh Nassiruddin Al Albani he says that
the right size of the beard should be the size of a fist and, he says. for
example when wee analyze the Hadith, if its present is the sayings
that is the best of the Prophet, if its not, you look in the actions, if not
in the actions its in the approval, if in the approval its not there, then
you look in the lifestyle of the Sahaba, what did they say? What did
they do? So we agree that what the Sahabas did was they followed the
Prophet and you don’t find a single Hadith neither of the Prophet or
neither of any of the Sahabas which say that they did not trim their
beard.
There are more than 10 Ahadith which says that the Sahabas, they
trimmed their beard below their fist. If there was even a single Hadith
which says that this Sahaba did not trim the beard at all then it can be
possible that both are right because there is not a single Hadith one
the other side saying that that the Sahaba never trimmed the beard
but there are no less than 10 Sahih Hadith which say that the Sahabas
below their fist, they trimmed their beard.
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According to Shaikh Nassiruddin Al Albani, it is Fard to trim the beard
below the fist, it is Fard and anyone who keeps a beard more than the
fist length, it is Maqrooh according to him, Maqrooh, Detestable.
So this is a strong Fatwa by Shaikh Nassiruddin Al Albani, he’s very
staunch and I personally agree with his view because there is evidence
in the lifestyle of the Sahabas and he further says in his book and he
writes that why should the length be one fist. He said besides the
Sahabas many examples we find that who kept one fist and cut below
one fist, their beard, he gives the example of many Salafus-Saliheen
who had the beard the size of a fist and they trimmed the beard below
the fist like for example An Nakhi, we have examples of Imam Malik,
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal, all these great Salaf-e-Saliheen they
trimmed their beard below the fist. They held it like that and they
trimmed it below the fist.
So this is the view of second group of scholars and I agree more with
the group of scholars including Shaikh Nassiruddin Albani that the right
size is the size of the fist and the rest Allahu Alam.
Yusuf Chambers: JazakAllah khair for the answer. Dr. Zakir, is it a
Sunnah to wear the head covering, wear the cap …ahm… because we
do see a number of people particularly those people who have
returned from Gulf countries and such like Hajj etc. that they
deliberately remove their cap whilst they are praying. Is there any
basis for this at all?
Dr. Zakir: As far as the first part of the question is concerned that is it
a Sunnah, is it Mustahab to cover one’s head. There are various Hadith
which say that Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam), his
head was always covered whether with a cap, with a turban, whether
with a helmet and even the head of the Sahabas were covered. It’s
mentioned in
Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 2 in the Book of Hajj Hadith no. 3148, it says
that
“When Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) addressed the people
on the day of the victory of Makkah, he was wearing a black turban.”
So there are many Hadith saying that Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa
sallam) covered the head.
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Further according to a Hadith which is narrated by Ibn Umar, it says
that
“Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) wore a white cap,”
its narrated by Ibn Umar and according to Tabrani, he has rated this
as Hassan Hadith, its one of the categories of Sahih, Hassan.
And according to Imam Suyooti, it says it is a highly authentic Hadith,
he says in his book:
Siraj Al Muneer Vol. no. 4 Page no. 112 where he says that
“This is a highly authentic Hadith where Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe
wa sallam) was wearing a white cap”
The Arabic word is Kufi or a cap. In India we say Topi, it is authentic
and there are other Hadith saying that the Sahabas also covered their
head.
A similar Hadith is mentioned in
Sahih Bukhari Vol no. 7 in the Book of Dress Hadith no. 5802 says that
“Anas Bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), he covered his head,
he wore a cap.”
So based on all these Hadith almost all, it’s a unanimous agreement
among the scholars, Ijma of the scholars that covering the head is
Mustahab, it is the Sunnah of the Prophet. It is Mustahab, it is
encouraged. All, all the 4 schools of thought the Hanafi, the Shafi, the
Malki, the Hambali, all 4 schools of thought and all the 4 A’imaas, they
agree that covering the head is Mustahab.
And when you pray, while praying also, it’s Mustahab to cover the
head, its Mustahab. And if you pray bareheaded, it’s Maqrooh.
The reason that why people when they come back from the Gulf
countries or when the come from Hajj they normally even in India
previously a few years back may be 10-15 years back people who
prayed in the Mosque, 99% or 99.9% whenever any man prayed in
the Mosque, he had his head covered may be 20 years back. But now
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we find that 25%, ¼ or 1/3rd of the people, they pray their Salaah
bareheaded. The reason is that previously it was known that it was
Mustahab to cover the head so even when they didn’t cover the head
normally at least while offering Salaah, they used to cover their head,
Alhumdulillah. Even though they didn’t cover their head normally
always they covered their head at least while offering Salaah, it was a
good sign. Now when people go to Gulf countries, they realize and
they come to know that covering their head is not Fard for the Salaah
to be accepted and there are many people because they come from
different parts of the world to the gulf countries and they have
different ways of practicing Islam.
There is a Hadith in which one of the Sahabas, to show to the people
that its not Fard, he just put one peace of cloth from the shoulder
down below the knee and he prayed Salaah and its accepted. So if you
ask that is it Fard to wear a cap or cover the head while offering
Salaah, its not a Fard but it is Mustahab so this is what they fail to
realize that it is Mustahab so why should he not do it? When they
come back from the Gulf countries and they come to know it is not a
Fard, they try and show the people that we have knowledge and they
purposely don’t cover their head and now we find in the Mosque about
25%, 1/3rd of them, don’t cover their head which I feel is going away
from the Sunnah of the Prophet. These people they fail to realize that
if they ask the scholars of these Gulf countries, top scholars, all of
them, they cover their head, all of them they cover the head.
So just because it’s lack of knowledge, it is dangerous. Just because
fine Salaah would be accepted but it is Mustahab and according to
Shaikh Nassiruddin Al Albani, he says that covering the head is
Mustahab and praying bareheaded is Maqrooh and he says that that
the Hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates
about Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) that
“He kept his cap as a Sutra in front of him while offering Salaah”
It’s a Dhaif Hadith. It’s not authentic.
And some of the scholars especially from Egypt, they have given the
Fatwa that you know because in Ihram, when you are performing Hajj
or doing Umrah you don’t cover your head and the Salaah is accepted
therefore covering the head is not a criteria for offering Salaah.
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If you read the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa
sallam)
Never did the Prophet left his head uncovered while praying except in
Ihram except while performing Hajj or Umrah where the Prophet didn’t
cover his head all other times he had his head covered.
The reason that during Umrah while in Ihram the head wasn’t covered
is because it is haraam to cover the head.
Many things which are Mustahab are haraam during the state of
Ihram. If you say that because in Hajj we don’t cover the head, that’s
why it’s a rule that you should not cover the head in Salaah is totally
wrong.
There are many things which are Mustahab for example like cutting
the nails is Mustahab in normally day to day life but in Ihram it is
Haraam. Similarly covering the head is Mustahab in Ihram only its
haraam. So giving this logic is totally wrong, in Ihram you don’t have
to cover the head because it is not allowed, it is violating the rules of
Ihram otherwise you should cover the head and if the people are at
least covering while offering Salaah, they should continue doing it,
they will get Sawab and that’s what all the 4 A’imas said even Shaikh
Nassiruddin Albani, Ibn Taimiya, Shaikh Bin Baaz and all the scholars
and Imam Malik said that
“From the time of Islam till today always the scholars and the Sahabas
and Salafus-Saliheen, they covered their head and they wore a turban”
You know, whether they wore a turban or a Kufi etc. so I encourage
that the Muslims should cover their head, its one of the recommended
acts of the Prophet.
Yusuf Chambers: So can you give us any logical reasons why we
should cover the head and grow the beard?
Dr. Zakir: As far as covering the head is concerned… growing the
beard as I said growing the beard is commandment of the Prophet so
we have to do it. Covering the head is Sunnah of the Prophet, you do
it, that’s the main reason but if people want logical reason why they
should do it there is a saying that “if the label shows its intent, wear
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it.” and I have given a talk on this complete topic with the question
and answer session for more than 3 hours which I don’t intend doing
now. I’ll just say it in a nutshell.
The saying that “If the label shows your intent, wear it! Like if you go
to a conference, you know, everyone wears the label, they wear the
name Dr. so and so, it’s an informal introduction. If you go to a
conference where there are specialists of doctors then it may say that
you are a cardiologist or a neurologist or a nephrologists, you know, so
its gives an informal introduction. So similarly wearing a cap or
covering the head and sporting a beard, it is an informal introduction
that you are a Muslim.
Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah An’aam ch. no. 6 verse no. 54
“Wa-itha jaaka allazeena yu’minoona bi-ayatina faqul salamun
alaykum”
That
“When you meet those people who believe in our signs then say
‘Assalamu Alaikum’,” Peace be on you.
So how will I recognize when I walk on the streets especially in India
and other counters when I go to western countries that he is a
Muslim? So this is a good sign of being a Muslim you know we don’t
require another label. The label which the Prophet has given us is the
best that covering the head and sporting a beard and it does wonders.
I’ll give you an example that once in Bombay there was a young lad
who was selling fruits, his name was Sultan. An elderly Muslim who is
a very pious Muslim, he used to offer 5 times Salaah, he used to give
Zakaat, he used to fast in the month of Ramadhaan, he had gone for
Hajj, he comes to buy fruits from this hawker and he tells to this
young boy “Sultan, why didn’t you wish me Salaam?” So he said
“Uncle, I thought you were a Hindu.”
Imagine, Muslim calling this elderly man, a Mushrik. It’s the biggest
abuse you can give to this person, this person was a very pious person
but didn’t have a beard, didn’t cover his head. Who is to blame? Is the
elderly gentleman to blame or the young lad for calling him a Mushrik?
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Who is to blame? But natural the elderly gentleman. He could not
recognize him. Therefore if the label shows your intent, you should
wear it.
And you can give several such examples for example it has various
benefits, if you are traveling in a bus or traveling in a train and if there
is a Muslim sister who is doing Hijaab there are times in a non-Muslim
country where somebody may tease her but if there are 10 Muslims
who don’t know each other, each of them wearing a cap, a Kufi or
sporting a beard and they are sitting in the bus, the non-Muslim will
think 10 times before teasing the Muslim girl “Oh! If I tease Muslim
girl, these 10 Muslims will pounce on me.” Even those 10 Muslims may
be very feeble, may be old but yet he gets scared. That’s the reason it
is good that you should wear the label because it shows your intent.
For example if there is a doctor, he is proud to put the name doctor
before his name because he is proud to be a doctor, in his car there is
a sign of a cross, a red cross indicating that he is a doctor. In
emergency if you have any problem on the street, you stop the car.
Similarly if any human being has a problem and wants help and if he
sees a Muslim who has a label, a cap and a beard he will ask him for
help, he will guide him to the truth.
And I remember my grand parents telling that in Bombay when any
people wanted to hire a cab even the non-Muslims, they preferred
hiring a cab whose taxi driver was sporting a beard and keeping a cap
because they knew he would be honest. They preferred going to a
shop whose shopkeeper was keeping a beard and wearing a cap.
Unfortunately now a days the whole label has changed, we find
Muslims wearing cap just to boss around, you know, and unfortunately
the media, they portray anyone who has a beard and wears a cap, he
is a terrorist.
And I have given this reply in my talk, so keeping a beard and wearing
a cap or covering the head is a very recommended Sunnah and
keeping a beard is Fard, so Muslims should stick to it and should be
proud to identify themselves as Muslims.
Yusuf Chambers: Well, JazakAllah Khair, Dr. Zakir. We’ve come to
the end of yet another show. And I think we have covered lots and lots
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of different aspects of the Sunnah which we’ve defined it, what is the
Sunnah and why the Muslims should be doing certain Sunnahs during
this blessed month of Ramadhaan.
Dear brothers and sisters I hope, InshaAllah, that you derived a lot of
benefit from this show today and we’ve been talking of course about
Ramadhaan as being the month of self improvement and Islaah
particularly talking about the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad
(Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam), we’ve defined it and we’ve given you
certain examples, so go ahead and implement this in your life,
InshaAllah.
So my dear brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity please do join
us at the same time tomorrow when we will be discussing the topic
‘Ramadhaan – The Month of Self-Improvement and Islaah’ Part 4.
Until then Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
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