عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم : جُزُّوا الشَّوَارِبَ وَأَرْخُوا اللِّحَى خَالِفُوا الْمَجُوسَ
صحيح مسلم
From Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Trim your moustaches and let your beards grow, opposing the Magi (Zoroastrians/Majoos).” (Muslim)
Another account presents:
جَاءَ مَجُوسِيٌّ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ أَعْفَى شَارِبَهُ وَأَحْفَى لِحْيَتَهُ فَقَالَ : مَنْ أَمَرَكَ بِهَذَا ؟ ، قَالَ: رَبِّي ، قَالَ : لَكِنَّ رَبِّي أَمَرَنِي أَنْ أُحْفِيَ شَارِبِي وَأُعْفِيَ لِحْيَتِي
ابن سعد في الطبقات الكبرى
“A Magian (Majoosi/Zoroastrian) came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with a long moustache and a trimmed beard. He (the Prophet) said, ‘Who commanded you to do this?’ The man replied, ‘My Lord (referring to Kisra).’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said, ‘But my Lord has commanded me to trim my moustache and grow my beard.'” (Tabaqat al-Kubra by Ibn Sa’d)
In a more detailed account, it is narrated that the Persian ruler of Yemen, who was a vassal appointed by the Persian emperor Kisra (Khosrow II), dispatched two Persian envoys to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with the intention of bringing him before Kisra. The prideful Majoosi Shah/king (known as Kisra in Arabic) of the Sasanian empire seethed with anger upon receiving an invitation to Islam from the Prophet (ﷺ), whom he regarded as an ‘inferior’ Arab, seeing him as nothing beyond a mere slave. This fury stoked his determination to impose punishment on the Prophet (ﷺ) solely for the act of extending this invitation to embrace Islam.
As the Persian envoys sent by Kisra arrived from Yemen in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he observed that they had shaved their beards while letting their moustaches grow large. Disliking their unappealing appearance, he averted his gaze and remarked:
ولما دخلا عليه صلى الله عليه وسلم وقد حلقا لحاهما وأعفيا شواربهما كره رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم النظر إليهما وقال: ويلكما من أمركما بهذا؟ قالا: أمرنا بهذا ربنا -يريدان كسرى- فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ولكن ربي أمرني بإعفاء لحيتي وقص شاربي إلى آخر الحديث.
وهذا الحديث رواه ابن جرير الطبري وحسنه الألباني
“When they (two Majoosi envoys of Kisra) entered upon him (ﷺ) having shaved their beards and kept their moustaches long, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) disliked looking at them and said, ‘Woe to both of you! Who commanded you to do this?’ They replied, ‘Our Lord ordered us to do so’ – referring to Kisra. The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said, ‘But my Lord has ordered me to grow my beard and trim my moustache.'” (Tabari, Ibn Sa’d, and Ibn Bishran. Verified to be hasan (good) by al-Albani)
Many comparable narrations highlight the forbiddance of shaving the beard and the injunction to let the moustache flourish.
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ خَالِفُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَفِّرُوا اللِّحَى وَأَحْفُوا الشَّوَارِبَ وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ رضي الله عنه إِذَا حَجَّ أَوْ اعْتَمَرَ قَبَضَ عَلَى لِحْيَتِهِ فَمَا فَضَلَ أَخَذَهُ
صحيح البخاري
Ibn Umar reported: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Be different from the idolaters (polytheists, mushrikun). Let the beard grow and trim the moustache.” Whenever Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, performed the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimage, he would grab hold of his beard and cut what was beyond his grasp. (Bukhari)
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