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Is it permissible for a Muslim to shave his beard if he is forced to do so, and should he intend to grow it back later?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Shaving the beard is prohibited due to the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) hadiths commanding its growth and opposing polytheists and Zoroastrians. However, if growing it causes certain harm, such as death, displacement, or imprisonment, then it is permissible to trim or shave it out of necessity, which is determined by its extent.

If the circumstances that necessitated shaving it cease to exist, then growing it becomes obligatory, as there is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator. But if the circumstances persist, then it is not permissible to grow it due to the disobedience to one's father and the harm to oneself involved.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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