Question 788 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. May Allah grant you success and direct your steps aright. Shaving the beard is among the minor sins, not among the major sins for which one is punished with the Fire. Yes, it causes success to be withdrawn from a human being: ‘Those who avoid the major sins and indecencies except for minor lapses-indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He knows you best when He produced you from the earth and when you were embryos in your mothers’ wombs, so do not declare yourselves pure. He knows best who is God-conscious’ [al-Najm 53:32]. A believer in general is judged upright and is not judged ungodly and lacking uprightness unless it is known that he committed one of Allah’s major prohibitions, or violated Allah’s prohibitions and treated them lightly. For example, his uprightness lapses if it is known that he drank wine or committed the indecency of fornication, and his uprightness returns if it is known that he repented of this major sin. His uprightness does not lapse merely because he shaved his beard, listened to songs, or committed similar minor forbidden lapses. Rather, he must also repeatedly commit this forbidden act while treating Allah’s prohibitions lightly and showing no concern that through this act he transgresses Allah’s limits. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.