—to such an extent that he invoked a curse upon anyone who violates them. How, then, can it possibly be said that Islam is indifferent to every outward form?!

If the esteemed author has never come across these texts, it is truly astonishing that he would dare write on this subject—which branches out into many subsidiary rulings—without first consulting even a single primary source of Islam. And if he has read them, I fear his reply will be that they do not suit refined taste, or that “reason” does not accept them—precisely the objection he raised concerning the descent of Jesus ⦗75⦘. In that case I must admit that nothing remains but to complain to Allah, exalted be He.

From the preceding reports any Muslim whose natural disposition remains sound can extract numerous decisive proofs that growing the beard is obligatory and that shaving it is forbidden:

First: The Lawgiver has expressly commanded that the beard be left alone, and the default ruling for a command is obligation; the claim therefore stands proven.

Second: The Law forbids men to imitate women. A man’s shaving his beard is an imitation of women in one of the clearest signs of their femininity; consequently shaving is unlawful and letting it grow becomes obligatory.

Third: The Prophet ﷺ cursed the nāmisa—the woman who plucks the hair of her eyebrows or other hair for the sake of beautification—and explained that this is changing Allah’s creation. Whoever shaves his beard does so, it is alleged, for beauty, thereby altering Allah’s creation; he therefore falls under the same ruling as the nāmisa. The difference is merely verbal, and I do not think anyone today is so literalist as to cling to the outward wording while ignoring the intended meaning, especially when the text itself gives a rationale that precludes such rigidity, as in his ﷺ statement here: “…for the sake of beauty, thereby altering Allah’s creation.”

Fourth: He ﷺ counted letting the beard grow among the acts of fiṭrah (primordial human nature), just as he likewise counted