—the Prophet ﷺ. Thus, honoring the beard is not achieved by taking anything from it, as that writer alleged; it is achieved by letting it grow, allowing it to reach full length, and refraining from shaving, cutting, or plucking it.

Regarding his claim, “It does not mean: leave it unrestrained, because it is already unrestrained by nature,” the response is as follows: A beard is truly “unrestrained” only when it is left to grow and to reach fullness, untouched by shaving, cutting, plucking, shaping, or tidying. Anyone who maintains that a beard can still be considered “unrestrained” while it is being shaped and tidied—or while it is subjected to shaving, cutting, or plucking—has united two opposites. This is exactly the contradiction that appears in the writer’s statement.