rather, they are among the complements of faith. Enjoining right and forbidding wrong therefore includes commanding what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded—namely, letting the beards grow and trimming the moustaches—and forbidding the opposite: growing the moustache thick, shaving the beard, cutting it, or plucking it.

Love and affection, however, are due only to the friends of Allah; they are not to be shown to His enemies, to those who side with them, or to those who imitate them. Allah the Exalted says, “And whoever among you allies himself with them is indeed one of them” (Quran 5:51). He also says, “Like those before you who were mightier in power and greater in wealth and children. They enjoyed their share, and you have enjoyed your share just as those before you enjoyed their share, and you have plunged as they plunged. Their deeds have come to nothing in this world and in the Hereafter, and it is they who are the losers” (Quran 9:69). This noble verse clearly shows that imitating the enemies of Allah is forbidden.

The Prophet ﷺ likewise said, “Whoever imitates a people is counted as one of them.” This was reported by Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud from Ibn ʿUmar with a sound chain. Al-Tirmidhi also narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “He is not one of us who imitates others; do not imitate the Jews or the Christians.” Among the acts of imitating the enemies of Allah are shaving the beards and letting the moustaches grow, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Oppose the polytheists: let the beards grow and trim [your] moustaches closely.”