that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Ten practices are part of the fiṭrah (natural disposition): trimming the moustache and letting the beard grow…” and so on.

Al-Khattabī noted: Most scholars have explained fiṭrah in this ḥadīth as meaning the Sunnah. Its purport is that these traits are among the ways of the prophets whom we have been commanded to emulate, for the Almighty says, “So follow their guidance.”

In Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb reports: “Ten are of the Sunnah,” and among them he mentioned trimming the moustache and keeping the beard full.

Ibn Isḥāq and Ibn Jarīr relate, through Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, that two Magians once entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with their beards shaved and their moustaches grown long. He disliked even looking at them and said, “Woe to you! Who ordered you to do that?” They replied, “Our lord”—meaning Chosroes—“commanded us.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ answered, “But my Lord has commanded me to let my beard grow and to trim my moustache.”

Many authentic narrations further state that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ “had a thick beard”; others describe it as “large,” “impressive,” or say that “his beard filled the upper part of his chest.”

These reports, together with the sound ḥadīths cited earlier, are a decisive rebuttal to anyone who claims that the beard is merely an Arab cultural symbol with no connection to Islam. Allah, Exalted is He, has said, “Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever…”