—because of its length. This report was transmitted by Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim in their respective Qur’anic commentaries, and by al-Bayhaqī in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him).

Allah, exalted is He, also relates that Aaron said to his brother Moses: “Son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard or by my head” (Q 20:94). The noble verse clearly shows that Aaron had a long beard—long enough for Moses to take hold of. Together with the earlier descriptions of the prophets, this constitutes a decisive rebuttal of anyone who claims that the beard is merely an Arab symbol with no connection to Islam. All the prophets were upon the religion of Islam, even though their particular laws and paths differed.

In the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance (al-Jāhiliyyah) the People of the Two Scriptures kept their beards untrimmed, following the practice of the earlier prophets. The Arabs of that time did likewise, for they, too, let their beards grow as part of what remained with them of Abraham’s creed—just as they retained other rites, including aspects of the pilgrimage. Shaving the beard was unknown in that era except among the Magians, and the Prophet ﷺ commanded his community to oppose them, forbidding imitation of their appearance or dress.

The point, therefore, is that letting the beard grow is not an “Arab symbol,” as the writer of that erroneous article alleged. Rather, it is a sunnah of the prophets and messengers and a distinguishing mark of Muslims who adhere to the Sunnah, whereas shaving or clipping the beard is characteristic of the Magians and of those Muslims who imitate them.