improving one’s appearance, cleansing the body, safeguarding ritual purity, dissociating oneself from the hallmarks of the unbelievers, and obeying the command of the Lawgiver. End of Ibn Ḥajar’s words.

7 – The current trend among young men and women of letting their nails grow long, and among some males of allowing their mustaches to hang over the lips, is religiously prohibited and, by sound reason and taste, deemed repugnant. Islam commands only what is beautiful and forbids only what is ugly, yet blind imitation of the West has reversed realities: it has beautified the repulsive and alienated people—instinctively, intellectually, and legally—from what is truly praiseworthy.

Scholarly disagreement
The scholars unanimously agree that the aforementioned acts are recommended, with the exception of circumcision, about which they differ: Is it recommended or obligatory? When does its obligation begin in a person’s life? And is it required for both males and females, or for males alone?

The soundest view is that circumcision is obligatory, that the obligation concerns males only, and that it becomes due at puberty, when purification and prayer become incumbent upon him.

Note: The lawful circumcision is the removal of the foreskin that covers the glans of the male organ.

In certain barbaric regions, some people—Allah protect us—skin the entire tissue surrounding the genital organ and ignorantly claim this to be circumcision. It is nothing but torture, mutilation, and contravention of the Prophetic Sunnah; it is forbidden, and whoever perpetrates it incurs sin.

May Allah grant us all success in following His pure law.