Beard & Parents & following another madhhab

I''m an Indian Muslim. While studying in America, I started keeping a beard, and grew it to a sunna fist-length, and have kept it since (Alhamdulillahi)

However, since I''ve returned to Hyderabad, my father is firmly insistent that I shorten (trim, not shave) my beard in order to be more socially and work-wise acceptable. My father considers my obeying him from a son''s duty towards his parents, and is insistent.

Now: I understand that in the Hanafi school it is wajib. Thus, would it be sinful to trim my beard--following the Shafi`i school that says doing so is not sinful (and the other schools, too, from what I understand)?

I''m very stressed by this, as this is in every conversation with my father, and he is very grieved by all of this. He even ascribes his past and current illness to my full beard.

I try to be a dutiful son, so all this is saddening me. To what extent is a full beard more important than a loving parent''s hurt feelings?

Local scholars (and other Hanafis from the Pakistan as well) have simply stated that the beard is wajib and can''t be trimmed--but I should remain polite with my father.

What do I do? Do I keep my beard full, or trim (intending to follow the Shafi`i position)?

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.

It would be permitted for you to follow the position of other than the Hanafi madhhab and trim you beard (without shaving it off). This would not be disliked to do, given your circumstances.

At the same time, you are not obligated to obey your father in this matter, as it is your personal right to pursue your religious goals. Note, however, that while obedience to parents is conditional being good and respectful to parents is unconditional, and must be upheld at all times.

Following another madhhab

Following another madhhab completely in a complete action, however, is valid according to the majority of the scholars of usul al-fiqh, and fuqaha, on the condition that there not be a systematic seeking out of dispensations. This was confirmed by Ibn Abidin in his Hashiya, Tahtawi in his Hashiyat al-Durr, Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi in his Sharh al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya and in his treatise on ijtihad, taqlid and talfiq, and is the position adopted by the Syrian Hanafi scholars.

The scholars of the Indian Sub-continent generally do not allow this, except under exceptional circumstances, but not because it is per se invalid, but for obvious reasons:

(a) In their millieu, it is not normally possible for one to find a qualified source or scholar from another school;
(b) To close the door to the systematic seeking of dispensations.

But, even Indo-Pak scholars who advocate this position admit, this is more an answer of prudence than a theoretical impermissibility.
I wonder whether the position enunciated in the major texts of the school is not more suited to our situation in the West. People have a lot of difficult situations and challenges in their lives, and this makes things easy for them while remaining within the boundaries of sound sunni scholarship, instead of running to the modernists and salafis...

Sticking to One School
It is not religiously binding on the Muslim to stick to one school on all matters, without exception, as both al-Tahtawi and Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on them), the two leading late authorities for fatwa in the Hanafi school, both explain. Rather, there is nothing wrong with taking a dispensation if there is a need; what is impermissible is to make it a habit to seek out dispensations (i.e. even if there is no hardship or need).

The Path of Taqwa
The path of taqwa, as the scholars and sufis explain, is to avoid taking dispensations unless there is genuine hardship in following one''s own school. In fact, they say that those who have learned their own school should seek out the strictest positions from other school whenever reasonably possible, so that one''s worship and practice is sound without argument.

May Allah grant us beneficial knowledge, and the success to act according to it, on the footsteps of the His Beloved (Allah bless him and give him peace), with the secret of sincerity, without which actions are but lifeless forms.

Please search SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com) for related answers. Search for: (1) following another madhhab; (2) obedience to parents.

See also:

Choosing between madhhab positions

Prophetic Guidance on dutifulness to parents (Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin)

Fatwa on Trimming the Beard in the Shafi`i School

(Shaykh Amjad Rasheed, who issued the Shafi`i fatwa above, is an upright, godfearing mufti-level Shafi`i faqih)

And Allah alone gives success.