The Ruling On One Who mocks the Beard

Question :

The beard is a Sunnah from among the authentic Sunan of the Prophet, but there are some people who shave it, some who shorten it, some who reject it altogether, some who claim that it is a Sunnah for which those who do it will be rewarded, while those who do not do it will not be punished. Among the foolish people are those who say: "If there were any virtue in the beard, (hair) would not grow in the pubic area" - may Allah debase them! So what is the ruling on each of these different persons, and what is the ruling on the one who rejects the Sunnah of the Prophet?

Answer:

The authentic Sunnah of Allah's Messenger proves the obligation of growing the beard and the forbiddance of shaving or cutting it, such as in the Hadith narrated in the Two Sahihs, on the authority of Ibn 'Umar which says that the Prophet SAW said:
Clip your moustaches and grow your beards, differ from the polytheists.

In Sahih Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, it is reported that the Prophet said:
«Pare your moustaches and leave your beards, differ from the Zoroastrians.

These two Hadiths and other Hadiths which carry the same meaning, all prove the obligation to grow the beard and the forbiddance of shaving it or cutting it, as we have said.

Whoever claimed that growing it is a Sunnah for which those who do it will be rewarded, while those who abandon it do not merit punishment, then he is mistaken and has contradicted the authentic Hadiths. This is because the rule is that commands are obligatory and prohibitions forbid, and it is not permissible for anyone to contradict the obvious meaning of the authentic Hadiths, unless he has a proof to show otherwise; and there is no evidence to indicate that these Hadiths carry any meaning besides the obvious one.

As for what At-Tirmithi has reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet used to cut his beard lengthwise and widthwise, it is a false Hadith. It cannot be authentically traced to the Messenger of Allah, because it contains in its chain of narrators one who was accused of lying.

As for one who mocks it and compares it to pubic hair, he is guilty of a great sin warranting his apostasy from Islam. This is because making fun of anything which is proven by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Muhammad is considered an act of disbelief and apostasy from Islam, based upon the Words of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful:
Say: "Was it Allah and his Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations etc.) and His Messenger that you were mocking?" Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you had believed.