Preconditions of Salah

Q 2: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The person whose Salah (prayer) does not restrain him from immorality and abominable actions will only increase his distance from Allah by them." Is the Salah (prayer) of someone who shaves their beard accepted or not?

A: This Hadith has been related from the Prophet (peace be upon him) through many ways of transmission in different wordings. However, it has no reliable way. It is related on the authority of Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Al-Hasan, and other narrators. The Mawquf (a Hadith narrated from a Companion of the Prophet) version is the most authentic one. Al-Hafizh Ibn Kathir (may Allah be merciful to him) cited this Hadith in the forms of Marfu’ (a Hadith narrated from the Prophet with a connected or disconnected chain of narration) and Mawquf and said: "The Mawquf narrations narrated from Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Al-A`mash, and others are most ." Some scholars said that its meaning is Fasid (void) as it contradicts authentic texts that prove that Salah erases sins and removes misdeeds. Based on this, it is clear that shaving the beard does not take anything away from the validity of the Salah or its acceptance. In fact the person receives the reward of their Salah in as much as they follow the Islamic Shari`ah in it. A sin is, however, recorded for them for shaving their beard. A person is a believer due to the faith they have and the good deeds they do, and they are immoral due to the sins they commit. This means that the Salah restrains people from committing immoral and evil acts if it is established as Allah ordained in the Qur'an and Sunnah (whatever is reported from the Prophet).May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.