Is the Pond of the Prophet (al-Hawd) Reserved Exclusively for Those Who Die Having a Beard?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

Has al-Hawd been reserved exclusively for those who died with the sunna on their faces? I have come across this statement from someone and would like to check whether this hadith is authentic from a Hanafi standpoint.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.

The Pond (al-Hawd) is by no means reserved for those who die with beards. There is no hadith which says this, and it would be wrong to attribute such a statement to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). I am glad that the earlier answers were of some assistance.

The Mark at the Pond Is the Light of Wudu

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told his companions how he would be able to identify the believers who should come after them by saying, “They will have shining faces and limbs that are bright because they have only just finished their ablution, and I will be in front of them at the Pond.” [Muslim]

The mark he referred to is the light of wudu; this applies to people who carry out wudu correctly, or those who are firm in their prayers, or those who remain in a state of wudu and therefore continue to be devoted and upright. He did not mention the beard.

Those Turned Away Are Those Who Changed the Religion

The hadith do include instances of people being kept from reaching the Pond, stating their names. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Groups will certainly come to me among whom I shall know them and who will know me; then a barrier will be placed between us. I will say, ‘They are from me.’ Then they will reply, ‘You do not know what they have brought about after me.’ So I will say, ‘Go away, go away from those who have altered the matter after me.'” [Bukhari; Muslim]

The people who were expelled had altered the religion after him, but a believer who fails to meet one of its requirements has not altered it.

Keep the Beard: It Is Obligatory in the Hanafi School

The beard, by any means, is no ordinary matter; you should keep it. In our Hanafi school, it is obligatory (wajib) to let it grow to the length of a fist, so do not cut it back shorter than that.

The instruction comes straight from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): “Differ from the idolaters: let your beards grow and trim your mustaches close.” Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and with his father), on whom this hadith is based, used to hold his beard in his fist every time he carried out the hajj or the umra, and would cut off any portion that projected beyond that fist. [Bukhari] This method is the one that our school adheres to. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) also regarded “letting the beard grow” as one of the ten features of one’s natural disposition (fitra). [Muslim]

Shaykh Nuh Keller (Allah preserve him) states without any reservation that “it is obligatory for a Muslim man to grow a beard.” [Keller, On Keeping the Beard] He also indicates which standard is to be observed; he says that the first external struggle on the path is “to make an effort to get rid of everything that is unlawful (haram) from one’s life in accordance with the standards of one’s own school of fiqh.” [Keller, Sea Without Shore]

The duty is completely based on the evidence that supports it and does not need any fictitious threat to back it up, nor is it necessary for you to offer one.

No Shortcoming Shuts the Door of Mercy

Allah Most High says: “Tell my servants who have gone beyond the limits of their own nature: ‘Do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah, for indeed Allah forgives all sins; surely He is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.'” [Quran 39:53; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Imam Razi (Allah have mercy on him) mentions that there are ten signs of Allah’s mercy in this verse; concerning the phrase “despair not”, he states: “He has prevented them from despairing, which is equivalent to commanding them to hope; and as the Generous has commanded hope, it is impossible to expect from Him anything other than generosity.” [Razi, Mafatih al-Ghayb]

According to Imam Ismaʿil Haqqi (Allah have mercy on him), the statement attributed to Yahya ibn Muʿadh (Allah have mercy on him) is that the Book of God includes “treasures which secure forgiveness for all the believers”, this verse being one such example; furthermore, he says that “for this reason the scholars regarded this verse as the most hopeful in the Quran for the people of the oneness of God”. [Haqqi, Ruh al-Bayan]

He then relates the verse to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): “Do not therefore lose hope, O people who have been given mercy, in the complete mercy of Allah, for Allah forgives all sins through the intercession of the one who is the embodiment of that mercy.” [Ibid.]

His Intercession Reaches Even the People of Major Sins

Intercession is not limited to people who are sinless; the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “My intercession shall be for those who commit major sins among my community.” [Tirmidhi; Abu Dawud; hasan sahih]

Mulla Ali al-Qari (Allah have mercy on him) provides the following explanation: “What is meant is that my intercession on behalf of those who have committed major sins is intended solely for my own community and not for the other nations.” He then cites Imam Tibi (Allah have mercy on him), who states: “By this is meant that the intercession which saves those who are perishing applies only to the people who have committed major sins.” [Qari, Mirqat al-Mafatih]

It does not provide anyone with a reason to neglect their duty; indeed, it is a motive for never losing hope. In the case of those who have committed serious sins, a believer will not be expelled from the community or rejected by it because of a single fault which he regrets and is making efforts to correct.

Let the Matter Rest Here

Each time you meet a statement of this nature, request the source before it gives you any cause for worry. Keep your beard as your school specifies, and if you at any point fail to do so, go back to Allah without feeling despair.

With the answer in hand, leave the question there and put your heart into your prayer.

Each time you carry out wudu, you refresh the mark by which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) will be able to recognize you at the Pond.

And Allah knows best.

Faraz Rabbani

Related Answers

• What Is a Beard in the Hanafi School? — The Hanafi school holds that growing a full beard is obligatory (wajib), with a fist’s length as the minimum measure.
• Can This Hadith Be Used as an Evidence for the Duty to Grow One’s Beard? — This answer traces a popular report about a one-haired beard back to its real source, where “one hair” turns out to mean a daughter, so it cannot serve as evidence for the beard’s obligation.