Shaarib (the moustache) and the rules on it

In language the shaarib is the active participle of drink, and the word also names the hair that flows over the mouth; its plural is shawarib. ¹ The moustache and the beard are both facial hair, but the moustache lies on the upper lip and the beard on the chin; the side-locks (al-idhar) grow level with the ears, and the lower tuft (al-anfaqa) lies between the lower lip and the chin. ^{1 9}

The jurists agree that the moustache is washed with the face, and that its skin is washed when the hair is too thin to cover it. ⁹ Where the hair is thick they differ. The Hanafis do not require washing its inner hair, but if the moustache is long enough to cover the lips' colour, passing water through it is required. The Malikis require washing the outer surface of thick hair and dislike combing it through. The Shafi'is require washing the outer and inner surfaces and bringing water to the skin beneath, even when thick. The Hanbalis require washing it with the face; the outer surface suffices if the hair does not show the skin, and combing it when thick is recommended. ^{9 2}

The jurists agree that in the bath of major impurity the moustache must be wetted with water throughout, both hair and skin, whether thick or thin, on the report that under every hair there is impurity, and on the report from Ali about one who leaves a spot of a hair unwashed. ^{2 3}

One who has performed ablution or the bath and then shaves or trims the moustache need not repeat either, nor wash the place trimmed. This is the view of most scholars. ³

The jurists agree that taking from the moustache belongs to the fitra and is a sunna, on the report of Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) listing trimming the moustache among the five of the fitra, on the report of Ibn Umar, and on the report of Zayd ibn Arqam (may God be pleased with him): one who does not take from his moustache is not of us. ^{3 4} The schools differ on the method: cutting, shaving or close trimming. Among the Hanafis the view of some later scholars is cutting; al-Tahawi holds cutting good and shaving better. The ends of the moustache are disputed, and some say leaving them is disliked as an imitation of foreigners and the People of the Book. A warrior in the land of war may keep his moustache, to appear more fearsome to the enemy. The Hanafis recommend trimming weekly, best on Friday, and dislike leaving it beyond forty days, on the report of Anas that a time was set for it. ⁴ The Malikis hold trimming part of the fitra, a light sunna; the sunna is to cut, not to shave, and one takes until the lip's edge shows. For a woman the Malikis require shaving what grows as a moustache, by the preferred view. ^{4 5} The Shafi'is hold trimming a sunna, begun on the right side as the Prophet ﷺ loved to begin on the right. One may cut oneself or have another do it. Trimming should go until the lip's edge shows, and the report "shave close" is read as referring to a moustache that grows over the lips. Delaying trimming past need is disliked, and past forty days more so. Al-Zarkashi reports that Abu Hamid and al-Saymari favoured close shaving, and that al-Muzani and al-Rabi' practised it. ^{5 10} The Hanbalis hold trimming a sunna, with close trimming better by explicit text; the ends are the sideburns, and the report "trim your moustaches, let your beards grow, and oppose the People of the Book" is cited. They say trimming should be done every Friday; leaving it beyond forty days is disliked. ^{10 6}

One who means to attend the Friday prayer is recommended to improve his appearance, trimming the moustache among the other recommended things. Most jurists hold trimming before the prayer; the Hanafis hold that shaving on Friday after the prayer is better for receiving its blessing. ⁶

Among the prohibitions of pilgrimage is removing hair from the body of the pilgrim, including the moustache, extended by analogy from the shaving of the head in al-Baqara (196). ⁶

A dead pilgrim's moustache is not touched, following the report of the Bedouin who died in the state of consecration. For other dead the jurists differ. The Shafi'is give three views: the preferred is that it is disliked; another that it is neither disliked nor recommended; a third that it is recommended when long, which is the Hanbali view. Abu Hanifa, Malik and al-Thawri disliked it. ^{6 7} The Hanbalis add that hair taken from a corpse is placed in its shroud. ⁷

Most jurists hold that trimming the moustache during retreat in the mosque does no harm if the mosque is not soiled. The Malikis dislike it inside the mosque even if the trimmings are collected in a garment, and say that one who does it inside invalidates the retreat according to those who void it for any forbidden act. The Shafi'is hold it a sunna to wash and perform the bath after trimming. ^{7 8} Injury to the moustache requires a just assessment, since it follows the beard and is part of its members. The entries on the wine-drinker are found under penalties and intoxication. ⁸