Is It Permissible to Trim or Adjust the Height of Sideburns?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is it permissible to trim my sideburns and adjust their height, such as shortening them or moving them to a higher or lower position on my head?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

The beard begins from the bone adjacent to the ear. If you put your finger on that bone; it should move when you open your jaw.

A slight grooming of the sides of the beard for cleanliness is permitted. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.

There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.

Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.