Imamate of one who has only a few hairs on his chin

Question

A certain man has studied up to the mawquf ‘alayh level, and he is over eighteen years of age; in addition, a few hairs are growing above and below his chin, while the likelihood of hair growing elsewhere is small. Is praying behind such a man makruh or not? If it is, is it tahrimi or tanzihi? And what is the ruling if there is a likelihood of hair growing elsewhere?

Answer

If a man is already over eighteen, a few hairs have grown above and below his chin, and the likelihood of hair growing on the rest of his face is small — from which it is evident that he will not have a full (round) beard — and he also knows the rulings of prayer well, then there is no dislikedness (karaha) of any kind in praying behind him.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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