He repented of cutting his beard, but it has not reached a fist’s length

Question

There is a hafiz of the Qur’an. In the beginning he used to cut his beard, and now for a year he has repented and is rendering service to the religion in a madrasa. After this period he led the prayer as imam. A man said that the prayer behind him will not be [valid] until his beard becomes one fist (qabda). The beard of the said hafiz is very sparse and small and grows little. In this situation, is the prayer behind him permissible or not, or should one wait for the beard to become one fist’s length?

Answer

If, after repenting, for a whole year he has not been cutting his beard short, but rather his beard naturally grows sparsely, then no defect will enter his imamate on that account.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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