All praise be to Allah, and may His Blessings and Peace be on His Last Messenger,

Imam Muslim reported from Abi Hurairah that the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said, “I asked Allah for permission to seek forgiveness for my mother, and He did not permit me, and I asked him for permission to visit her grave, and He permitted me.” Imam al-Nawawi said, while commenting on this hadeeth, “…it indicates the impermissibility of seeking forgiveness for the disbelievers.”

It was also reported by Muslim from Anas that the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) was asked by a man about the destiny of his father, and the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) indicated that he was in the Fire, and when the man started to walk away, he called him back, and said, “Both my father and your father are in fire.” And although the Prophet told him that to relieve his distress, he wouldn’t say but the truth.

The parents of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) were non-believers, and al-Jannat is meant to be entered only be believers. Prior to the message of Islam, the people, including Arabs, were still required to believe in Allah alone if the message of monotheism adequately reached them, though they were not required to follow a certain message. There were people of Quraish who followed the monotheism of Ibrahim (blessings and peace be upon him) and they used to be called “al-Hunafa'”

Although the statement about the Prophet’s mother is less decisive as to her final abode, it still means that to us, in the rulings of this life, she was not a believer.

Al-Imam al-Suyoti (Allah bestow mercy on him) argued that Allah will save the Prophet’s parents and supported his argument with reports that are classed unacceptable by the multitudes of the other hadeeth scholars.

This issue is a matter that doesn’t constitute a pretext for certain actions, and doesn’t deserve much argumentation.

The clear benefit from the ahadeeth here above is the enunciation of the Islamic principle that it is about one’s deeds and devotion to Allah, not ancestry or tribal or family belonging.

The length of the beard is an issue of controversy, and while some scholars indicated that it may not be trimmed at all, others said, that it may be trimmed down to one’s fist. It seems that the qualifying hadeeth here is the one in which the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said “waffiroo”, which means “make abundant” and as long as one’s beard is abundant, there should be no harm in trimming it to less than a fist.

Allah knows best.