Short answer
If your beard is thick, wash its outer surface; water does not have to reach the skin, and running wet fingers through it (khilal) is sunnah. If it is thin and the skin shows, water must reach the skin. In ghusl, water must reach the skin under any beard. The schools agree on the basics.
For a thick beard, washing the outer surface within the face is fard and the skin beneath is excused. For a thin beard, washing the skin under it is fard. Khilal of a thick beard is sunnah. Washing the part that hangs below the chin is not fard. In ghusl, water must reach the skin under the beard.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Washing the outer surface of the hanging part of the beard is also obligatory.
- Hanbali
- Washing the outer surface of the whole beard, including what hangs below the chin, is obligatory.
Explanation
The face is a fard limb of wudu (ablution), and the beard grows on it. Uthman reported that the Prophet ﷺ used to run his fingers through his beard in wudu. Scholars took two things from this: the beard is part of the face, and for a thick beard, passing wet fingers through it is enough, since the skin is not visible in normal speech and meeting.
In the Hanafi school:
- Thick beard: wash its outer surface along with the face. The skin underneath does not have to get wet. Running wet fingers through it from below is sunnah.
- Thin beard: where the skin can be seen through the hair, water must reach that skin.
- Hanging part: washing the hair below the line of the chin is not fard, but washing or wiping it is good.
- Moustache and eyebrows: the same rule: thick hair, wash the surface; thin hair, reach the skin.
- Beard oil or balm: oil that soaks in does not block water. A hard wax or a thick product forming a layer should be washed off first.
Ghusl is stricter. The whole body must be washed, and the beard is not a barrier, so water must reach the skin under it however thick it is. Work the water in with your fingers.
For the other limbs, see the fard of wudu. Keeping a beard is a separate question: see the sunnah length of the beard.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:6
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًۭا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌۭ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءًۭ فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًۭا طَيِّبًۭا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍۢ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٦﴾
O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.
The face, where the beard grows, must be washed in wudu.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 31
Grading to be checked... كان يخلل لحيته ...
"He used to run his fingers through his beard."
The basis for khilal of the beard in wudu.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, fard and sunnahs of wudu. Khilal of the beard is sunnah according to Abu Yusuf, and it is the relied position.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, washing the face. Thick and thin beard; the hanging part need not be washed.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, washing the face. The Shafi'i view on the hanging beard.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.