Question: Is it permissible to shave beard, if one is faced with an unavoidable or a difficult situation?
Answer: It is not permissible for a Muslim to to shave his beard (obligatory precaution), unless if he is fears harm to his life by not shaving or if growing the beard would put him in difficulty (for example, if it becomes a cause of ridicule and humiliation that is not normally tolerable by a Muslim).
Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani