Is shaving the beard considered an outward act of wickedness, and does that entail the impermissibility of accepting a Hadith narration from one who shaves his beard?

The majority of scholars hold that shaving the beard is forbidden, while the relied-upon opinion in the Shafi'i school is that it is disliked. A student of knowledge should seek knowledge from devout, practicing scholars who are pious and righteous. If such scholars are not found, then the student should seek out those who are successively more exemplary. Knowledge should not be taken from those who are not worthy of emulation, such as innovators and transgressors, unless no others are available. In such a case, one must be cautious not to emulate their transgressions. The Salaf (early Muslims) used to carefully select their shaykhs and warned against innovators and those who followed their whims. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said: "The student should seek out those jurists who are renowned for their religiosity and known for their uprightness and integrity." Muslim narrated from Muhammad ibn Sirin and Imam Malik their saying: "Indeed, this knowledge is religion, so look from whom you take it." The Hadith scholars stipulated justice as a condition for narrators of Hadith, which is a quality in a person that compels them to adhere to piety and integrity. A student of knowledge must carefully select their shaykhs. If the desired shaykh is not found, then one may learn from others. There is no infallibility for anyone after the Messengers, and the teacher's error does not prevent one from benefiting from them, as happened with Abu Hurairah, who accepted advice from Satan.