Reference: http://binothaimeen.net/content/6662
Fataawa Noor ‘alad-Darb – Tape No.4
Question: I am a university student, and all Praise is due to Allaah [alone] as I was [blessed to have been] guided to maintain a beard [and let it grow]. However, I do trim it a little from [around] the neck as well as from the top of [both] the cheeks, and some [of those around me] took issue with me [for doing so], saying: [this is] not permissible. Bearing in mind this [excess] hair annoys me and is inconvenient, what is your opinion [regarding trimming this excess hair]?
Response: As for [the hair] that is below the throat, then it is not [considered] from the beard, because it is not growing from the jawbone. As for that which is on the cheeks, then it is understood from the speech of the scholars of the [Arabic] language that it forms part of the beard. So based upon this, we are of the opinion that this brother should not trim anything from it, and instead leave the hair on both of [his] cheeks as well as the sides [of his face] as it is, because based upon the speech of the scholars of the Arabic language it forms part of the beard.
