Saturday, June 28, 2008

Sunnats of the Hair

1. The length of the hair of Rasulullah (S) reached up to the middle of the ear. According to another narration the hair reached up to the ear and yet, in another narration it is mentioned that it reached up to the ear‐lobes. There are also narrations where it is mentioned that the hair was close to the ear‐lobes. (Shamaile Tirmidhi)

2. To keep all the hair upto the ear‐lobes or a little lower is Sunnat. Similarly to shave all the hair off is also Sunnat. If a person wishes to trim his hair, then it should be trimmed equally on all sides.

To keep the front hair of the head long while shortening the back of it, which is known as the “English hair” ( Square cut‐ translator), is not permissible. Similarly to shave part of the head while leaving the rest is not permissible. May Allah Ta’ala protect every Muslim from this.(Behishti Zewar‐ Vol. 11, pg. 115)

3. The command to grow the beard and trim the mustache has been recorded in the Hadith. (Bukhari, Muslim). To trim the beard less than the length of one fist or to shave it off is declared haraam. (Behishti Zewar‐ Vol. 11, pg. 115) May Allah Ta’ala protect every Muslim from this. It is Waajib (compulsory) to keep the beard one fist length, and the length of one fist is established from the Sunnat. (Bukhari‐ Vol. 2, pg. 875)

4. It is Sunnat to trim the mustache as finely as possible. There are severe warnings in the Ahadith for keeping very long mustaches. (Aujazul‐Masalik, Vol. 14)

5. The hair below the navel, armpits, the mustaches,as well as the nails should be cut and kept clean. It is sinful to allow 40 days to pass without doing so. (Behishti Zewar‐ Vol. 11, pg. 116)

6. To wash the hair, oil it and comb it is Sunnat, but a few days should be skipped in‐between, if there is no necessity. (Mishkaat, Bazlul Majhood, commentary of Abu Dawood)

7. When combing the hair start from the right hand side. (Bukhari‐ pg. 61)

8. When combing one’s hair or whenever the need arises to look into the mirror recite the following Dua:

(Hisne Haseen)

Trans: O Allah, as You have beautified my external form, so make my character beautiful as well.


  1. go to and write comments everyday. thank you asif.

  2. Salam alaykum brother,

    You have put valuable information in regards to the prophetic sunnah. I am in the process of commencing a project which serves the same purpose as what you have put here - to revive the sunnah in our lives. I was wondering if I have your permission to use the information here for the project. JazakAllah khair. I can provide my e-mail for any details. wasalam

  3. Walaikum Assalaam sister. Great to know that you are making an effort to revive the sunnah. I've only quoted the Hadith mentioned here from authentic sources, so you are free to use the information. If you want any sort of help regarding your project please let me know.