Question: What is the ruling on combing the hair everyday for men and women?
Answer: “He (ﷺ) used to comb his hair every other day*. In reality, this is not a prohibition, however, if he combs his hair every other day, one day he does it and the other day he leaves it off and the likes of that, and he is eager for that, it is better.
If he needs to comb [his hair] after showering or he needs to comb his hair due to dust in his hair or the likes then he/she can do so, men and women. That enters under the hadith:
من كان له شعر فليكرمه
Whoever has hair, then let him honor it
[Reported Sunan Abu Dawood and Graded Hasan Saheeh by Al-Albani in Saheeh Sunan Abu Dawood no. 4163]
If he leaves his head hair alone and is not concerned with it, it is sometimes the cause of sickness and he may get dandruff and like this increase in itching. Also, a smell may emit from him and a smell may emit from his turban and skull cap or other than that [of headgear] when he raises it off his head. The difference between being concerned with his hair and being careless is that a smell will not emit from him”.
[Taken from: https://app.box.com/s/0xhk8mhk7m2c584w8v89 and https://www.sh-yahia.net/show_sound_5143.html ]
Translated by
Faisal ibn Abdul Qaadir ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
*Translator’s Note:
The Hadith the Shaikh is referring to is the following:
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مُغَفَّلٍ، قَالَ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنِ التَّرَجُّلِ إِلاَّ غِبًّا
The Messenger of Allah forbade combing the hair except every second day
[Sunan Abu Dawood and graded Saheeh by Al-Albani in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood no. 4159]
Imam Shawkaani rahimahullah said:
“And the hadith proves the dislike of being occupied with combing the hair everyday because it is a type of luxury”
[Nayl al-Awtaar]
Imam al-Adheemabaadi rahimahullah said:
“And in this hadith is the prohibition of styling the hair and oiling it everyday because of what will occur of evil. Also in the hadith is the [allowance] of cleaning the hair from lice and dirt or other than it everyday to remove filth”
[‘Awn ul-Ma’bood]
Imam al-Munaawi rahimahullah said:
“Hafidh Wali-uddeen al-‘Iraaqi said: there is no difference, in the prohibition of styling the hair everyday, between hair of the head and the beard. As for the hadith that he (ﷺ) used to style his beard everyday twice, then I did not find a chain of narration for it and I did not see it except in the book Ihya [i.e. Ihya uloom ud-Deen of Ghazaali] and it is not hidden [from anyone] that the book has within it Ahaadith that have no foundation. There is no difference between the men and women [in regards to combing everyday], however, the dislike for women is less because the affair of beautification is broader in their rights than the that of the men. With this, it is more deserving for women to leave off luxury”
[Fayd ul-Qaadir]
And Allah knows best
