O honorable servants of Allah ﷻ, the Most Powerful and Majestic,
In this Friday sermon series titled “Clothing in the Perspective of Islam,” we have been discussing matters related to dress, and along with that, the issue of adornment. Regarding adornment, there are certain guidelines in the religion concerning hair, beard, mustache, and similar matters. We are obligated to follow the religion in these matters.
Before entering into this topic, let me remind you of a fundamental principle that I have already mentioned earlier. The principle is this: If the Prophetﷺ performed something as an act of worship — such as prayer, fasting, or devotional practices — then we must follow it exactly as he did. He was sent as a Messenger to teach us these matters.
However, regarding worldly affairs and customary practices, if he did something, it only becomes part of the religion if it was done based on revelation (wahy) and divine instruction. If he did something merely according to the custom of the society in which he lived, then it does not automatically become a religious ruling. This is a foundational principle we must understand.
For example, the Prophetﷺ traveled by camel. At that time, modern vehicles did not exist. Should we therefore say that traveling by camel is a Sunnah that must be preserved? No. He used a camel because it was the available means of transportation in his time. That does not make camel-riding a religious requirement.
Even before he became a Prophet at age forty, he traveled by camel. His enemies also traveled by camel. The entire society used camels. So, this was simply the custom of that era — not a religious command.
Therefore, we cannot say that today we must go to Hajj only by camel because the Prophetﷺ ﷺ did so. It was a matter of availability, not a divine injunction.
Similarly, wheat bread was the common food of his region. The Prophetﷺ ate wheat bread. Can we say eating wheat bread is a superior Sunnah? No. Because eating wheat bread was not done as a divine command. He ate it before Prophethood, and his enemies ate it too. Even those who rejected him ate the same wheat bread. It was simply the common food of the time.
Only when something is done based on revelation from Allahﷻ does it become part of the religion. The same applies to clothing. The Prophetﷺ wore certain types of garments. The kinds of shirts and modern clothing we wear today did not exist then. People generally wrapped themselves in a cloth — a lower garment like a waist cloth and an upper wrap. That was the clothing of the time.
We cannot say that since the Prophetﷺ wore such garments, we must not wear shirts today and must only wrap ourselves in cloth. One may do so — it is permissible — but it is neither superior nor required.
Because he wore such garments even before becoming a Prophet. His enemies wore the same type of clothing. It was simply the custom of the time. So, we must distinguish:
When the Prophetﷺ prayed, he did not pray according to custom. He prayed according to revelation. Therefore, we must follow his prayer exactly. If he instructed us to recite certain supplications after prayer, that is revelation-based, and we must follow it.
Similarly, fasting, zakat amounts, Hajj rituals, what is halal and haram — when he explained these based on revelation, they become binding religion. But worldly matters are different.
For example, if the Prophetﷺ ate dates, that alone does not make eating dates a Sunnah. But if he said, “Break your fast with dates,” then it becomes Sunnah because of his command.
The distinction lies in whether there was instruction or revelation. The same applies to medicine. In the time of the Prophetﷺ , there were various medical practices. Were those all revealed from Allahﷻ? No. They were the customary remedies of that society — similar to traditional or folk remedies in villages today.
The Prophetﷺ sometimes used those treatments. Later, people began calling it “Prophetic medicine” and turned it into a business. But those remedies were known to everyone in that society. Even his enemies knew and used them. They were not divinely revealed treatments.
For example, during the Battle of Uhud, the Prophetﷺ was severely injured. His teeth were broken, blood flowed heavily, and he fainted. His daughter Fatimah came and tried to stop the bleeding by pouring water, but it did not stop. Then she burned a palm fiber mat, turned it into ash, and applied the ash to the wound, and the bleeding stopped.
This is mentioned in hadith. Does that mean today if someone has an accident, we must apply ash to the wound as “Prophetﷺic medicine”? No. At that time, that was one available method to stop bleeding. It may even cause infection, but stopping blood loss was the urgent priority.
We now have advanced medical facilities. To ignore them and insist on ash in the name of Sunnah would be incorrect. So, we must examine every action of the Prophetﷺ.
Was it done as a Messenger based on revelation? Or was it done as a human living within his society’s customs? If it was custom, it is permissible — but not binding, not superior. Now, based on this principle, let us discuss hair.
It is reported that the Prophetﷺ kept his hair at different lengths at different times. Hair does not remain the same length all the time. Sometimes it reached halfway down the ear. Sometimes it reached the earlobes. Sometimes it extended to the shoulders. Sometimes it was between the earlobes and shoulders.
All of this is mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim. Does that mean we must keep hair at one of those four lengths? No. It only shows that keeping hair in that manner is permissible. If it were a Sunnah to keep hair long, the Prophetﷺ ﷺ would have verbally instructed us: “Keep your hair like this.” But no such command exists. Hair is hair — whether on the head or beard. Yet we say the beard is Sunnah. Why? Because he commanded it. He said: “Grow the beard.” That instruction makes it Sunnah. Head hair, however, was not commanded in that way.
So head hair has no specific required style. You may keep it long, short, cropped — as you wish — as long as you avoid what is prohibited. The Prophetﷺ ﷺ sometimes parted his hair. That does not make parting the hair Sunnah. It simply shows it is allowed.
He also said: “Whoever has hair, let him honor it.” Meaning: maintain it properly. Do not leave it messy and unkempt. Once a man came with disheveled hair. The Prophetﷺ ﷺ asked him, “Do you not have something to tidy your hair?” After the man combed it, the Prophetﷺ ﷺ said it looked much better.
So, hair must be maintained properly — not left like a bird’s nest. Modern styles change with time. At one time, crop cuts were criticized as imitating foreigners. But who has the authority to declare something haram? Only Allahﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ.
If Allahﷻ or His Messenger did not prohibit something, we cannot declare it forbidden. The Prophetﷺ ﷺ sometimes braided his hair during travel. When entering Makkah, he had four braids. This was practical — to prevent hair from flying in strong desert winds. Sometimes he applied a sticky substance to keep the hair from blowing.
Today we use hair spray. That is simply a modern equivalent for practical purposes. There is only one hairstyle that was clearly prohibited: shaving part of the head and leaving part (known as qaza‘). That is, leaving a tuft while shaving the rest. The Prophetﷺ ﷺ forbade this. That is the only clear prohibition regarding head hair.
Everything else is permissible unless explicitly forbidden. If Allahﷻ leaves something unmentioned, it means it is allowed. Allahﷻ does not forget. If something were forbidden, He would have declared it so.
For example, when Hajj was made obligatory, someone asked: “Is it obligatory every year?” The Prophetﷺ ﷺ became upset and said: “If I said yes, it would become obligatory.” Meaning: Do not over-question and impose hardship when Allahﷻ has left something open.
If Allahﷻ does not declare something haram, we must not invent prohibitions. Therefore, regarding head hair: there are no strict conditions except avoiding what is explicitly forbidden. Beard, mustache, trimming nails, removing body hair — those have specific religious guidelines. We will discuss them in coming weeks, in sha Allahﷻ.
For today, we have limited ourselves to the topic of head hair.