Complete Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 28:

Combing the Hair (Kitab Al-Tarajjul)


Chapter 1550:


Book 28, Number 4147:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mughaffal:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade combing the hair except every second day.


Book 28, Number 4148:

Narrated Fudalah ibn Ubayd:

Abdullah ibn Buraydah said: A man from the companions of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) travelled to Fudalah ibn Ubayd when he was in Egypt.

He came to him and said: I have not come to you to visit you. But you and I heard a tradition from the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). I hope you may have some knowledge of it.

He asked: What is it? He replied: So and so. He said: Why do I see you dishevelled when you are the ruler of this land?

He said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has forbidden us to indulge much in luxury.

He said: Why do I see you unshod? He replied: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) used to command us to go barefoot at times.


Book 28, Number 4149:

Narrated Abu Umamah Ilyas ibn Tha'labah:

The Companions of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) mentioned this word before him. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Listen, listen! Wearing old clothes is a part of faith, wearing old clothes is a part of faith.

Abu Dawud said: He is Abu Umamah b. Tha'labat al-Ansari.


Chapter 1551: Recomendation for using perfume


Book 28, Number 4150:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) had sikkah with which he perfumed himself.


Chapter 1552: Setting the hair right


Book 28, Number 4151:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: He who has hair should honour it.


Chapter 1553: Dye of women


Book 28, Number 4152:

Narrated 'A'ishah, Ummul Mu'minin:

Karimah, daughter of Hammam, told that a woman came to 'A'ishah (Allah be pleased with her) and asked her about dyeing with henna. She replied: There is no harm, but I do not like it. My beloved, the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), disliked its odour.


Book 28, Number 4153:

Narrated 'A'ishah, Ummul Mu'minin:

When Hind, daughter of Utbah, said: Prophet of Allah, accept my allegiance, he replied; I shall not accept your allegiance till you make a difference to the palms of your hands; for they look like the paws of a beast of prey.


Book 28, Number 4154:

Narrated 'A'ishah, Ummul Mu'minin:

A woman made a sign from behind a curtain to indicate that she had a letter for the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) closed his hand, saying: I do not know this is a man's or a woman's hand. She said: No, a woman. He said: If you were a woman, you would make a difference to your nails, meaning with henna.


Chapter 1554: Adding false hair


Book 28, Number 4155:

Narrated Humaid b. 'Abd al-Rahman:

I heard Mu'awiyah b. Abi Sufyan say during the Hajj when he was on the pulpit and took a lock of hair which was in the hand of the guard, saying: O people of Medina, where are your scholars? I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbiding such a thing as this and he said: The children of Isra'il perished when their women practised it.


Book 28, Number 4156:

Narrated 'Abd Allah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has cursed the woman who adds some false hair and the woman who asks for it, the woman who tatoos and the woman who asks for it.


Book 28, Number 4157:

Narrated 'Abd Allah (b. Mas'ud):

Allah has cursed the women who tatoos and the women who have themselves tatooed, the women who add false hair (according to the version of Muhammad b. Isa) and the women who plucks hair from their faces (according to the version of 'Uthman). The agreed version then goes: the women who make spaces between teeth for beauty, changing what Allah has created. When a woman of Banu Asad called Umm Ya'qub, who read the Qur'an (according to the version of 'Uthman) heard it, she came to him (according to the agreed version) and said: I have heard that you cursed the women who tatoo, those who have themselves tatooed, those who add false hair (according to the version of Muhammad), those who pluck hair from their faces, and those who make spaces between their teeth (according to the agreed version), for changing what Allah has created (according to the version of 'Uthman). He said: Why should I not curse those whom the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has cursed and those who were mentioned in Allah's Book? She said: I have read it from cover to cover and have not found it. He then read: I swear by Allah, if you read it, you would have found it. He then read: What the Apostle has brought you accept, and what he has forbidden you refrain from it. She said: I find some of these things in your wife. He said: Enter (the house) and see. She said: I then entered (the house) and came out. He asked: What did you see? She said: I did not see (anything). He said: Had it been so, she would not have been with us. This is according to the version of 'Uthman.


Book 28, Number 4158:

Narrated Ibn Abbas:

The woman who supplies false hair and the one who asks for it, the woman who pulls out hair for other people and the woman who depilates herself, the woman who tatoos and the one who has it done where there is no disease to justify it have been cursed.

Abu Dawud said: Wasilah means the woman who adds false hair to the hair of woman; mutawsilah means the one who asks for adding the hair to her hair; namisah means a woman who plucks hair from the brow until she makes it then; mutanamisah means the woman who deplicates herself; washimah is a woman who tatoos in the face with antimony or ink; mustawshimah is a woman with whom it is done.


Book 28, Number 4159:

Narrated Sa'id b. Jubair:

There is no harm in fastening the hair with silk or woollen threads.

Abu Dawud said: It appears that he held the view that what is prohibited is the adding of hair of woman.

Abu Dawud said: Ahmad (b. Hanbal) used to say: There is no harm in tying the hair with silk or woollen threads.


Chapter 1555: Return of perfume


Book 28, Number 4160:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone is presented some perfume, he should not return it, for it is a thing of good fragrance and light to bear.


Chapter 1556: On a woman who uses perfume when she goes out


Book 28, Number 4161:

Narrated Abu Musa:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If a woman uses perfume and passes the people so that they may get its odour, she is so-and-so, meaning severe remarks.


Book 28, Number 4162:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

A woman met him and he found the odour of perfume in her. Her clothes were fluttering in the air. He said: O maid-servant of the Almighty, are you coming from the mosque? She replied: Yes. He said: For it did you use perfume? She replied: Yes. He said: I heard my beloved AbulQasim (peace_be_upon_him) say: The prayer of a woman who uses perfume for this mosque is not accepted until she returns and takes a bath like that of sexual defilement (perfectly).

Abu Dawud said: Al-'i'sar means dust.


Book 28, Number 4163:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If a woman fumigates herself with perfume, she must not attend the night prayer with us.

Ibn Nufayl said: Isha' means night prayer.


Chapter 1557: Use of Khaluq by men


Book 28, Number 4164:

Narrated Ammar ibn Yasir:

I came to my family at night (after a journey) with my hands chapped and they perfumed me with saffron. In the morning I went to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and gave him a greeting, but he did not respond to me nor did he welcome me.

He said: Go away and wash this off yourself. I then went away and washed it off me. I came to him but there remained a spot of it on me. I give him a greeting, but he did not respond to me nor did he welcome me.

He said: Go away and wash it off yourself. I then went away and washed it off me. I then came and gave him a greeting.

He responded to me and welcomed me, saying: The angels do not attend the funeral of an unbeliever bringing good to it, nor a man who smears himself with saffron, nor a man who is sexually defiled. He said: He permitted the man who was sexually defiled to perform ablution when he slept, ate or drank.


Book 28, Number 4165:

Narrated Ammar ibn Yasir:

The tradition mentioned above (No. 4164) has also been transmitted by Ammar ibn Yasir through a different chain of narrators.

This version has: Ammar said: I used khaluq. The first version is more perfect; it mentioned "taking a bath". Ibn Jurayj said: I said to Umar (a transmitter): They might be wearing ihram (robe of pilgrim)? He replied: No, they were residents.


Book 28, Number 4166:

Narrated Abu Musa:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah does not accept the prayer of a man who has any khaluq (perfume composed of saffron) on his body.

Abu Dawud said: His grandfathers were Zayd and Ziyad.


Book 28, Number 4167:

Narrated Anas:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade men to use saffron. Isma'ils version has: "(forbade) man to use saffron."


Book 28, Number 4168:

Narrated Ammar ibn Yasir:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The angels do not come near three: the dead body of the unbeliever, one who smears himself with khaluq, and the one who is sexually defiled except that he performs ablution.


Book 28, Number 4169:

Narrated Al-Walid ibn Uqbah:

When the Prophet of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) conquered Makkah. The people of Makkah began to bring their boys and he would invoke a blessing on them and rub their heads. I was brought, but as I had been perfumed with khaluq, he did not touch me because of the khaluq.


Book 28, Number 4170:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

A man came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and he had the mark of yellowness (of saffron). The Prophet (peace be upon him rarely mentioned a thing which he disliked before a man. When he went away, he said: Would that you tell this man that he should wash this off him.


Chapter 1558: extent to which hair should hang


Book 28, Number 4171:

Narrated Al Bara':

I did not see any man with locks hanging down to shoulders in a red robe more beautiful than tha Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). Muhammad b. Sulaiman added: He had hair which touched his shoulders.

Abu Dawud said: Isra'il also transmitted it in a similar way from Abu Ishaq saying: (his hair) touched his shoulders." Shu'bah said: (His hair) reached the lobes of his ears.


Book 28, Number 4172:

Narrated Al-Bara:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) had hair which reached the lobes of his ears.


Book 28, Number 4173:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The hair of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) were up to the lobes of his ears.


Book 28, Number 4174:

Narrated Anas b. Malik:

The hair of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) were halfway down his ears.


Book 28, Number 4175:

Narrated 'A'ishah, Ummul Mu'minin:

The hair of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) were above wafrah and below jummah.


Chapter 1559: Parting of the hair


Book 28, Number 4176:

Narrated Ibn Abbas:

The people of the Book used to let their hair hang down, and the polytheists used to part their hair. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) liked to conform with the People of the Book in matters about which he had received no command. Hence the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) let his forelock hang down but afterwards he parted it.


Book 28, Number 4177:

Narrated 'A'ishah, Ummul Mu'minin:

When I parted the hair of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) I made a parting from the crow of his head and let his forelock hang between his eyes.


Chapter 1560: Growing long hair


Book 28, Number 4178:

Narrated Wa'il ibn Hujr:

I came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and I had long hair. When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) saw me, he said: Evil, evil! He said: I then returned and cut them off. I then came to him in the morning. He said (to me): I did not intend to do evil to you. This is much better.


Chapter 1561: Plaiting the hair by a man


Book 28, Number 4179:

Narrated Umm Hani:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) came to Mecca and he had four plaits of hair.


Chapter 1562: Shaving the head


Book 28, Number 4180:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Ja'far:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) gave the children of Ja'far three day' time to visit them. He then came to visit them, and said: Do not weep over my brother after this day. He said: Call to me the children of my brother. We were brought to him as if we were chicken. He said: Call a barber to me. He then ordered and our heads were shaved.


Chapter 1563: Lock of hair


Book 28, Number 4181:

Narrated Ibn Umar:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade qaza' Qaza' means having part of the boy's head shaved and leaving part inshaven.


Book 28, Number 4182:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) forbade qaza' which means that the head of a boy is shaved and a lock is left.


Book 28, Number 4183:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) saw a boy with part of his head shaved and part left unshaven. He forbade them to do that, saying: Shave it all or leave it all.


Chapter 1564: Concession for keeping lock of hair


Book 28, Number 4184:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

I had a hanging lock of hair. My mother said to me: I shall not cut it, for the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to stretch it our and hold it.


Book 28, Number 4185:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

Al-Hajjaj ibn Hassan said: We entered upon Anas ibn Malik. My sister al-Mughirah said: You were a boy in those days and you had two locks of hair. He (Anas) rubbed your head and invoked blessing on you. He said: Shave them (i.e. the locks) or clip them, for this is the fashion of the Jews.


Chapter 1565: Clipping the moustaches


Book 28, Number 4186:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The inborn characteristics of man are five. Another versio says: Five things are characteristics pf man: circumcision, shaving the pubes, plucking the hair under the armpit, paring the nails and clipping the moustaches.


Book 28, Number 4187:

Narrated 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) commanded to clip the moustaches and grow the beard long.


Book 28, Number 4188:

Narrated Anas b. Malik:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) fixed forty days to shave the pubes, paring the nails, clipping the moustaches, and plucking the hair under the armpit.

Abu Dawud said: Js'far b. Sulaiman transmitted it from Abu Imran on the authority of Anas. In this version he did not mention the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He said: Forty days were fixed for us. This is a more correct version.


Book 28, Number 4189:

Narrated Jabir:

We used to grow beards long except during the hajj or the umrah.

Abu Dawud said: Ishtihdad means to shave the pubes.


Chapter 1566: Plucking out grey hair


Book 28, Number 4190:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Do not pluck out grey hair. If any believer grows a grey hair in Islam, he will have light on the Day of Resurrection. (This is Sufyan's version). Yahya's version says: Allah will record on his behalf a good deed for it, and will blot out a sin for it.


Chapter 1567: Hair dye


Book 28, Number 4191:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Jews and Christians do not dye (their beards), so act differently from them.


Book 28, Number 4192:

Narrated Jabir b. 'Abd Allah:

Abu Qatadah was brought on the day of the conquest of Mecca with the head and the beard white like the hyssop. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Change this with something, but avoid black.


Book 28, Number 4193:

Narrated Abu Dharr:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The best things with which grey hair are changed are henna and katam.


Book 28, Number 4194:

Narrated Abu Rimthah:

I went with my father to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He had locks hanging down as far as the lobes of the ears stained with henna, and he was wearing two green garments.


Book 28, Number 4195:

Narrated Abu Rimthah:

This version adds (to the previous hadith No 4194): My father said to him (the Prophet): Show me what is on your back, for I am a physician. He (the Prophet) said: You are only a soother. Its physician is He Who has credit it.


Book 28, Number 4196:

Narrated Abu Rimthah:

I and my father came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He said to a man or to my father: Who is this? He replied: He is my son. He said: Do not commit a crime on him. He had stained his beard with henna.


Book 28, Number 4197:

Narrated thabit: Anas was asked about the hair dye of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He replied: He did not dye his hair, but Abu BAkr and 'Umar dyed their hair.


Chapter 1568: Yellow dye


Book 28, Number 4198:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) used to wear tanned leather sandals and dye his beard yellow with wars and saffron.


Book 28, Number 4199:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

When a man who had dyed himself with henna passed by the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), he said: How fine this is! When another man who had dyed himself with henna and katam passed by, he said: This is better than that. Then another man who had dyed himself with yellow dye, passed by, he said: This is better than all that.


Chapter 1569: Black dye


Book 28, Number 4200:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: At the end of time there will be people who will use this black dye like the crops of doves who will not experience the fragrance of Paradise.


Chapter 1570: Use of Ivory


Book 28, Number 4201:

Narrated Thawban:

When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) went on a journey, the last member of his family he saw was Fatimah, and the first he visited on his return was Fatimah. Once when he returned from an expedition she had hung up a hair-cloth, or a curtain, at her door, and adorned al-Hasan and al-Husayn with silver bracelets. So when he arrived, he did not enter. Thinking that he had been prevented from entering by what he had seen, she tore down the curtain, unfastened the bracelets from the boys and cut them off.

They went weeping to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), and when he had taken them from them, he said: Take this to so and so's family. Thawban. In Medina, these are my family, and I did not like them to enjoy their good things in the present life. Buy Fatimah a necklace or asb, Thawban, and two ivory bracelets.