In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
With pens of longing
and ink of love,
we pen lines more precious than gold
describing the Master of Creation,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
The Prophetic characteristics (Shama'il).
Chapter: What Has Been Related Concerning the White Hair of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Graying is the turning of hair from its original color to white,
and it occurs due to various reasons,
among them advanced age,
constant grief, and other factors.
And graying also refers to a person entering the stage of old age.
On the authority of Qatadah, who said:
"I asked Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him:
'Did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, dye his hair?'
He replied: 'It had not reached that stage;
it was only a few white hairs at his temples.
But Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,
dyed his hair with henna and katam.'"
In this hadith,
Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him,
asks the noble Companion Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him:
"Did the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, dye his hair?"—
that is, did he alter the whiteness of the hair of his head and beard?
Dyeing (khidab) means coloring the hair with red or another shade.
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, answered him:
"It had not reached that stage,"
meaning that whatever white hair the Prophet, peace be upon him, had
was very minimal indeed,
not warranting that one change it.
And his words: "It was only a few white hairs at his temples"
mean that the white hair of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
was merely a small amount at his temples.
The temple is the area between the ear and the eye,
and it also refers to the hair hanging down from the head
into the space between the ear and the eye.
And his words: "But Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,
dyed his hair with henna and katam"—
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, informed the questioner
that Abu Bakr
used to dye his hair with henna and katam.
These are two well-known plants
used for dyeing and changing hair color.
Henna turns white hair red,
while katam turns it black.
When the two are combined
by mixing a portion of henna with a portion of katam,
the white hair takes on an intermediate color,
between black and red.
And on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"I did not count on the head of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and his beard,
more than fourteen white hairs."
In this hadith,
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, relates
that the white hairs found on the head
and beard of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
were very few indeed,
reaching a total of only fourteen hairs.
And this number
is considered exceptionally small.
For this reason, Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
as mentioned previously:
"It had not reached that stage,"
meaning its count had not reached the point of necessitating
dyeing, due to how few they were.
And on the authority of Simak ibn Harb,
who said:
"I heard Jabir ibn Samurah, may Allah be pleased with him,
when he was asked about the white hair of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and he said:
'When he oiled his head,
no white hairs could be seen;
but when he did not oil it,
some could be seen.'"
In this hadith,
Jabir ibn Samurah, may Allah be pleased with him, answers
upon being asked about the white hair of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
saying:
"When he oiled his head,
no white hairs could be seen;
but when he did not oil it,
some could be seen."
That is, the white hairs were not noticeable
because the few white hairs
on his head, peace be upon him, blended
with the sheen of the oil
that he had applied.
For that reason, the white hairs would show
whenever he did not apply oil.
And on the authority of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
who said:
"The white hairs
of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
were only about
twenty white hairs."
In this hadith,
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, relates
that
the white hairs of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
were close to twenty
white hairs.
And this is close
to the hadiths
mentioned earlier.
And on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both,
who said:
"Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
'O Messenger of Allah,
you have grown gray!'
He replied:
'Surah Hud, al-Waqi'ah,
al-Mursalat,
and 'Amma Yatasa'alun have turned me gray.'"
And on the authority of Abu Juhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him,
who said:
"They said: 'O Messenger of Allah,
we see that you have grown gray.'
He replied:
'Surah Hud
and its sister surahs have turned me gray.'"
The textual evidence in these
two hadiths
is his statement, peace be upon him:
"Surah Hud,
al-Waqi'ah, al-Mursalat,
'Amma Yatasa'alun,
and Idha ash-Shamsu Kuwwirat have turned me gray,"
and his saying:
"Surah Hud and its sisters have turned me gray"—
meaning its sister chapters
from the surahs of the Qur'an
that contain mention
of the terrors of the Day of Resurrection
and its tribulations.
For these mentioned surahs
contain depictions of the terrors of that
Day.
Thus, the few white hairs found in the hair
of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
were not caused by anxiety
over worldly matters,
its interests,
attachment to it, a desire
for more of it,
or similar reasons that typically
characterize many people
who turn gray
from such causes.
Rather, it was out of deep concern for the affair
of the Hereafter.
And on the authority of Abu Rimthah at-Taymi,
of Taym ar-Ribab, who said:
"I came to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
accompanied by a son of mine."
He said:
"He was pointed out to me,
and when I saw him, I said:
'This is the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him.'
He was wearing
two green garments,
and he had hair
touched by white streaks,
and his white hair was reddish."
In this hadith,
the noble Companion Abu Rimthah,
may Allah be pleased with him, says:
"I came to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and he was pointed out to me"—
that is, the Prophet, peace be upon him, was shown to him.
This visit might have been
his very first visit
to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
so he did not yet recognize him;
thus, he asked about him.
So when he saw him, he said:
"This is the Prophet of Allah,
peace be upon him,"
seeking to verify his identity.
And his words:
"He was wearing two green garments,"
such as a lower garment (izar) and an upper wrap (rida')—
and what is meant is not
purely solid green,
but rather it may have been
green mixed with black,
or with black stripes,
like Yemeni cloaks.
And his words:
"and he had hair touched by white streaks"—
this is the point of evidence
in the hadith,
meaning the presence of white hairs
on his head, peace be upon him.
And his words:
"and his white hair was reddish"
mean it showed traces of dyeing,
as will be mentioned later.
A point of benefit:
that which is established by
the authentic hadiths
is that the gray hair found
in the hair of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
was very minimal indeed,
just a few scattered strands
in three places,
as pointed out by Anas,
may Allah be pleased with him,
when he said:
"The Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him, did not dye his hair;
the whiteness was only in his soul patch,
at his temples,
and a few scattered strands on his head."
And the soul patch (ʿanfaqah)
is the small tuft of hair between the lower lip
and the chin.
The description given by the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them,
of the Prophet's gray hairs, peace be upon him,
that were on his head,
is proof that he,
peace be upon him,
would occasionally uncover his head,
at times
such as when rainfall descended,
or because it might be obligatory to do so,
such as for one who wishes to wipe
over his head during ablution,
and likewise during Hajj
in the state of ihram.
Chapter: What Has Been Related Concerning the Hair Dye
of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
On the authority of
Abu Rimthah, may Allah be pleased with him,
who said:
"I came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
accompanied by a son of mine.
Thereupon he asked:
'Is this your son?'
I replied: 'Yes, I testify to it.'
He said:
'He is not responsible for your crimes,
nor are you responsible for his crimes.'
He said:
'And I saw his gray hair dyed red.'"
In this hadith,
Abu Rimthah, may Allah be pleased with him, relates
that he came to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
having his son along with him.
In this phrasing
there is a point of benefit:
namely, that fathers should take
their children along to gatherings of goodness,
or to visit a scholar,
and the like.
Thus, a father ought to
bring his children along whenever possible,
for in doing so
lies their proper upbringing and nurturing
upon love for the people of knowledge
and love for gatherings of learning.
As for his statement: "Thereupon he asked:
'Is this your son?'"
meaning, the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked
Abu Rimthah, may Allah be pleased with him:
"Is this your son?"
And Abu Rimthah replied:
"Yes, I testify to it,"
meaning: "I formally acknowledge that
he is my son,"
stating this purely for emphasis.
And his saying, peace be upon him:
"He is not responsible for your crimes,
nor are you responsible for his crimes,"
means that if a offense is committed by him,
an offense,
then the burden of his offense falls only upon himself;
and if an offense is committed by you,
then the burden of your offense falls only upon you,
and no bearer of burdens
shall bear the burden of another.
In this is the eradication of a custom
that was prevalent during the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah),
which was tribal blood vengeance.
For whenever a son
killed a person from another tribe,
they would retaliate by killing his father,
his brother, or a group
of his relatives.
Thus the Prophet, peace be upon him, abolished
that custom.
As for his statement: "And I saw
his gray hair dyed red,"
this indicates that the gray hair
which was in his hair
was very little,
and that the redness observed in it
was the result of hair dye.
And on the authority of 'Uthman ibn Mawhab,
who said that
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked:
"Did the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, dye his hair?"
He replied: "Yes."
And in another narration he said:
"I entered upon Umm Salamah,
may Allah be pleased with her,
and she brought out to us some hair
from the hair of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
which had been dyed."
And on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him,
who said:
"I saw the hair of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
dyed."
And on the authority of 'Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Aqil,
who said:
"I saw the hair of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
in the possession of Anas
ibn Malik, and it was dyed."
In these
hadiths lies the affirmation
of hair dye for the Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him.
The summary of the scholarly discussion concerning this,
as an-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
"Al-Qadi said:
'The scholars differed as to
whether the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, dyed his hair
or not.
The majority denied it, relying on the hadith
of Anas, and this is the school of Malik.
Yet some of the hadith scholars stated
that the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did dye his hair,
due to the hadith of Umm Salamah
and the hadith of Ibn 'Umar,
stating that he saw the Prophet, peace be upon him,
dyeing with yellow.'"
He said:
"'And some scholars reconciled between
these hadiths by referring to what was alluded to
regarding the hadith of Umm Salamah
from the statement of Anas,
wherein he said: "I do not know concerning
what they narrate,
except that it might have been caused
by the perfume with which he used to scent
his hair,"
because he, peace be upon him,
would use perfume frequently,
and it naturally fades the blackness
of hair.
Thus Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, indicated
that this change in color
was not due to dyeing,
but rather to the weakening of the dark pigment
caused by the perfume.'
He said:
'It is also possible that those strands of hair
changed after his demise
due to Umm Salamah's frequent perfuming of them
out of veneration.'"
This marks the end of al-Qadi's words.
"And the preferred view
is that he, peace be upon him,
dyed his hair on occasion
and omitted it for the majority of the time.
Hence, each narrator reported
what he personally witnessed, and each was truthful.
And this reconciliation is the designated sound approach."
And al-Hafiz,
may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
"The essence of at-Tabari's reconciliation
is that whoever affirmed definitively
that he dyed his hair—
as is apparent from the hadith of Umm Salamah
and as is in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar,
that he, peace be upon him,
dyed with yellow—
merely related what he personally observed,
and that was indeed on some occasions.
Whereas whoever negated it,
such as Anas,
this is understood as referring to the most frequent
and predominant of his states."
To be continued, if Allah wills.
And Allah knows best.
And may the peace and blessings of Allah be
upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon his family and companions
all together.