The evidence for this is the Prophet’s statement: “When the ten days begin, and one of you intends to offer a sacrifice, let him not take anything from his hair, skin, or nails.” (1) The basic implication of a prohibition is that it is forbidden.

The wisdom behind this is that, out of His mercy, Allah has singled out the pilgrims for the sacrificial offering and has prescribed for the rites of Hajj certain restrictions and prohibitions. When a person refrains from these prohibited matters for Allah’s sake, he is rewarded. As for those who are not in the state of consecration for Hajj or ‘Umrah, He has prescribed the sacrifice for them in place of the sacrificial offering, and has prescribed that they refrain from removing any hair, nails, or skin, because one in the state of consecration does not remove anything from his hair—that is, he does not indulge in personal grooming. Thus, they too are like him in this respect. This is part of Allah’s justice and wisdom. Similarly, the caller to prayer is rewarded for giving the call, while one who is not the caller is rewarded for repeating after him; therefore, he has been prescribed to follow along.

His statement, “It is forbidden,” represents one of the two opinions on the matter.

The second opinion is that it is disliked, but not forbidden.

However, the view that it is forbidden appears closer to what is correct, because that is the basic implication of a prohibition—especially in matters that evidently involve worship—and because the Prophet emphasized the prohibition by saying, “let him not take”; the final nun here is for emphasis.

His statement, “for the one who offers a sacrifice,” indicates that there is no blame upon the one on whose behalf the sacrifice is offered if he removes any of these things. The evidence for this is as follows:

First: this is the apparent meaning of the hadith: namely, that the prohibition is exclusive