with henna and katam as noted earlier; following that practice is obligatory because it conforms to the Sunnah, unlike the conduct of the Companions to whom the author alludes—especially since, as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) has shown, the reports about some of them are themselves open to question.

For this reason al-Nawawī said in al-Majmūʿ 1/294:

“Scholars are unanimously agreed that dyeing the hair or beard black is censured. The phrasing of our jurists suggests it is merely mildly disliked, but the sound—indeed the correct—view is that it is forbidden. Among those who stated its prohibition explicitly is the author of al-Ḥāwī. Al-Nawawī said: The proof of its prohibition is the ḥadīth of Jābir….”

He then quoted that ḥadīth later in the book with the wording: “and keep him away from black dye.”

Yet the author—may Allah pardon us and him—re-interpreted the text in a manner that nullifies its import, and a rebuttal of his reading will follow shortly, Allah willing.

He says: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ (Ibn Ḥajar) related in Fatḥ that Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhri said: ‘We used to dye with black when the face was still firm; but when the face became gaunt and the teeth fell out, we abandoned it.’”

I reply: Even were the chain back to al-Zuhri sound, the report carries no weight, for it is maqṭūʿ—halted at him. And had he raised it to the Prophet, it would still not serve as evidence, for it would then be mursal. How astonishing that the author would seize upon such a report to invalidate the force of the ḥadīth of Jābir that will appear next, Allah willing, along with its answer.

Shaykh Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, in his book al-Ḥalāl wa-l-Ḥarām, makes plain why he cites this narration: he employs it to argue that the Prophet’s command “and keep him away from black dye” is restricted to an elderly man whose head and beard are entirely white. I have already refuted him in Ghāyat al-Marām, pp. 83–84; whoever wishes may consult it.