He says: “As for the ḥadīth of Jābir: ‘Abū Quḥāfa, the father of Abū Bakr, was brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the day of the Conquest, and his head looked as white as thughāmah-blossom. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Take him to one of his womenfolk so that she may alter it with something, and keep him away from black.”’ It was transmitted by all the compilers except al-Bukhārī and al-Tirmidhī, yet it is merely a particular incident, and particular incidents do not carry a general ruling.”

I reply: I do not consider this ḥadīth to be one of those concrete incidents that yield no general legislation. Rather, it falls under the well-known jurisprudential question, “Does a command addressed to one individual apply to the entire ummah, or not?” As explained earlier in the Introduction, Principle 15, the correct view is that it does.

Thus, when al-Shawkānī in Nayl al-Awṭār 1/105 reported that some scholars restricted the ḥadīth to that single case, he commented: “That rests on the claim that a ruling for one person is not a ruling for the community—an issue over which the uṣūl scholars differ.” Elsewhere he adopted the position we have preferred, and I quoted his words there. Consequently, the scholars have consistently cited this ḥadīth as evidence that the ruling is not confined to Abū Quḥāfa. We have just relayed al-Nawawī’s statement to this effect, and Ibn Ḥajar says the same in Fatḥ al-Bārī 6/499 and 10/354; whoever wishes may consult them.

What precedes is further supported by several ḥadīths:

1 – Ibn ʿAbbās narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Toward the end of time there will be people who dye (their hair) with this black—like the crops of pigeons—and they will never smell the fragrance of Paradise.”

It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Aḥmad, and al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr with a sound chain. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in Fatḥ al-Bārī: “Ibn Ḥibbān declared it authentic, and its isnād is strong; the only difference is whether it is marfūʿ or mawqūf. Even if the latter is preferred, such a statement cannot be based on personal opinion, and therefore it carries the ruling of a marfūʿ report; for this reason al-Nawawī chose that…"