Abu Dawud said:
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali narrated to us; Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us; al-Hajjaj ibn Hassan informed us, saying:
“We visited Anas ibn Malik, and my brother al-Mughīrah told me, ‘On that day you were a young boy with two sidelocks—two tufts of hair. Anas ran his hand over your head, invoked blessing upon you, and said, “Shave these two locks, or trim them, for this is the style of the Jews.”’”
Anas gave the reason for forbidding those sidelocks by noting that they are the distinctive appearance of the Jews. When a prohibition is tied to a specific cause, that cause itself is deemed objectionable and should be removed. Thus, adopting Jewish dress or appearance—even in one’s hairstyle—is something to be avoided, and that is the point being made.
(1) Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hudhali al-Khallal al-Hulwani, Abu Ali, a long-time resident of Mecca. Ibn Hajar rates him “trustworthy, a ḥadith master, and an author; eleventh generation,” and his narrations appear in al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others. See: Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:168, no. 296 (Ḥ).
(2) Ḥajjaj ibn Ḥassan al-ʿAbsi al-Basri. Declared reliable by Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal and Ibn Maʿin; listed by Ibn Ḥibbān among al-Thiqat; and al-Nasāʾi said, “there is no problem with him.” He belongs to the fifth generation. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:152, no. 150 (Ḥ); Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 2:200, no. 371 (Ḥ).
(3) The word akhi (“my brother”) is omitted in MS D.
(4) All our manuscripts read as above, but the correct wording, following Sunan Abi Dawud, is: “as my sister al-Mughira told me”—one copy even has “al-Nughaira.” See Sunan Abi Dawud 4:412 (Daʿas ed.). Al-Mughira bint Ḥassan al-Tamimi is judged “acceptable” (maqbula) by Ibn Hajar; she is of the fifth generation, and her name is considered rare among women. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 2:614, no. 7 (section on women).
(5) MS A adds: “or shorten them both.”
(6) See Sunan Abi Dawud, “Book of Grooming,” chapter “Concessions,” ḥadith no. 4197 (4:412).
(7) From this point until the phrase “even with hair” (about one and a half lines) is absent in MS Ṭ.
(8) MS A reads: makrahan maṭlūban ʿadamuhā (“it is disliked and its absence is sought”).