642 – Ibn ʿUmar reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “O Allah, have mercy on those who shave (their heads).” They asked, “And those who trim, O Messenger of Allah?” On the third time he added, “and those who trim.” Agreed upon. (1)
Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• “O Allah, have mercy on those who shave”: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr maintained that the Prophet said this at al-Ḥudaybiyyah. Al-Nawawī held that the famous view is that he said it during the Farewell Pilgrimage. Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ considered it likely that he said it on both occasions, and al-ʿAynī judged this reconciliation to be correct because it accommodates all the authentic reports.
• “O Allah, forgive those who shave”: the transmitter was unsure whether the supplication for the shavers was uttered twice or three times, and the narrations differ on that point.
• “Allāhumma”: here it functions as a vocative particle; the final mīm compensates for the particle of address, which is why one does not say “yā Allāhumma,” for the substitute and what it substitutes for are not combined.
• “Those who shave”: ḥalq is the complete removal of the hair of the head from the roots.
• “Those who trim”: taqsīr is to cut part of the hair without removing it entirely. The phrase “and those who trim” is an instructive prompt from the Companions, meaning: “Include the trimmers as well, O Messenger of Allah—say: ‘O Allah, have mercy on the shavers and the trimmers.’”
Points derived from the ḥadīth
- Shaving or trimming the hair is a prescribed rite of ḥajj and a distinctive act of worship.
- The stronger opinion is that shaving—or, in its place, trimming—is an obligatory component of the pilgrimage.