Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (4/174)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

and the ʿumrah.

Shaving is superior to trimming for men, and this is unanimously agreed upon—unless the pilgrim is performing tamattuʿ and there is not enough time for his hair to grow back before Ḥajj, in which case trimming is preferable. It is also unanimously agreed that, for women, trimming is prescribed while shaving is forbidden.
Shaving or trimming is a rite (nusuk); this is the position of the three imams—Abu Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and Aḥmad. A rite is an act of worship for which one is rewarded when he performs it and liable for punishment if he deliberately abandons it. The Exalted says, “You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, in security, with your heads shaved or hair cut short” (al-Fath 48:27). He thus described them and bestowed His favor on them for doing so, which shows that it is an act of devotion. Moreover, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for those who shaved and those who trimmed and ranked them, and had it not been a rite they would not have merited his supplication.

Al-Mughnī states: “Shaving and trimming are rites according to the apparent view of Aḥmad, and this is also the opinion of Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfah, and al-Shāfiʿī.”

There is, however, another report from Aḥmad that they are not rites but merely the lifting of a prohibition that was in force during iḥrām, like ordinary clothing, perfume, and the other prohibitions of iḥrām. According to this narration, whoever omits them incurs no penalty and his release from iḥrām is still valid. The first narration is the sounder one.

The hadith clearly indicates that shaving or trimming must cover the entire head. This is what the Qur’an and Sunnah show—both the Prophet’s words and his practice—and it is a point of consensus. The only disagreement concerns the minimum that suffices, and the correct view is that nothing suffices except the whole head; this is the view of Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and Aḥmad.

Ibn al-Humām said, “The evidence concerning shaving implies that encompassing the whole head is obligatory.”

Al-Nawawī transmitted consensus that the entire head is to be shaved; by consensus he meant the Companions and the early generations.

والعمرة. ٣ - فضل الحلق على التقصير في حق الرجال، وهو مُجمع عليه، ما لم يكن الحاج متمتعًا، وضاق الوقت عن نبات الشعر للحج، فيكون التقصير أولى، كما أنَّ المُجمع عليه للنساء التقصير لا الحلق، فإنَّه محرَّم. ٤ - الحلق أو التقصير نسك، وهو مذهب الأئمة الثلاثة: أبي حنيفة ومالك وأحمد، والنسك عبادة يثاب على فعلها، ويعاقب على تركها، قال تعالى: ﴿لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ آمِنِينَ مُحَلِّقِينَ رُءُوسَكُمْ وَمُقَصِّرِينَ﴾ [الفتح: ٢٧] فوصفهم ومنَّ عليهم بذلك، فدلَّ على أنَّه عبادة، ولأنَّه ﷺ دعا للمحلقين والمقصرين، وفاضَلَ بينهم، فلولا أنَّه نسكٌ لما استحقوا لأجله الدعاء منه لهم. قال في المغني: والحلق والتقصير نسك، في ظاهر مذهب أحمد، وهو قول مالك وأبي حنيفة والشافعي. وعن أحمد أنَّه ليس بنسك، وإنما هو إطلاق من محظور، كان محرَّمًا عليه بالإحرام فأُطلق فيه عند التحلل، كاللباس والطيب وسائر محظورات الإحرام، فعلى هذه الرواية لا شيء على تاركه، ويحصل الحل بدونه، والرواية الأولى أصح. ٥ - المفهوم من الحديث هو أنَّ الحلق أو التقصير لعموم الرأس، وهو الذي يدل عليه الكتاب والسنة، من قوله ﷺ وفعله، وهو ما أجمع عليه، وإنما الخلاف في أقل المجزيء منه، والصحيح أنَّه لا يجزيء إلاَّ كله، وهو مذهب أبي حنيفة ومالك وأحمد. قال ابن الهمام: مقتضى الدليل في الحلق وجوب استيعابه. وحكى النووي الإجماع على حلق الجميع، والمراد بالإجماع الصحابة والسلف.