in whiteness. He said, “Change this”—meaning the gray hair—“but avoid black.” Narrated by Muslim (p. 91).

Authentic. It was narrated by Muslim (6/155), as well as Abū Dāwūd (4204), al-Nasā’ī (2/278, 293), Ibn Mājah (3624), and Ahmad (3/316, 322, 338), through several chains from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir. Among those who narrated it from Abū al-Zubayr in Ahmad’s version was al-Layth ibn Sa’d, and al-Layth narrated from Abū al-Zubayr only what the latter had heard from Jābir, as mentioned in al-Tahdhīb and elsewhere.

It also has a corroborating report from Anas ibn Mālik, narrated by Ahmad (3/160) with an authentic chain meeting Muslim’s criteria. It is documented in al-Ahādīth al-Sahīha.

106 — (Al-Zuhrī said: “We used to dye our hair black while our faces were youthful, but when our faces and teeth began to show their age, we stopped doing so.” Narrated by Ibn Abī Āsim in Kitāb al-Khidāb, as stated in al-Fath (p. 80).) p. 91.

I say: This report terminates at al-Zuhrī and therefore cannot serve as evidence at all. The compiler—may Allah preserve him—cited it to support the claim that the command in the preceding hadith, “but avoid black,” applies specifically to an elderly man whose head and beard have turned entirely gray. Immediately afterward, he said:

“As for someone who is not in the same condition or of the same age as Abū Quhāfa, he incurs no sin if he dyes his hair black. It was in this regard that al-Zuhrī said...” He then quoted the report.

Besides being unfit as evidence for the reason already mentioned, it does not indicate the distinction adopted by the author, nor does it show that al-Zuhrī considered black dye forbidden for someone with gray hair. It is merely his report that he once did something and then ceased doing it; that does not indicate prohibition. Rather—