those who repent.
This is an innovation that neither Allah nor His Messenger commanded. None of the imams of the religion considers it obligatory or recommended. Nor was it practised by any of the Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, or the Muslim shaykhs renowned for asceticism and worship—whether among the Companions, the Successors, their successors, or those who came after them, such as al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyād, Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī, Maʿrūf al-Karkhī, Ahmad ibn Abī al-Hawārī, al-Sarī al-Saqatī, al-Junayd ibn Muhammad, Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Tustarī, and others like them. These men did not cut anyone’s hair when he repented, nor did they instruct a penitent to shave his head.
All the inhabitants of the earth embraced Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—yet he did not instruct them to shave their heads upon embracing Islam, nor did the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—cut anyone’s hair. Nor did he pray on a prayer rug. Rather, he led all the Muslims in prayer, praying on the same surfaces as they did and sitting on the same surfaces as they did. Nothing he sat on distinguished him from them, whether a rug or anything else. He would, however, sometimes prostrate on a small mat woven from palm leaves, because the mosque had no floor covering; they prayed on sand and pebbles. Most of the time, he prostrated directly on the ground, so that mud could be seen on his forehead—may Allah bless him and his family and grant him abundant peace.
Whoever regards innovations that are neither obligatory nor recommended as acts of devotion and obedience