1203 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The natural disposition (fiṭrah) comprises five— or he said, five are of the fiṭrah: circumcision, istihdād (shaving the pubic region), trimming the nails, plucking the under-arm hair, and shortening the mustache.” Agreed upon.

Istihdād means shaving the pubic hair, that is, the hair surrounding the private parts.

1204 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Ten practices belong to the fiṭrah: shortening the mustache, letting the beard grow, using the siwak, drawing water into the nose, trimming the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the under-arm hair, shaving the pubic region, and cleansing oneself with water.” The narrator added, “I have forgotten the tenth, unless it was rinsing the mouth.” Wakīʿ—one of the transmitters—said that “cleansing oneself with water” means istinjāʾ (washing the private parts after relieving oneself). Related by Muslim.

The word barājim—spelled with bāʾ and jīm—refers to the creases at the joints of the fingers. “Letting the beard grow” means not cutting anything from it.

1205 – Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Clip the mustaches closely and let the beards grow.” Agreed upon.

[Commentary]
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) brings these hadiths on the traits of the fiṭrah in the chapter dealing with the virtue of the siwak and the acts of the natural disposition.

The fiṭrah is the innate nature upon which people were created to recognize these practices as wholesome; what is meant is the sound, uncorrupted disposition, for deviant natures carry no weight. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Every newborn is born upon the fiṭrah; then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian.”

Among the reports cited is the narration of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “The fiṭrah is five,” while another wording reads, “Five are of the fiṭrah.” According to the first wording, the meaning is that the fiṭrah consists exclusively of those five. According to the second, those five are part of the fiṭrah and there are additional practices besides them—and this second wording is closer to reality, for other traits of the fiṭrah exist beyond the five mentioned in Abu Hurayrah’s narration.