the glans already protruding and plainly visible from birth—we have witnessed this ourselves. Such a child is not circumcised, for nothing remains to be removed.

As for the other four acts—shaving the pubic region (istihdad), trimming the moustache, clipping the nails, and plucking the armpits—they may not be neglected for more than forty days, because the Prophet ﷺ fixed this upper limit for his ummah. Consequently, they have a definite time-frame that must not be exceeded.

The best way to keep within the forty days is to set a specific date; for instance, you might say, “On the first Friday of every month I will attend to these matters,” so that you do not forget. A person can indeed forget, and forty—perhaps even fifty—days may pass unnoticed. If you designate a fixed time, such as the first Friday of each month, to remove these four things, you will know exactly when they are due. This scheduling, however, is not itself a sunnah; it is merely a practical aid to fulfilling the sunnah, which is not to leave them for more than forty days.

One must not shave the moustache off with a razor. Imam Malik—may Allah have mercy on him—even said, “I hold that anyone who shaves his moustache should be disciplined, for it disfigures one’s appearance and contravenes the sunnah. The sunnah is to trim it closely or cut it short.”

With respect to the armpits, the basic rule is plucking. If plucking proves too difficult for someone, there is no harm in using depilatory oils or similar products.

1204 – ʿAʾisha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Ten practices belong to the fiṭrah: trimming the moustache, allowing the beard to grow, using the siwak, drawing water into the nose, and trimming….”