for the circling birds, let the livestock roam free, and make amulets beneficial!”

The commentator on Dala’il interprets “amulets” as “the plural of an amulet, namely a piece of paper upon which some names or verses are written and which is hung, for example, from the head to seek blessing.” This is untenable, for when the term “amulets” is used without qualification, it refers only to the beads mentioned earlier from Ibn al-Athir. Moreover, even if this interpretation were conceded, there is no evidence in the Sharia that an amulet in this sense is beneficial. This is why some of the early righteous predecessors regarded it as disliked, as I explained in my annotations to al-Kalim al-Tayyib (pp. 44–45, al-Maktab al-Islami edition).

493 — “Could this man not find something with which to smooth his hair?! And when he saw another man wearing dirty clothes, he said: Could this man not find water with which to wash his garment?!”

It was narrated by Abu Dawud (no. 4062), al-Nasa’i (2/292), who recorded only its first half, Ahmad (3/357), Duhaym in al-Amali (25/2), Abu Ya‘la in his Musnad (fol. 114/1), Ibn Hibban (1438), al-Hakim (4/186), and Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilyah (6/78), through al-Awza‘i, from Hassan ibn ‘Atiyyah, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came to visit us in our home and saw a man with dishevelled, unkempt hair, so he said ...” Then he mentioned it.

The wording is that of Abu Dawud, while the addition is from Ahmad.

I say: This is an authentic chain meeting the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim, as al-Hakim stated, and al-Dhahabi concurred with him.

Al-Ghazali cited the hadith in Ihya’ (1/122) with the wording:

“A man with unkempt hair and a dishevelled beard came before him, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said: Could this man not find oil with which to smooth his hair?! Then he said: Does one of you enter looking like a devil?!”