Question Summary:
What haircuts are permissible?

Question Detail:

I have a few questions. Firstly, is it permissible to cut your hair in different lengths (buzz cut or fohawks), or can you shave of your sideburns and make a style on your beard, not shave it off. I am asking this because when I was younger the barber used to shave my sideburns of while giving me a haircut, but I’m almost 16 now and my sideburns are huge and I have no beard…I look like a monkey… My dad said I can’t shave it off because its part of my beard and keeping a beard is [wājib?]

If you break something that is wājib, are you still a muslim and what is the punishment? Also, what is the amount you have to keep of the beard?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
There are two parts to your question. The first is to do with the hair of the head and the second is to do with the beard. They will be discussed separately.

Haircuts
It is permissible for a male to cut his hair. This is based on the fact that there are numerous narrations which mention that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the Sahabah radhiallahu anhum cut or shaved their hair. However, there are certain haircuts/ hairstyles that are impermissible.
 
Everyone is attracted to the latest fashion and style donned by celebrities, pop stars, sports stars and models. Everybody wants to be identified as a person who is in-sync with the times and in   co-ordination with the latest trend. This ranges from the clothes such people wear to the foods they eat; and the hairstyles they don.
 
Hairstyles play a major part in the way a person is perceived by society. Certain hairstyles display chivalry and boyishness, whereas other styles display that a person is a business man or a serious person. Certain hairstyles link a person to a certain group, clique or organization. Other people choose to style their hair to display their personality; be it daring, carefree, lazy, adventurous, free spirited etc.
 
Some of these hairstyles are as follows:
 
•Crew cut             
•Buzz cut             
•Dreadlocks         
•Fohawk              
•Mowhawk
•Flattop               
•Afro                   
•Spikes                 
•Mullet                 
•Pompadour
•Quiff                            
•Rattail                 
•Caesar cut           
•Cornrows            
•Shag
•Undercut            
•Curtains              
•Half ponytail       
•High top fade     
•Line up
•Tonsure              
•Waves                 
•Comb over         
•Emo hair            
•Bangs          
 
As Muslims we should protect our identity. Islam is our way of life in everything. It is not restricted to the masjid, the house or our workplace; it advises us on what we can wear and can’t wear, on what we can eat and can’t eat; likewise it has given us specific guidelines pertaining to our appearance.
 
Allah Ta῾ālā states in the Holy Quran:
 
قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ
(3/31)
 
“Say: (Oh Muhammad) If you love Allah then follow me and Allah will love you and He will forgive your sins.”
 
 
It was the noble habit of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam to keep long hair and it has also been proven that he shaved the hair of his mubaarak head.[i]
 
If one doesn’t want to keep long hair or a bald head, he may adopt the hairstyles of the pious people because Allah Ta῾ālā states in the Holy Quran:
 
وَاتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ مَنْ أَنَابَ إِلَيَّ
(31/15)
 
“And follow the way of those people who repent to me.”
 
Generally, there are two factors that render a haircut impermissible.
 
1.      قزع (Partially shaved) [ii]
2.      تشبه (Imitating non- Muslims)
 
Qaza’ is impermissible because of the following Hadīth:
 
·       عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ نَافِعٍ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ: نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنِ الْقَزَعِ . قَالَ: وَمَا الْقَزَعُ؟ قَالَ: أَنْ يُحْلَقَ مِنْ رَأْسِ الصَّبِيِّ مَكَانٌ وَيُتْرَكَ مَكَانٌ[iii]
 
Translation: Umar bin Nāfi’ that Nāfi’ narrates that Ibn Umar radhiallahu anhuma said: Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam prohibited us from Qaza’. Ibn Nāfi’ enquired: what is Qaza’? He replied: “To shave one part of a child’s head and leave the remaining part unshaven.”
 
Some of the haircuts mentioned above fall under the ambit of Qaza’ such as the: crew cut, flattop, rattail and mowhawk (when part of the head is shaved).
 
The second factor that renders a haircut impermissible is imitating non-muslims or fashioning ones hair according to the latest hairstyles. Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said:
 
عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ[iv]
 
If a person’s hair is uneven, it will be deemed impermissible if it resembles the fashion hairstyles of the non- believers[v] such as footballers, pop stars, actors etc. Haircuts and hairstyles such as a mowhawk, fohawk, marine cut, tram lines, box fade, quiff, pompadour, emo cut etc. will be impermissible.[vi]
 
If one is not sure as to whether keeping a certain hairstyle falls under the ambit of imitating the non- believers then he should abstain from it. Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam is reported to have said:
 
دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لاَ يَرِيبُكَ[vii]
 
“Leave that which puts you in doubt and implement that thing which does not put you in doubt.”
 
The Beard- its’ definition
 
 
The definition of the beard is as follows[viii]:
 
أَنَّ الْمُرَادَ بِاللِّحْيَةِ الشَّعْرُ النَّابِتُ عَلَى الْخَدَّيْنِ مِنْ عِذَارٍ وَعَارِضٍ وَالذَّقَنِ [ix]
 
“The following is meant by ‘lihya’: the hair that grows on the cheeks consisting of the sideburns (idhār), jawbone (āridh) and chin (dhaqn).”
 
عِذَارٍ: شعر الخدين من شحمة الاذنين الى منبت اللحية /القدر المياذي للاذن
 
“Idhār: The hair that grow on the cheeks; starting from the earlobe until the jawbone/ the area adjacent to the ears.”
 
عَارِضٍ: الشعر النابت على الخد و يمتد من اسفل العذار حتى يلاقي الشعر النابت على الذقن[x]
 
“Aaridh: The hair that grows on the cheek; it starts from the bottom of the idhār until the hair that grows on the chin.”