Is it true that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to let his hair grow and not shave it because of his heavy preoccupation?

The questioner : Perhaps I forgot to mention that when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) let his hair grow, it was at a time when he was not free, but busy with jihad or with...

The Shaykh : No, no, absolutely not. I do not think you are mistaken.

The questioner : Perhaps.

The Shaykh : Absolutely not. The Messenger (peace be upon him)—here, I have brought you a hadith: Meaning, if it is permissible for us to interpret the action of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when he let his hair grow because he was not free, then what do we do with his saying: ? This is an explicit verbal statement from him to all people that you have the choice: shave it, shave it, or let it grow, let it grow. And what is more, you are reminding me of this saying: braids. I want to tell you, do you think that if one of you women leaves her hair hanging down like this, it is more free and more at ease for her, or does she sit wasting her time braiding her hair? I see my wife when she comes, she combs my daughter’s hair and sits braiding it for her. How much time does that take? Even though this is easier, whereas when a woman wants to braid her hair with her own hands, it is much harder. So which is closer to being free: braiding the hair or leaving it as it is?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that it is more free to leave the hair as it is. So why braid it? Is he free or not free? He is free. So the issue has nothing to do with whether he is free or not free. Rather, this is a customary sunnah. This is a point we must understand. The sunnahs are divided into two categories: sunnahs of worship and sunnahs of custom. Sunnahs of worship and sunnahs of custom. Meaning, not everything the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did is recommended for us to do, unless it is from the sunnahs of worship. For example, the sunnahs of worship are not unknown to anyone: the night prayer while people are sleeping, the Dhuha prayer, for example, and the known voluntary prayers, fasting, standing in prayer, and so on. But it is established in the Sunnah, as I mentioned earlier, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) sometimes let his hair grow long, and sometimes he would braid this long hair. No scholar says that it is from the sunnahs of worship for a knowledgeable, virtuous man to let his hair grow long. And no one says that if he lets his hair grow long sometimes and makes braids and locks, that this is a sunnah. Why? Because this is a sunnah of custom, not a sunnah of worship. How did we know this? We know it from many things, among which is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was of Arab origin, and the society in which he was born and lived was also Arab. And it was the custom of the Arabs before the birth of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), let alone before his mission, that they let their hair grow long and braided it. Even today, some Bedouins exist. I even saw some young men in the Hasakah prison, some young Bedouins, with braids like this, small, about this size, let them grow. Meaning that this custom is still inherited to this day. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), by virtue of the custom of the land in which he lived, let his hair grow long and sometimes made locks and braids from it. This is a sunnah of custom. Another example: the shirt of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) reached to the middle of the thighs. Our shirts now, if they are long, reach approximately to the waist. No one says that this is contrary to the sunnah. And if we take the shirt to the knees, no one says that this is contrary to the sunnah, because it is a sunnah of custom, not a sunnah of worship. Stranger than this, Anas ibn Malik said, as in "Sahih al-Bukhari": The "qibal" are the straps, meaning what we call today... the big toe has a compartment, and the four fingers have a wide compartment... in our country. This is the sandal of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Do you think that if we wear shoes, boots, or sandals and do not wear this... we would be contrary to the sunnah? No, this is from the sunnahs of custom. So letting the hair grow is a sunnah of custom; whoever wishes may do it, and whoever wishes may leave it. As for letting the beard grow, it is an obligatory fard, because the Messenger commanded it and forbade men imitating women and women imitating men, and so on. We will suffice with this amount.