Why did they pay attention to the Sunnah of dyeing hair to the extent that they mentioned it in the biographies of narrators, such as so-and-so used to dye his hair and so-and-so did not?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, may Allah reward you, on the occasion of the dyeing of hair that we saw tonight, this also reminded me, and some of the brothers reminded me of a phrase often said in the biographies of narrators: "So-and-so used to dye his hair" and "So-and-so did not dye his hair." Why did they pay attention to this Sunnah to the extent that they mentioned it in the biographies of narrators? Did they intend to distinguish between the people of the Sunnah and others, or why is this, despite it having no precise connection to accuracy or precision?

The Shaykh : No, they intended to distinguish between those who hold fast to the Sunnah and those who do not hold fast to it.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, they say this about great imams!

The questioner : I know, but is there anyone who asks whether the great imams are infallible or not infallible?

The questioner : No, I mean...

The Shaykh : Did they encompass the Sunnah in knowledge, or did they not encompass it in knowledge?

The questioner : I know.

The Shaykh : I know that you know, but perhaps others do not know. If we cannot say that every imam among the imams of the Muslims encompassed the Sunnah in knowledge, then we know that not every imam encompassed all the Sunnahs in practice. Or when they biographize, as they sometimes say, the defects, when they say, for example, "So-and-so was a memorizer," for instance, and so on, he used to take a wage and did not present a hadith except for a dirham, for example. Why do they mention this? It is necessary to clarify what is in his favor and what is against him. For example, so-and-so was of a difficult temperament and severe in nature, and so on. This may be considered backbiting in principle, but as that poet and jurist said:
The Shaykh: "Criticism is not backbiting in six cases: *** The aggrieved, the one who informs, and the one who warns,
The Shaykh: And the one who openly commits open sinfulness, and the one who seeks a ruling, *** And the one who seeks assistance in removing a wrong." These biographers, like al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi and al-'Asqalani and others, they want the generation following those imams to know what was in them of good moral qualities so that they may follow them, and conversely, they warn them against the opposite. If the matter is as you asked earlier, that they indeed mentioned after the virtues of the biographed person that he used to dye his hair, or that so-and-so did not dye his hair, then this is not from the category of clarifying the Sunnah and religious innovation, or the one who holds fast to the Sunnah or the innovator. Rather, it is about the one who practiced the Sunnah and cared for it practically, and the one who did not practice it. In addition, there is something else; I think some of these biographers held the view mentioned by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, as I think, in Fath al-Bari, regarding Imam Ahmad, that he mentioned regarding dyeing hair that he feared it might be obligatory, he feared it might be obligatory and not merely a recommended practice.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And this is because of the convergence of hadiths, as is not hidden from you, in which there is a command to dye the hair, and especially such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) Here there is a command and a prohibition, so Imam Ahmad’s view that he feared it might be obligatory is at the height of strength and validity, and perhaps he was certain of its obligatoriness, because as we are on the same path, it had not reached him from the Salaf anyone who was more eloquent and explicit that it is obligatory, otherwise we would hold fast to it. So the matter has importance, and therefore they would mention that so-and-so used to dye his hair and so-and-so did not dye his hair. This is what I have.

Another questioner : Our Shaykh, perhaps for this reason, combining your words, may Allah preserve you, and the words of our brother Abu al-Hasan, Imam Ahmad mentioned in the first part of al-'Ilal a specific chapter, saying: "Chapter on the mention of those who used to dye their hair among the hadith scholars."

The Shaykh : Fine.

Another questioner : Yes, and he listed them in a list, glory be to Allah, I mean.

The Shaykh : In any case, as we have been doing, if you have something to benefit us with, we are in need of it.

The questioner : I was the one who came to mind before, but what troubled me about that was that some did not dye their hair, and that they intended to distinguish between the people of the Sunnah and what is known of the Shi'ah, that they do not dye their hair. Ah, I came across a statement, I do not remember its place now, that they did not dye their hair, they acknowledged the Sunnah of dyeing hair, so the biographers needed to mention that the scholars of the Sunnah used to dye their hair, but what troubles me is that we also read about those who did not dye their hair.

The Shaykh : This is the reality, meaning those attributed with not dyeing their hair from the great imams.

The questioner : Yes, indeed.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: All right.