The criteria for determining whether something is an alteration of Allah’s (Exalted and Majestic is He) creation, and why dyeing hair before it turns white is considered an alteration of Allah’s creation in your view?

The questioner : O our Shaykh, what are the criteria for determining whether something is an alteration of Allah’s (Exalted and Majestic is He) creation or not, with evidence? And why is dyeing hair before it turns white considered an alteration of Allah’s creation in your view, while it is not so in the view of some others?

The Shaykh : The question is repeated among you and among some others, so the answer has already been given! As for why, or what is the criterion for what is permissible to alter and what is not permissible! I have mentioned this more than once. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), as He taught us in the Sunnah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate and say, among other things in his supplication: In this hadith, there is a peculiar type of jurisprudence, and perhaps I was inspired to mention it for the first time, as far as I remember from my scant memory. I say that this hadith clarifies that there are two matters in a human being: one in which he has no authority, and the other in which he has discretion and authority. The first matter is what Allah created: long, short, white, brown, black, and so on, male or female. This cannot be altered or changed because this is the creation of Allah. The other thing created in the human being is character; it can be adjusted, it can be changed, it can be improved, or it can be made ugly. Therefore, among his (peace be upon him) supplications was affirming the first type and asking for the improvement of the second type. He (peace be upon him) said: If the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is as He said: Then this creation is not permissible for the created beings to alter or change, whatever is of the creation of Allah, and not what has come upon the creation of Allah. So whatever is of the creation of Allah, it is not permissible to alter or change it except by the permission of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Of course, when we say "except by the permission of Allah," it implicitly includes, among the Muslims, what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) brought, because as He (the Exalted) said: If we know this reality, the rule is that what Allah created is beautiful, and it is not permissible to alter anything of the creation of Allah except by the permission of Allah and His Messenger. This is the criterion. You know, for example, his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: He mentioned from it cutting the moustache, he mentioned from it cutting the nails, he mentioned from it plucking the armpit hair, and he mentioned from it shaving the pubic hair. All of this is an alteration of the creation of Allah, because Allah mentioned that He created man and instilled in him these things. So if he is a man, he must have a moustache and a beard, and he is equal in all other characteristics. We submit to this alteration, and this is part of the trial mentioned in the Qur'an, by which Allah tried His intimate friend Ibrahim (peace be upon him).
So whatever is not excepted in the Shari'ah from alteration remains under the rule. Take it as a rule: it is not permissible to alter except by what the Shari'ah has permitted. As for hair, it is permissible to shave it off completely, and it is permissible to shorten it, and this is of the creation of Allah. But is it permissible for a woman to shave her hair like a man? The answer is no... Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic), following the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), distinguished in this aspect between the male and the female. For example, in Hajj, you know his (peace be upon him) saying: And they said, "And for those who shorten," he said: Do you see if this hadith includes women? The answer is no. And I think it is useful to mention that the verbal texts issued by him (peace and blessings be upon him) must be interpreted in light of the application of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his noble Companions of it in their time. We are here with this hadith, which is one of dozens of examples in what I am currently addressing. It is a general text: and so on. So in terms of its generality, it includes women as well. We asked earlier, the objector asked: Does the woman performing Hajj or 'Umrah shave her hair? The answer is no. Where did we take this negative answer from? From the application of the righteous Salaf of this hadith. And on this basis, many matters stand where there are general texts, but this general text in part of its parts was not applied in the first era, and it is not permissible for us to apply it in the later eras. So what was the question about white hair? The question was: Why is it not permissible to dye hair before it turns white? The answer is clear, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) varied the hair of men and women alike. So this one has black hair, and this one has light black, as they say today... and this one is blond, and this one might be vitiligo, and so on. So it is not permissible for us to change the color of this hair except by the permission of the Lawgiver. We return to the previous rule. And he (peace be upon him) said: And when Abu Quhafah, the father of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), came in the Battle of the Conquest, and his beard was white like cotton, and is "thughamah" with an open or closed hamza? With a closed hamza. His beard was like cotton, growing like cotton. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So this is how dyeing hair came about, only when white lines appear on it, at least. It is not necessary for it to turn completely white, but rather lines. And so the Messenger (peace be upon him) had white hair in the front of his beard, hairs that could be counted and enumerated. Nevertheless, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to dye his beard with henna and katam. And the practice proceeded from Abu Bakr and the rest of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). It was reported from some of them, and do not be deceived, that they used to dye with black. And these, in what we are certain of, their excuse is that the prohibition of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned earlier did not reach them. And it did not reach them either the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): So if you come across such narrations in some books, or hear something of them, and a view of some of the schools of jurisprudence is conveyed to you based on them, such as the saying in the Hanbali school that it is permissible to dye with black, then their excuse, meaning the earlier ones among them, is that the prohibition in the two hadiths mentioned earlier did not reach them. As for the later ones among them, in my belief, I consider it unlikely that they were unaware of these hadiths, but they are dominated by following a school of jurisprudence. And this is one of the defects of following a school of jurisprudence and turning away from adhering to what is the origin of the school, which is the Book and the Sunnah. Is there anything else there?

The questioner : Is dyeing hair obligatory?

The Shaykh : Obligatory, yes, but not always and forever. Perhaps you do like me sometimes.