What is the ruling on a woman shortening her hair to the shoulders?
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The questioner : O Shaykh, one of the brothers told me over the phone that you do not permit a woman to shorten her hair below the shoulders.
The Shaykh : Below what?
The questioner : Below the shoulders.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : And I heard, may Allah preserve you, O Shaykh, in *Nur 'ala al-Dirb* a fatwa from you in which you permitted that, and you cited two pieces of evidence: the first is what is reported regarding the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in *Sahih Muslim* So I went back to *Lisan al-Mizan* and others and found that *al-wafrah* extends to the earlobe, and they distinguish between *al-wafrah*, *al-jummah*, and *al-lammah*. What is the difference between these?
The Shaykh : The difference is that every new occurrence has its own ruling. Men nowadays have started, many of them, to shave their heads down to the shoulder or slightly above. In that case, the woman falls into what is permissible for her, but she falls into imitating men, and imitating men is forbidden. Do you understand? However, some scholars forbid a woman from cutting any of her head hair whatsoever, except in Hajj and 'Umrah. They answer regarding the action of the Mothers of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with them) by saying that they did so to show that they were no longer suitable for marriage after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because the abundance, fullness, and length of hair are among the things considered beauty for a woman. But in any case, this reasoning is questionable, and the closer view is that it is permissible for her as long as her cutting it is not in a manner resembling the women of the disbelievers or resembling the heads of men. Yes.
The Shaykh : Below what?
The questioner : Below the shoulders.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : And I heard, may Allah preserve you, O Shaykh, in *Nur 'ala al-Dirb* a fatwa from you in which you permitted that, and you cited two pieces of evidence: the first is what is reported regarding the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in *Sahih Muslim*
That they, after the death of the Prophet, shortened their hair until it was like *al-wafrah*.
أنهن بعد وفاة النبي قصرن شعورهن حتى كن كالوفرةThe Shaykh : The difference is that every new occurrence has its own ruling. Men nowadays have started, many of them, to shave their heads down to the shoulder or slightly above. In that case, the woman falls into what is permissible for her, but she falls into imitating men, and imitating men is forbidden. Do you understand? However, some scholars forbid a woman from cutting any of her head hair whatsoever, except in Hajj and 'Umrah. They answer regarding the action of the Mothers of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with them) by saying that they did so to show that they were no longer suitable for marriage after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because the abundance, fullness, and length of hair are among the things considered beauty for a woman. But in any case, this reasoning is questionable, and the closer view is that it is permissible for her as long as her cutting it is not in a manner resembling the women of the disbelievers or resembling the heads of men. Yes.