Benefits of the Hadith: (… from Abu Hurayrah, narrating: “The fitrah is five, or five things of the fitrah: circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, plucking the armpit hair, trimming the nails, and cutting the mustache”)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : As for the marfu' hadiths in this matter, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that these five are from the fitrah. The fitrah is the thing upon which a human is created, and it is of two types: a fitrah that necessitates the purity of the inner self, and a fitrah that necessitates the purity of the outer appearance. Both are what sound human nature calls for.
As for the first fitrah, which necessitates the purity of the inner self, it is the human fitrah for the oneness of Allah. Among its indications is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 1385 meaning the knowledge of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His magnification, Sahih al-Bukhari 1385.
And this fitrah is general in everything of the living beings, whether the children of Adam, Ahmad? Are you with us?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Whether the children of Adam or others, even the created beings are created upon the knowledge of Allah, His worship, and His magnification. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Hajj 22:18].
As for the other fitrah, which necessitates the purity of the outer appearance, and it is the physical one, it is these five: circumcision. Circumcision is for the male and for the female.
Circumcision for the male is removing the foreskin, which is the skin above the glans. In it is the perfection of purity, and in it is also safety from what may occur of urinary retention in it. The correct view is that it is obligatory. The correct view regarding male circumcision is that it is obligatory because it purifies this place from the retention of urine in it.
As for the woman, it is removing the skin above the place of penetration. In removing it is a benefit, which is reducing the woman's desire, meaning the intensity of her lust, meaning that her lust is controlled and she does not have that strength that may lead her to evil and lewdness.
The scholars differed on the obligation of her circumcision, meaning the woman's. Some of them made it obligatory, and this is the famous view in the school of Imam Ahmad. Some of them said it is a recommended practice, and this is the closer view. Our Shaykh, Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him), used to hold in the beginning of his request that the circumcision of the woman, the female circumcision, is obligatory. And indeed, he circumcised one of his daughters. But after that, he held that it is recommended. This is the circumcision.
As for the second, he said: shaving the pubic hair. Shaving the pubic hair is shaving the pubic region, and it is called shaving the pubic hair because it is removed with iron, the razor. In it is a benefit for the bladder and a benefit for what surrounds it, and a benefit for not being soiled by urine.
Allah is the Greatest, praised be He who kept His promise…
The apparent meaning of the hadith is that there is no difference between men and women in that what is prescribed for the pubic region is shaving the pubic hair.
As for the third, it is plucking the armpit hair. Plucking the armpit hair is a recommended practice from the fitrah. This is because hair grows in the armpits, and this hair collects dirt. And when it is in the days of summer and this dirt is moistened by sweat, it becomes a foul smell that is harmful to the person and harmful to those around him.
And his saying: “plucking the armpit hair,” he specified it with plucking because plucking is closer to weakening the roots of the hair, so it becomes lighter little by little until it is lost in the end. But some people say, “I cannot pluck it. Is it permissible for me to remove it by another way?”
The answer is yes. Removing it by another way is better than not removing it, but one should use something other than shaving, because shaving strengthens the roots of the hair and increases its thickness. And here, meaning in the recent era, many medicines have been found that are used to remove this hair. Yes.
Trimming the nails means removing them with the nail clipper, meaning with the nail file. Do you know the nail file? Are you there? A small knife with which the nail is trimmed, like this, as the pen is trimmed. This is in the original sense. So trimming the nails is from the fitrah because their remaining long brings dirt under them and makes the person resemble the beast, where the nails are long. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 5498. So the fitrah is the removal of the nails. And it is amazing that some of those who admire the disbelievers, especially among the women, take the nails and lengthen them. And if it is not possible, they buy artificial nails, yes, yes, and they put them on their hands to be like the disbelieving women. And glory be to Allah the Great, glory be to the Turner of hearts. How does a person find pleasant what is abhorrent in the fitrah, except that Satan throws into the hearts of some people who are weak in religion, he throws into their hearts the love of the disbelievers and the imitation of the disbelievers, and refuge is sought in Allah. And this has its danger Sunan Abi Dawud 4031Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani).
Okay, if someone says: Is removing them by other than the clipper permissible, and that is by the way of the nail nipper that nips them? We say it is permissible, and indeed it is easier. Yes, and it was also mentioned in the same hadith, cutting the nails with scissors. And I think it is easier than that, as I said a little while ago, is the nipping by nipping them with this… easier, is it not? Yes, indeed. So this is taken.
Cutting the mustache is also from the fitrah, and that, my intention is from the fitrah, and that is because in its cutting is the perfection of purity. So the mustache, as you know, if a person drinks, he must take in the hair of his mustache with his drink. And this hair is sometimes soiled with what is considered disgusting and ugly. So for this reason, the Shari'ah came with the request to cut the mustache. And if you reflect on these five that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made from the fitrah, you will know the magnitude of this Islamic religion, and praise be to Allah, and praise be to Allah who guided us to it. And we ask Allah to make us firm upon it. And it is a complete religion in every aspect.
It remains to be said: Do these things have a time? And the answer is yes. It has been established in the authentic hadith in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Anas that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set a time for them in four of them, which are those in which timing is possible, that they should not be left for more than forty days. And they are: shaving the pubic hair, plucking the armpit hair, trimming the nails, cutting the mustache. These should not be left for more than forty. Okay, and should they not be removed before the forty? Are you there?
The questioner : They are removed.
The Shaykh : They are removed, they are removed before the forty if they become many, they are removed. But the upper limit is forty days, so they should not be left for more than forty days. If someone says: They differ, people differ in them, and they also differ by the difference of time, so they may be more growth in the time of winter than in the time of summer? We say the reference in that is their length. When they become long, cut them, but do not delay beyond forty days. The scholars said, and it should not be trimmed, meaning the nails, in war and travel. Why? Because he needs to tie, untie the ropes, and these nails benefit him. If he trims them, he cannot do as he does when they have a root. And likewise, we say do not trim them in the days of winter, because if he trims them in the days of winter, they crack and he is harmed by them, he is in pain. But in the days of summer, the matter is easy. In the days of winter, it is not recommended to trim them, meaning the nails. Some ignorant people take only the thumb nail and make it long, they delay it for days and perhaps months? What do you say about this?
The questioner : Contrary…
The Shaykh : This is contrary to the Sunnah. This is contrary, yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The little finger, some?
The students: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: … the most…
The Shaykh : The little finger? In any case, all of this is wrong, all of this is from imitating the non-Muslims and from contradicting the fitrah. Yes.
The questioner : It remains…
The Shaykh : Yes? What? Yes, it remains. Yes.
As for the first fitrah, which necessitates the purity of the inner self, it is the human fitrah for the oneness of Allah. Among its indications is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Every child is born with a true faith of Islam
كل مولود يولد على الفطرةand his parents convert him to Judaism or Christianity or Magianism
فأبواه يهوّدانه أو ينصرانه أو يمجسانهAnd this fitrah is general in everything of the living beings, whether the children of Adam, Ahmad? Are you with us?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Whether the children of Adam or others, even the created beings are created upon the knowledge of Allah, His worship, and His magnification. Allah the Exalted said:
Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth and the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures and many of the people? But upon many the punishment has been justified
أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَسجُدُ لَهُ مَن فِي السَّماواتِ وَمَن فِي الأَرضِ وَالشَّمسُ وَالقَمَرُ وَالنُّجومُ وَالجِبالُ وَالشَّجَرُ وَالدَّوابُّ وَكَثيرٌ مِنَ النّاسِ وَكَثيرٌ حَقَّ عَلَيهِ العَذابُAs for the other fitrah, which necessitates the purity of the outer appearance, and it is the physical one, it is these five: circumcision. Circumcision is for the male and for the female.
Circumcision for the male is removing the foreskin, which is the skin above the glans. In it is the perfection of purity, and in it is also safety from what may occur of urinary retention in it. The correct view is that it is obligatory. The correct view regarding male circumcision is that it is obligatory because it purifies this place from the retention of urine in it.
As for the woman, it is removing the skin above the place of penetration. In removing it is a benefit, which is reducing the woman's desire, meaning the intensity of her lust, meaning that her lust is controlled and she does not have that strength that may lead her to evil and lewdness.
The scholars differed on the obligation of her circumcision, meaning the woman's. Some of them made it obligatory, and this is the famous view in the school of Imam Ahmad. Some of them said it is a recommended practice, and this is the closer view. Our Shaykh, Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him), used to hold in the beginning of his request that the circumcision of the woman, the female circumcision, is obligatory. And indeed, he circumcised one of his daughters. But after that, he held that it is recommended. This is the circumcision.
As for the second, he said: shaving the pubic hair. Shaving the pubic hair is shaving the pubic region, and it is called shaving the pubic hair because it is removed with iron, the razor. In it is a benefit for the bladder and a benefit for what surrounds it, and a benefit for not being soiled by urine.
Allah is the Greatest, praised be He who kept His promise…
The apparent meaning of the hadith is that there is no difference between men and women in that what is prescribed for the pubic region is shaving the pubic hair.
As for the third, it is plucking the armpit hair. Plucking the armpit hair is a recommended practice from the fitrah. This is because hair grows in the armpits, and this hair collects dirt. And when it is in the days of summer and this dirt is moistened by sweat, it becomes a foul smell that is harmful to the person and harmful to those around him.
And his saying: “plucking the armpit hair,” he specified it with plucking because plucking is closer to weakening the roots of the hair, so it becomes lighter little by little until it is lost in the end. But some people say, “I cannot pluck it. Is it permissible for me to remove it by another way?”
The answer is yes. Removing it by another way is better than not removing it, but one should use something other than shaving, because shaving strengthens the roots of the hair and increases its thickness. And here, meaning in the recent era, many medicines have been found that are used to remove this hair. Yes.
Trimming the nails means removing them with the nail clipper, meaning with the nail file. Do you know the nail file? Are you there? A small knife with which the nail is trimmed, like this, as the pen is trimmed. This is in the original sense. So trimming the nails is from the fitrah because their remaining long brings dirt under them and makes the person resemble the beast, where the nails are long. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
and the nail is the knife of Ethiopians.
أما الظفر فمدى الحبشةHe who copies any people is one of them.
من تشبه بقوم فهو منهمOkay, if someone says: Is removing them by other than the clipper permissible, and that is by the way of the nail nipper that nips them? We say it is permissible, and indeed it is easier. Yes, and it was also mentioned in the same hadith, cutting the nails with scissors. And I think it is easier than that, as I said a little while ago, is the nipping by nipping them with this… easier, is it not? Yes, indeed. So this is taken.
Cutting the mustache is also from the fitrah, and that, my intention is from the fitrah, and that is because in its cutting is the perfection of purity. So the mustache, as you know, if a person drinks, he must take in the hair of his mustache with his drink. And this hair is sometimes soiled with what is considered disgusting and ugly. So for this reason, the Shari'ah came with the request to cut the mustache. And if you reflect on these five that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made from the fitrah, you will know the magnitude of this Islamic religion, and praise be to Allah, and praise be to Allah who guided us to it. And we ask Allah to make us firm upon it. And it is a complete religion in every aspect.
It remains to be said: Do these things have a time? And the answer is yes. It has been established in the authentic hadith in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Anas that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set a time for them in four of them, which are those in which timing is possible, that they should not be left for more than forty days. And they are: shaving the pubic hair, plucking the armpit hair, trimming the nails, cutting the mustache. These should not be left for more than forty. Okay, and should they not be removed before the forty? Are you there?
The questioner : They are removed.
The Shaykh : They are removed, they are removed before the forty if they become many, they are removed. But the upper limit is forty days, so they should not be left for more than forty days. If someone says: They differ, people differ in them, and they also differ by the difference of time, so they may be more growth in the time of winter than in the time of summer? We say the reference in that is their length. When they become long, cut them, but do not delay beyond forty days. The scholars said, and it should not be trimmed, meaning the nails, in war and travel. Why? Because he needs to tie, untie the ropes, and these nails benefit him. If he trims them, he cannot do as he does when they have a root. And likewise, we say do not trim them in the days of winter, because if he trims them in the days of winter, they crack and he is harmed by them, he is in pain. But in the days of summer, the matter is easy. In the days of winter, it is not recommended to trim them, meaning the nails. Some ignorant people take only the thumb nail and make it long, they delay it for days and perhaps months? What do you say about this?
The questioner : Contrary…
The Shaykh : This is contrary to the Sunnah. This is contrary, yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The little finger, some?
The students: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: … the most…
The Shaykh : The little finger? In any case, all of this is wrong, all of this is from imitating the non-Muslims and from contradicting the fitrah. Yes.
The questioner : It remains…
The Shaykh : Yes? What? Yes, it remains. Yes.