Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-87a

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted in the context of the hadiths in “The chapter on the prohibition of imitating Satan and the disbelievers, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said

The Jews and the Christians do not dye (their hair), so differ from them.

إن اليهود والنصارى لا يصبغون فخالفوهم

Sunan Ibn Majah 3621Sahih (Darussalam)

agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. The chapter on the prohibition of a man and a woman dyeing their hair black, from Ibn Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: Abu Quhafah, the father of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with them both), was brought on the day of the Conquest of Makkah, and his head and beard were as white as the thaghamah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said

Change it (i.e., dye it and avoid black colour).

غيروا هذا واجتنبوا السواد

Riyad as-Salihin 1637

Muslim narrated it”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book Riyad al-Salihin, in the chapter on a man imitating the disbelievers and Satan, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said meaning, dye it. This refers to dyeing the white hair. This is indicated by the hadith in the following chapter, where it was reported that Abu Quhafah, the father of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both), was brought, and his head and beard were as white as the thaghamah. The thaghamah is a type of white plant called al-'arifaj. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said This is evidence that it is better for a person to change his gray hair by dyeing it, but not with black. Rather, with yellow, such as henna, or with yellow mixed with kuthma. Kuthma is black, so when yellow is mixed with black, a brown color appears. So he dyes it brown, or with yellow, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commanded. If it were not for the hardship and burden on some people, they would do so. But there is consideration and caution, and he leaves the lower part of his hair white and the upper part dyed. In his saying is evidence that the black color is prohibited, because black means it makes a person look young, so it is as if there is opposition to the nature of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) and His Sunnah in His creation. As for the other dyes, there is no harm in them. There are now dyes with which a woman dyes her head in various colors, and there is no harm in them except black, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it. And if it is a dye specific to the women of the disbelievers, it is not permissible for the women of the believers to dye with it, because if they do so, they imitate the disbelievers, and that is prohibited. And success is from Allah.