Sunan Ibn Majah
Chapters on Dress
كتاب اللباس
Chapter 35
مَنْ تَرَكَ الْخِضَابَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Walīd al-Kindī narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Ādam narrated to us, from Sharīk, from ʿUbayd Allāh, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah’s gray hairs numbered about twenty.
Chapter 36
اتِّخَاذِ الْجُمَّةِ وَالذَّوَائِبِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, who said: Umm Hāniʾ said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered Makkah with four locks of hair—that is, braids.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
تَعْنِي ضَفَائِرَ .
The narrator clarifies ghadāʾir as ḍafāʾir (braids); the translation preserves this clarification.
Does ‘locks of hair—that is, braids’ retain both the initial term and its gloss?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Ādam narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The People of the Book used to let their hair hang down, while the polytheists used to part their hair. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, liked to conform to the People of the Book. So the Messenger of Allah let his forelock hang down, then later parted his hair.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report contrasts letting the hair hang down with parting it, then describes the Prophet first letting his forelock hang and later parting his hair.
قَالَ فَسَدَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ نَاصِيَتَهُ ثُمَّ فَرَقَ بَعْدُ .
The report says he let his forelock hang, then later parted his hair, without giving dates or further context for the change.
Does ‘then later parted his hair’ preserve the sequence without adding a specific time?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd, from Ibn Isḥāq, from Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: I used to part the Messenger of Allah’s hair behind his crown, then let his forelock hang down.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Yāfūkh denotes the crown or upper back part of the head; the translation preserves the location indicated for the parting.
قَالَتْ كُنْتُ أَفْرِقُ خَلْفَ يَافُوخِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ثُمَّ أَسْدِلُ نَاصِيَتَهُ .
Yāfūkh refers to the crown or upper rear of the head, and the Arabic describes the parting as behind that area before letting the forelock hang.
Does ‘part … behind his crown’ convey the location without specifying a more detailed hairstyle?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim informed us, from Qatādah, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah’s hair was wavy and fell between his ears and his shoulders.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Rajil describes the hair’s texture as wavy or loosely curled; the report places its length between the ears and shoulders.
قَالَ كَانَ شَعَرُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ شَعَرًا رَجِلاً بَيْنَ أُذُنَيْهِ وَمَنْكِبَيْهِ.
Rajil is a descriptive hair-texture term commonly rendered wavy or loosely curled.
Does ‘wavy’ accurately convey rajilan while keeping the length description clear?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that ‘Aishah said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had hair shorter than al-jummah and longer than al-wafrah.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Al-jummah and al-wafrah are terms for lengths of hair; the wording places his hair between those two lengths.
قَالَتْ كَانَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ شَعَرٌ دُونَ الْجُمَّةِ وَفَوْقَ الْوَفْرَةِ.
The Arabic uses the named hair-length terms al-jummah and al-wafrah; their exact physical endpoints are not stated in this wording.
The witness renders these as ‘between his earlobes and his shoulders,’ which is an interpretive gloss rather than a literal rendering of the Arabic terms. Is that gloss intended to define the terms here?
Chapter 37
كَرَاهِيَةِ كَثْرَةِ الشَّعَرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Wa’il ibn Hujr said: ‘The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw me while I had long hair and said, “A fly, a fly!” I went away and cut it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw me and said, “I did not mean you; this is better.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The repeated word dhubāb literally means ‘fly’; the English witness gives the idiomatic rendering ‘Bad news, bad news.’ The pronoun in ‘I cut it’ refers to the hair.
قَالَ رَآنِيَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وَلِي شَعَرٌ طَوِيلٌ فَقَالَ " ذُبَابٌ ذُبَابٌ " .
The Arabic repeats dhubāb (‘fly’), while the English witness interprets it as ‘Bad news.’
Is ‘Bad news’ an idiomatic explanation of the expression intended here?
Chapter 38
النَّهْىِ عَنِ الْقَزَعِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and ‘Ali ibn Muhammad said: Abu Usamah narrated to us, from ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar, from ‘Umar ibn Nafi‘, from Nafi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade qaza‘.’ He was asked, ‘What is qaza‘?’ He replied, ‘It is shaving one part of a child’s head and leaving another part.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Qaza‘ is the practice of shaving some parts of the head while leaving other parts unshaven.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade qaza‘.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Qaza‘ is shaving some parts of the head while leaving other parts unshaven.
Chapter 39
نَقْشِ الْخَاتَمِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took a silver ring and had “Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah” engraved on it. Then he said, “No one should engrave an inscription like the inscription on this ring of mine.”’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Anas ibn Malik said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had a ring made. He said, “We have had a ring made and engraved an inscription on it, so no one should engrave upon it.”’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wore a silver ring with an Abyssinian bezel, and its inscription was ‘Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic describes the ring as having a habashi bezel (a bezel associated with Abyssinia).
Chapter 40
النَّهْىِ عَنْ خَاتَمِ الذَّهَبِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Abu Bakr said: ‘Abdullah ibn Numayr narrated to us, from ‘Ubaydullah, from Nafi‘ ibn Jubayr, the freed client of ‘Ali, from ‘Ali, who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade wearing a gold ring.”’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Abu Bakr said: ‘Ali ibn Mushir narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, from al-Hasan ibn Suhayl, from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade gold rings.”’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that ‘Aishah, Mother of the Believers, said: ‘The Negus sent the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) a piece of jewelry containing a gold ring set with an Abyssinian bezel. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) picked it up with a stick, while turning away from it—or with some of his fingers. Then he called his granddaughter, Umamah bint Abi al-‘As, and said, “Adorn yourself with this, my dear daughter.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase describing how he took the ring is ambiguous in the Arabic; it may describe his turning away from it, or say that he took it with some of his fingers.
قَالَتْ أَهْدَى النَّجَاشِيُّ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ حَلْقَةً فِيهَا خَاتَمُ ذَهَبٍ فِيهِ فَصٌّ حَبَشِيٌّ فَأَخَذَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ بِعُودٍ وَإِنَّهُ لَمُعْرِضٌ عَنْهُ أَوْ بِبَعْضِ أَصَابِعِهِ ثُمَّ دَعَا ابْنَةَ ابْنَتِهِ أُمَامَةَ بِنْتَ أَبِي الْعَاصِ فَقَالَ " تَحَلَّىْ بِهَذَا يَا بُنَيَّةُ " .
The phrase wa-innahu la-mu‘riḍun ‘anhu aw bi-ba‘ḍi aṣābi‘ihi can be read as describing him turning away from the item, or as an alternative manner of taking it with some of his fingers.
Does the alternative here describe his turning away from the jewelry or picking it up with some fingers?
Chapter 41
مَنْ جَعَلَ فَصَّ خَاتَمِهِ مِمَّا يَلِي كَفَّهُ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to position the bezel of his ring toward his palm.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wore a silver ring with an Abyssinian bezel, and used to keep its bezel toward the inside of his palm.
Chapter 42
التَّخَتُّمِ بِالْيَمِينِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring on his right hand.
Chapter 43
التَّخَتُّمِ فِي الإِبْهَامِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that ‘Ali said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade me to wear a ring on these two fingers,’ meaning the little finger and the thumb.
Chapter 44
الصُّوَرِ فِي الْبَيْتِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah said: Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Abdullah, from Ibn ‘Abbas, from Abu Talhah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image.’