Hair, wool and fur (their purity, the rules for the dead, washing, adornment and sale)

A person's hair is pure, whether the person is living or dead, and whether the hair is attached or has fallen out. The jurists cite a report that the Prophet ﷺ gave Abu Talha a hair of his to divide among the people. ² They agree that a human's hair may not be sold or used, because the human being is honoured, so no part of him may be treated as demeaned or made common. ²

The Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis hold the hair of a carrion animal pure if the animal was pure while alive, because death does not defile what feels no pain. They cite the verse of the surah of the Bee (80), which lists the wool, fleece and hair of animals as a favour from God. The Shafi'is hold it impure unless the skin can be purified by tanning, citing the general prohibition of carrion in the surah of the Table Spread (3). The Malikis alone hold the hair of a pig pure, if it is shorn and not plucked. ^{2 5}

• A dead man's head: the Hanafis and Hanbalis forbid shaving or combing it, since a dead man has neither a rite nor an adornment to bear. The Shafi'is (in the preferred view) and the Malikis allow shaving with dislike, and the Shafi'is limit this to a man who customarily shaved. ⁵
• A dead woman's head: most jurists recommend braiding her hair into three plaits and laying them behind her; the Hanafis lay them on her chest, following a report from Umm 'Atiyya about the Prophet's daughter. ⁶
• The rest of the body: the Malikis and Shafi'is (in the preferred view) dislike removing what need not be removed in life. Hair that is removed is buried with the body in its shroud, according to the Malikis, Hanbalis and a Shafi'i view; another Shafi'i view prefers that it be buried outside the grave. The Hanbalis forbid shaving the beard and pubic hair of a dead man, because this touches the private parts. ⁶

The Malikis and Hanbalis require wiping the whole of the head in ablution. The Shafi'is require only what can be called wiping, however little. The Hanafis require wiping the forelock, a quarter of the head, citing a report that the Prophet wiped his forelock. ⁷

The Shafi'is (in the preferred view) and the Hanbalis hold that touching hair does not break ablution, since desire is not usually roused by hair; it is recommended to renew ablution after touching hair, teeth or nails. One Shafi'i view says a man's ablution breaks when he touches a woman's hair, because hair has the same rule as the body for marriage and for the obligation of the major ritual bath. The Malikis hold that ablution breaks by touching hair when one takes pleasure in it, with or without a light or thick covering. The Hanafis hold that touch does not break ablution unless there is emission. ^{7 8}

The jurists agree that water must reach the whole of the hair, outside and inside, for men and women, loose or not, citing the saying that under every hair there is a state of impurity to wash and the report about the one who leaves a spot of a hair unwashed. ⁸

The majority (Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is, and some Hanbalis) hold that a woman need not unbraid her plaits if water reaches the roots without unbraiding; if it does not, unbraiding is required, for the major bath and for the bath after menses and childbirth alike. They cite the report of Umm Salama, who asked whether she must unbraid her hair; the Prophet told her that three handfuls of water on the head and then pouring water over herself suffice. The majority read this as meaning that water reaches the roots. The Hanbalis hold that a woman must unbraid her hair for the bath after menses and childbirth, but not for the major bath if the roots are wet and the hair is not tied with many threads. They cite the report of 'A'isha about unbraiding and combing the hair during menses. ^{8 9}

Most jurists (Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis) recommend shaving a newborn's head on the seventh day, and giving in charity the weight of the hair in gold or silver (silver for the Hanbalis), after the sacrifice of the 'aqiqa. They cite a report in which the Prophet told Fatima to shave the head of al-Hasan and give the weight of the hair in silver to the poor. The Hanafis hold shaving permitted but neither recommended nor required, since the 'aqiqa is permitted in their view; one Hanafi view holds it disliked, because the sacrifice has replaced it. ^{9 10}

The jurists agree it is forbidden to look at the hair of a woman who is not one's mahram, and that she may not show it to them. The Hanafis and Shafi'is forbid looking even at hair that has been cut off. ¹⁰

Most jurists (Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis) forbid selling wool on the living sheep, citing a report from Ibn 'Abbas forbidding the sale of wool on the back and milk in the udder, along with other things. Their reasons include that wool is attached to the animal, so it cannot be sold separately like its limbs, that it is not property in itself while on the back, and that it grows little by little and mixes with other wool. The Malikis allow selling it by shearing, on estimate, or by weight when the sheep is in view, provided shearing is not delayed more than half a month. ^{9 10} The Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis allow a forward contract for wool by weight, not by shearing; its kind, whether from a male or female animal, colour, season, length and weight must be stated, and it must be clean of hair, thorns and the like. ¹⁰

It is forbidden for a woman to join her hair with impure hair or with human hair, whether she is married or not, and whether her husband agreed or not; the Hanafis hold it disliked. The reason is the curse on the one who joins and the one who asks to be joined, the deceit, and the honour due to human hair. The Shafi'is (in the preferred view) forbid joining with other pure hair unless she is unmarried, with a second view that it is disliked; for a married woman they give three views, the strongest being that it is allowed with her husband's leave. The Hanafis allow other hair for thickening the plaits. The Malikis forbid joining in every form. The Hanbalis forbid joining hair with hair, whether human or other, and with or without leave. ³

The jurists agree that tying hair in a knot in prayer is disliked, meaning gathering it at the back of the head or winding a plait round the head. A prayer performed so is valid; Ibn al-Mundhir reports that al-Hasan al-Basri held that it must be repeated. The ground is a report in which Ibn 'Abbas saw a man praying with his hair tied, and said it is like one who prays bound; another says it is the seat of Satan. The Malikis hold that the prohibition applies only to one who does it for prayer. ^{3 11}

Combing the hair is recommended, following a report from Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) that whoever has hair should honour it, and because the Prophet liked combing. It is recommended to start on the right, to comb with intervals, and to oil the hair every other day; excessive combing is disliked. ¹¹

The hair of a living animal, of an edible or inedible kind, may be attached or detached. Hair of an edible animal taken from it alive is pure by consensus, because it is needed for clothes and mats; plucked hair has an impure root for some, while the Malikis insist on shearing. The Shafi'is hold hair detached in life pure when shorn, by consensus, though the opinion of some is that it is impure as part of what is cut from a living animal. The Hanbalis hold the rule of each animal's hair the same as its other parts. The Hanafis and Malikis hold hair of an inedible animal pure, except the pig for the Hanafis; the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold the dog and pig impure in principle, though Ibn Taymiyya held the hair of the dog and pig pure. ^{11 4 12}