Section: There is a difference of opinion attributed to Ahmad regarding shaving the head. It is narrated from him (80) that it is disliked, due to what was narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) regarding the Khawarij: "Their sign is shaving (the head)," (81) so he made it a mark of theirs. Umar said to Sabigh: "If I had found you with your head shaved, I would have struck that which contains your eyes with the sword." It is also narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he said: "Nawas (the hair on the forelock) is not to be removed except during Hajj or Umrah." Al-Daraqutni brought it out (82) in "al-Afrad" (83). Abu Musa also narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) [that he said:] (84) "He is not one of us who shaves [the head]." Reported by Imam Ahmad. (85) Ibn Abbas said: "Whoever shaves his head in the city is a devil." Ahmad said: "They used to dislike that." It is also narrated from him that it is not disliked, but leaving it is better. Hanbal said: "My father and I used to shave our heads during the lifetime of Abu Abd Allah (Ahmad), and he would see us while we were shaving, yet he would not forbid us [from that] (86). He himself used to trim his hair with shears (87) and would not shave it completely, but would trim it moderately." It is narrated from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saw a boy who had shaved part of his head and left part of it, and he forbade them from that. Reported by (88) Muslim, and in one wording he said: "Shave all of it or leave all of it." It was also narrated from Abdullah.
(80) In M: "fa-'anhu". (81) Reported by al-Bukhari, in: The Book of the Recitation of the Wicked and the Hypocrite, their voices and their recitation do not go past their throats, from the Book of Tawhid. Sahih al-Bukhari 9/198. And Abu Dawud, in: The Book of Fighting the Khawarij, from the Book of Sunnah. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/544. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Book of He Who Unsheathes His Sword Then Places It Against the People, from the Book of the Prohibition of Blood. Al-Mujtaba 7/110. And Ibn Majah, in: The Book of Mentioning the Khawarij, from the Introduction. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/62. And Imam Ahmad, in the Musnad 3/5, 64, 197, 224, 4/422, 425, 5/176. (82) In M: "rawahu". (83) Meaning: "Al-Fawa'id al-Afrad". See: Tarikh al-Turath al-'Arabi 1/1/422. (84) Omitted from: M. (85) In the Musnad 4/396. With the wording: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is innocent of those who shave, scream, or tear (their garments)," meaning during a calamity, also in the Musnad 4/396, 404, 411, 416. (86) Omitted from: M. (87) Al-julm, with the vowel on the lam, and al-julman in the dual form, mean the scissors. (88) In M: "rawahu". The hadith with this wording and what follows it was reported by Abu Dawud, in: The Book of...