1. Whether the head is shaved or the hair is shortened, it is Sunnah to do so over the entire head. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) shaved his entire head. Shaving or shortening part of the head while leaving another part is contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Nafi‘ (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him),
‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade (qaza‘) قَزَعٌ.’ When Nafi‘ (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about qaza‘, he said, ‘It is to shave part of a child’s head and leave another part.’[1]
2. Qasr, meaning shortening the hair, means cutting hair from the entire head. Ibn al-Mundhir said, cutting the amount that may be described as shortening the hair will suffice.[2]
3. If someone is bald, passing a blade or razor over his head will fulfil the obligatory requirement.
4. In the case of women, it is sufficient to cut from the locks of hair an amount equal to one finger joint. There is no halq for women. It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
«لَيْسَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ الْحَلْقُ ، وَإِنَّمَا عَلَى النِّسَاءِ التَّقْصِيْرُ».
‘There is no ruling of shaving the head for women; rather, they are required to shorten their hair.’[3]
It is narrated from ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him),
«نَهَى رَسُوْلُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ تَحْلِقَ الْمَرْأَةُ رَأْسَهَا».
‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade women from shaving their heads.’[4]
Therefore, the rule for women is that they should gather all the hair of their heads together, or cut from each braid an amount equal to the first joint of a finger.
5. After shaving the head, it is Sunnah to remove other forms of untidiness from the body. For example, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) clipped his nails.[5] Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would trim his moustache after Hajj or ‘Umrah.[6] Likewise, it is also desirable to remove the hair of the armpits and below the navel, because this falls under the instruction of the Noble Qur’an, وليَقْضُوْا تَفَثَهُمْ ‘and let them remove their dirt.’[7]
[1]. Muslim: 3959.
[2]. Sayyid al-Sabiq: Fiqh al-Sunnah, 1/743.
[3]. Abu Dawud: 1985.
[4]. al-Tirmidhi: 915.
[5]. Sayyid al-Sabiq: op. cit., 1/743.
[6]. al-Bayhaqi: 9186.
[7]. Al-Hajj: 29.