Learning the Hadith: “There will come from the east…” and Ruling of Shaving our hair bald
Question:
Ustadz, I’d like to ask about the hadith, “There will come out from the east a group of people who recite the Qur’an, but it doesn’t pass through their throats, they step out of the religion just as an arrow being released from its bow, they can’t return as an arrow will not return to its origin, their sign is that their head are shaven (bald).” (Narrated by Bukhari)
Some people said that the meaning of that hadith was Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdil Wahhab -may Allah have mercy on him- and his followers. They said that his followers were ordered to shave their head bald and it never happened before his time. I need your explanation, and may Allah reward you with plenty of goodnesses for your kind attention.
From: Taufiq
Answer:
The scholars have explained that this hadith told us about the coming of the khawarij sect, because Imam Abu Dawud (died year 275 H) included this hadith in chapter: About fighting the khawarij.
Ibn Hajar (died year 852 H) said,
…أَنَّ الْخَوَارِج سِيمَاهُمْ التَّحْلِيق ، وَكَانَ السَّلَف يُوَفِّرُونَ شُعُورهمْ لَا يَحْلِقُونَهَا ، وَكَانَتْ طَرِيقَة الْخَوَارِج حَلْق جَمِيع رُءُوسِهِمْ .
“Indeed, the typical characteristic of the khawarij is that they are bald, and in the past, the pious predecessor let their hair lengthen and didn’t shave it, and the typical of the khawarij was to shave their head bald.” (See: Fathul Bary 8/68-69).
Likewise, the east that was mentioned in the hadith was the east of Medina, which is Iraq, the origin of the khawarij. Whereas the origin of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab was the east of Mecca, not the east of Medina.
Al Khaththaby said (died year 388 H),
ومن كان بالمدينة كان نجده بادية العراق ونواحيها، فهي مشرق أهل المدينة، وأصل نجد ما ارتفع من الأرض، وهو خلاف الغور، فإنه ما انخفض منها
“And whoever lived in Medina then his Nejd is the mountains of Iraq and what surrounds it, and this is the east of the residence of Medina, and the origin of the word “Nejd” was a part of land which is raised/higher (high plain), the antonym of Al Ghaur, which was the depressed land (low plain).” (Cited by Ibn Hajar in Fathul Bary 13/47)
Then Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab and his followers didn’t have the characteristics that was mentioned in the hadith “people who recite the Qur’an, but it doesn’t pass through their throats”, as the people of khawarij, who were famous for their plenty recitation of the Qur’an but they were far from the correct understanding of the Qur’an, thus they judged some of the best generation of Islam – the companions of the Messenger of Allah – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- as infidels and they fought against them.
Instead, Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab was famous for his effort to reuphold the creed of monotheism which was propagated by the messengers, and enjoin people to abandon shirk, he persuaded people to practice the righteous deeds according to the sunnah of the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- and abandon innovations, all based on the Qur’an and the sunnah according to the understanding of the companions, the tabeen, and the students of tabeen. And they were not the ones who easily judged people as infidel, even they were among the most cautious people regarding the problem of accusing people as infidel or disbeliever, as written in their writings.
Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab said:
ولا أكفر أحدا من المسلمين بذنب ولا أخرجه عن دائرة الإسلام
“And I don’t accuse muslim as disbeliever only because of his committing of sin, and I don’t expel him from Islam.” (See: Majmu’ Muallafat Asy-Syeikh 5/11).
And it is a lie over his name, if it is said that he instructed his followers to always shave their head bald and used it as the parameter of whether a person was a muslim or not. The ones who were bald among them might be caused by several possibilities, for example: they probably just embraced Islam as their religion, as said by the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- to a companion who was just embracing Islam
, : ألق عنك شعر الكفر
“Leave the hairs of infidelity.” (Narrated by Abu Dawud, and classified valid by Sheikh Al Albani).
Or because it was the habit of some residents of their country, since according to the strong opinion, it is alright to shave our hair bald and it is not a detestable matter, as revealed in the hadith:
عن ابن عمر : أن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم رأى صبيا قد حلق بعض شعره وترك بعضه فنهاهم عن ذلك فقال ” احلقوه كله أو اتركوه كله ” .
“From Ibn Umar, that the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- saw a little boy whose hair had been partly shaven, and partly not, then he prohibited it and said, “Shave all of it, or leave all of it.” (Narrated by Abu Dawud and classified as valid hadith by Sheikh Al Albany).
Al Munawy said,
وقوله احلقوه كله يدل على جواز الحلق وهو مذهب الجمهور
“His saying, “Shave all of it” indicated that it is allowed to shave the hair bald, and this is the opinion of majority of the scholars.” (See: Faidhul Qadir 1/201, Darul Ma’rifah 1391 H)
This permission surely if it is not followed by certain belief that there is a distinct excellence in it, as the belief of the past generation of khawarij and some of the shufis. Thus if a person believed that there is distinct excellence in it, it becomes a sin since it is among innovation in religion.
And Allah knows best.
Author: Ustadz Abdullah Roy, Lc.
Article of www.Whatisquran.com