Question : A question was asked about the ruling for those who want to sacrifice if they cut their hair or trimmed their nails at the beginning of Dhul-Hijja.

Fatwa in Brief: It is forbidden (haram) for a pilgrim to cut his/her hair or trim his/her nails at the beginning of Dhul-Hijja and then perform the sacrifice.

Shaykh Ibn Jebrin, Fatwa on 8^th/ 12^th/ 1421

Response:

According to the majority of scholars, cutting one’s hair or trimming one’s nails before performing the sacrifice is not forbidden. Rather, it is either permitted or disliked.

Commentary:

The main hadith collectors (other than al-Bukhari) include a tradition attributed to Umm Salamah (r.a.), in which the Prophet Muhammad (upon him be peace) said: “When you see the new moon of Dhul-Hijjah and one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, let him refrain from (removing anything) from his hair or nails”.

The main disagreements between the jurists on the subject of cutting one’s hair or trimming one’s nails before the performing of sacrifice may be summarized as follows:

1.  Al-Shafi‘i: it is marginally disliked. This means there is no legal penalty attached to doing so. Support for the above opinion is the above mentioned hadith, which suggests that the Prophet disliked rather than prohibited these things.[1]

2. Ahmad ibn Hanbal and some from al-Shafi‘i’s school: these acts are haram, on the grounds that, in the first hadith mentioned above, the Prophet (upon him be peace) prohibited them [rather than merely expressing his dislike of them].

3. Abu Hanifa: shaving and trimming [before sacrifice] are permitted, not disliked.

4. Imam Malik: one opinion of Malik’s is that these acts are not disliked (the same opinion as Abu Hanifa); but it is also reported that, in another opinion, he claims that it is forbidden (haram) to volunteer for an act that is not a religious obligation (wajib).

This shows that, according to the majority of scholars, cutting one’s hair or trimming one’s nails before performing the sacrifice is not forbidden. Rather, it is either permitted or disliked. And one should not be excessive in one’s zeal for any particular opinion, particularly when the majority of scholars are not in agreement with you.[2]

In the Fatwa Centre, under the Supervision of Dr. ‘Abdullah al-Faqih:

On the 10^th of Dhul al-Hijja, when a Muslim wants to sacrifice, it is obligatory that s/he does not trim either his/her hair and/or nails untrimmed. It is prohibited (yuharam) to take anything from them. And it was said that it is makruh, which is the opinion of the People of Knowledge. This is on the basis of a hadith included in the collection of Muslim, attributed to Umm Salamah (r.a.), in which the Prophet (upon him be peace): “From the beginning of the ten days of Dhul al-Hijja, those who intend to sacrifice should refrain from cutting their hair and clipping their nails, until they have performed the sacrifice”. And, in another version of this hadith, the Prophet adds that Muslims should also not shave their skin. If the pilgrim cuts something from his/her nail or nails, s/he should therefore ask for God’s forgiveness, and there is no compensation (fidya) for this.[3]

And God knows best.

Dr. Mahmoud ‘Abd al-Ga