#adhab

❝The blessing lies in [your speech, action and creed] being in accordance to every matter the Prophet ﷺ did!❞

On the matter of outward appearance it is better to  avoid broad generalizations concerning the issue of cutting hair so as not to cause any misunderstanding. 

It is best to mention the relevant hadith and comment on them briefly.

Some reported sayings of the Prophet are as follows:

Anas ibn Malik reported that God’s Messenger said,

“He who has hair should honor it.”

We honor our hair by combing it and keeping it tidy. The Prophet disliked disheveled hair. One should either comb the hair or have a short haircut which does not require much adornment. 

Ibn Umar narrated,

“God’s Messenger saw a boy whose head had been partly shaven. He forbade people to do this, saying, “Shave it all or leave it all.”

Again, Ibn Umar tells us that God’s Messenger prohibited believers from shaving part of the head and leaving the rest unshaven.

The Prophet used to look after children’s hair.

As narrated by ‘Abdullah, the son of Ja’far, God’s Messenger came to visit them three days after the death of Ja’far; during this time Jaf’ar’s wife had been unable to look after their hair.

“The  Prophet  said,  ‘Do  not weep over my brother after this day,’ and he said, ‘Call the children of my brother to me.’ We were herded before him. He said, ‘Call a barber.’ He then ordered that our hair should be cut short.”

As  is  reported  in  many  books  about  the  life  of  the  Prophet, most Companions of God’s Messenger had long, braided hair.

Some of them would gather it in a knot. In Bukhari’s Al-Sahih, the following incident is narrated:

Seeing a man who had knotted his hair during the Hajj, the Prophet advised him to untie his hair so that his hair, also, got the benefit from sajda, or prostration. God’s Messenger did not order Abu Bakr, or Umar, or Uthman, all of whom had long hair, to cut their hair.

After the conquest of Mecca, the hearts of many people were softened and warmed towards Islam, and most of them embraced Islam. They wore garments in the style of nonbelievers and the turban of the unbelievers on their heads. The Prophet did not ask them to remove even these. Indeed, this would be formalism and he was far beyond formalism. He did not give any orders that could be interpreted as formalism.

In fact, outer appearance is not something essential in Islam, but rather, it is something of secondary importance. So, we should not be too concerned with outer appearance or formalism. 

The Prophet may have warned those who had cut some of their hair and left other parts, just as some young people do today, as it distorts the natural appearance and it would have been imitating non-Muslims. It is mentioned in the sections of hadith books that are concerned with garments and physical appearance, mainly in Tirmidhi, that the Prophet used to comb his hair according to the customs of the time in Mecca, so as not to resemble non-Muslims. After he emigrated to Medina and saw that Christians and Jews there combed their hair over their forehead (as in the historical pictures and films about Romans), he changed the way he combed his hair again and parted it in the middle and combed it to the right and to the left. Most likely, some people used to shave part of the head like the Christians and Jews. Therefore, the Prophet behaved

in accordance with the hadith, 

“He who imitates a people is one of them.”

The human body is perfectly formed. It is formed with such subtle rules of geometry and mathematics that it is impossible not to appreciate its design. Therefore, it would probably not be correct to change something that has been created in such a perfect manner. 

In a hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says, 

“God wants to see the signs of His blessings on His servants.”

Therefore, it would not be incorrect to say that hair should be cut in a way that is suitable to its natural form.

But today, needless interference may have negative effects, even on devoted believers. Therefore, nobody should take the place of the Prophet and make negative comments on appearance, saying, “Cut your hair, tidy your clothes.” 

THE WORD ADAB

The Arabic root “adb” means “feast or invitation”; the word “adab,” which is derived from this root, carries the meanings of “decency,” “politeness,” “reverence,” and “high regard,” as well as “refined manners that have been socially adopted.”

Adab, then, refers to all guidelines about words and deeds that are considered proper, mannerly, ethical, and morally correct in Islam. In this respect, adab indicates the minimum level of good or moral behavior that people should follow. 

In his book Al-Tarifat Sayyid Sharif writes that adab “is the knowledge that saves one from erring.” 

Ibn Hajar said that “Adab is to say  and  do  that which is commendable and of merit; that is, to possess good moral character. 

In the same way that there are people who interpret adab as meaning ‘acting in good and appropriate ways,’ or ‘acting respectfully towards elders and treating the young with kindness and compassion’ there are also scholars who believe the word originated from madaba, a word that means banquet.’”

There is no direct reference to the word adab or its derivatives in the Qur’an. However, the related word da’b, which means way, path, manner, or custom, is used, for instance in the verse,

 “(Their way is) as the way of Pharaoh’s folk and those before them” (Anfal  8:54).  

Similarly,  daab, which  appears  in  the  verse,  

“You shall sow for seven years as usual,” (Yusuf 12:47) 

means as usual. In yet another verse, the related word daibayn is used to mean constant: 

“And He has made the sun and the moon constant in their courses…” (Ibrahim 14:33). 

However, the word adab does appear in Prophetic traditions. In the hadith, 

“My Lord trained me and gave me adab and He gave me the best training,”

adab is used to mean training or education.

When Junayd al-Baghdadi set out on his pilgrimage, he saw that the disciples of Abu Hafs in Baghdad were extremely mannerly and polite. He said to the scholar, 

“You have taught your followers adab that is befitting of courtiers.” Abu Hafs replied, “No, their inner adab is reflected in their outward  actions,”  implying that their behavior arose from their heart.

This is striking, as it underlines the importance of maintaining good social relationships with everyone. In fact, some have said that adab is an outward sign that reveals the greatness of a person’s character. It is for this reason that one of the most important responsibilities of parents is to give their children adab and moral training. Adab is like a garment for the soul, or the inner strength of the spirit that saves one from erring or doing inappropriate things.

The term adab in Islamic jurisprudence refers to “behavior befitting the example of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.” 

Accordingly, the term adab implies “avoidance of anything that is contrary to the Sunna or the practice of the Prophet.” 

In a broader sense, adab is to act in accordance with the commands and admonitions of God and His Messenger. 

The topic of this book, “adab in practice,” is part  of  the larger concept of akhlaq, that is, morality. In  fact,  from one perspective, adab in practice is fundamentally practical morality and ethics. Therefore, the essence of these concepts will be explained first, beginning with a short introduction to akhlaq, and only after this will adab in practice be returned to.

Akhlaq, the plural of khuluq in Arabic, means  the  character and temperament of a person. 

The temperament of a person brings either good or harmful things. In the broadest aspect morality means that there is a moral character, that is, morality becomes deeply ingrained in the soul and as a consequence right actions and behavior come naturally and easily from within; then, the person with such a character no longer has to struggle intellectually to know what ethical choices to make.

Human characteristics can generally be divided into those that society approves of and  those  that  we  disapprove of. Decency, humility, and kindness are traits that are seen in  a  positive  light, while arrogance, deceit, and miserliness are generally perceived as negative human characteristics. To recognize these  characteristics and their attendant traits is  to  understand  what  is  meant  here  by the phrase “moral character.” Nawwas ibn Saman once asked the Prophet how to recognize the  difference  between  goodness  and sin. The Prophet answered, 

“Goodness  is  good  moral  character. Sin is anything that pricks one’s  conscience,  and  which  one  does not want others to know about.”

 Another narration from Jabir reports that the Messenger said, 

“The  most  beloved  to  me  among you and the ones who  will  be  closest  to  me  on  the  Day  of Judgment are the best in moral character. And they who are most loathsome to me and will be farthest from me on the Day of Judgment are those who gossip, those  with  unbridled  tongues, and those who condescend.” 

When they asked him, “O Messenger of God! Who are those who condescend?” he replied, “They are those who are arrogant.”

Ethics, which is the study or science of morals, can be divided into the theoretical and the practical. While theoretical morality is concerned with those concepts that constitute the principles and rules of morality, practical morality is concerned with the duties that constitute the basis of a moral life. As reported by the Prophet, 

“God looks not at your outward appearances, nor at your wealth or belongings. God looks only at your hearts and your deeds.”