Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
This title is given to show that the subsequent section will include hadīths describing the hair of the Prophet (peace be upon him); its length, style, and how he used to look after it.
Al-Bajūrī said,
The Prophet (peace be upon him) never shaved his head except in the year in which the treaty of Hudaybiyah took place, the Umrah al-Qadā (i.e. the Umrah he performed in order to make up for the one he missed during the year of Hudaybiyah), the farewell Hajj. And he only cut his hair short once as reported in Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Sahīh Muslim.
24. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The hair of Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) reached to the mid-portion of his ears.” [35]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
In other hadīths, the narrators stated that the length of the hair of the Prophet (peace be upon him) reached to his shoulders; hence some scholars explained that this is because the length of his hair differed from one time to another and so each narrator described what he saw.
Al-Suyūtī said,
Al-Hafith al-Iraqī said, “The hadīths have provided three different descriptions of the hair of the Prophet (peace be upon him), namely:
Wafrah: It refers to having hair that reaches the earlobe.
Lummah: It refers to having hair that reaches below the earlobe
Jumma: It refers to shoulder length hair.
Alī al-Qārī said,
There are eight hadīths that describe the length of the hair of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
25. Aisha narrated: “I used to bathe with the Prophet (peace be upon him) in one utensil, and his hair was below his earlobes but above his shoulders.” [36]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
This hadīth is evidence that the water remaining from the bath of women is ritually pure.
26. Al-Barā ibn ‘Āzib narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) was of average height, and the distance between his two shoulders was wide. His hair would fall to his ear lobes.” [37]
27. Qatādah narrated: “I asked Anas ibn Mālik, ‘How was the hair of Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him)?’ He replied, ‘It was neither very curly nor very straight; it reached his earlobes.’” [38]
28. Umm Hanī’ bint Abī Tālib said: “Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) entered Makkah and he had four plaits.” [39]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
Umm Hanī’ is the sister of Alī ibn Abī Tālib.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
It appears that she saw him on the day of the conquest of Makkah because he prayed the Duha prayer in her house.
Alī al-Qārī said,
The Prophet (peace be upon him) came to Makkah four times [after the Hijrah]: (i) ‘Umrah al-Qadā, (ii) the conquest of Makkah, (iii) ‘Umrah al-Ja’ranah, (iv) the farewell Hajj.
29. Ma’mar reported that Anas ibn Mālik said that: “The hair of Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) reached the mid-portion of his ears.” [40]
30. ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās narrated: “The hairstyle of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) was sadl and the polytheists used to part their hair while the hairstyle of the People of the Book was sadl. He preferred not to oppose the People of the Book unless he was ordered otherwise.” [41]
The meaning of sadl is disputed over among scholars, some of them (such as Al-Bajūrī) stated that it means he let his hair hang down freely around the head, and some (such as al-Nawawī, al-Suyūtī and Alī al-Qārī) were of the view that it means he let his hair fall on his forehead.
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
Ibn Hajar said that the last practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to part his hair.
Alī al-Qārī said,
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to keep a hairstyle similar to that of the People of the Book because he preferred their way over the way of the polytheists, unless he was ordered to oppose them. This is because either they (Christians and Jews) have celestial religions, divine books and prophets, or because they are closer to the truth than the polytheists, since they followed some of the original teachings of their religion during that time (as the known scholar Mirak al-Hanafī explained); hence they deserved better treatment than the polytheists.
Al-Bajūrī said,
“He preferred not to oppose the People of the Book unless he was ordered otherwise”: He liked to do so in matters where he was not ordered, regardless whether the divine order entailed an obligation or recommendation. Al-Qurtubī said, “This was only at the beginning when he arrived at Madīnah, during the time he used to pray towards their qiblah. The reason behind this was that he wanted to soften their hearts towards Islām but when this approach did not show any benefit and their hearts remained hard, he ordered the Muslims to oppose them in many affairs.
31. Umm Hanī’ bint Abī Tālib said: “I saw Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) having four plaits.” [42]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymīn was asked, “Is it from the Sunnah to prolong the hair?” To which he replied, “No, it is not from the Sunnah because the Prophet (peace be upon him) lengthened his hair in a time in which that was the custom of people. This is why he ordered the young boy who shaved part of his head, ‘Shave it all or leave it all.’ If the hair is supposed to be left to grow long he would have ordered the boy to leave it all only… With that being said, if you live in a place where the custom of the people is to grow their hair long, then do so. Otherwise do not.”
However, it is worthy to mention that one must not imitate women or disbelievers. This is important to mention as we see some youth prolonging their hair and having their hair fashioned in the style of women, to the point they may use the accessories of women to hold their hair, and even worse, their faces are also clean shaved. Likewise some may simulate the disbelievers in their hairstyles or hair dyes, and some of them may argue that prolonging the hair is Sunnah when all the while they do not even commit to praying the obligatory prayers.
Al-Bajūrī said,
This shows that it is permissible for men to plait their hair and that it is not limited to women, even if it is often the practice of women to plait their hair in this era.