Question
What is the meaning of the following Hadith:
Wa kana azwajun Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ya’khuzna min ruoosihina hata takuna kalwafrati. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 728)
Answer
Translation of the quotation:
“…the wives of Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would collect their hair [when taking a bath] until it looked like a wafrah.’
Wafrah is that hair which reaches the shoulders [or above it].
Moulana Shabbir Ahmad ‘Uthmani (rahimahullah) explains this to mean that when taking a bath, the wives of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would gather their hair above their shoulders, to make it easy to wash the back.
(Fathul Mulhim, Hadith: 739, vol. 3, pg. 156-157)
By offering the above explanation, Moulana (rahimahullah) has correctly removed the misunderstanding of it referring to “cutting” the hair.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best,
Answered by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar
Checked by: Mawlana Haroon Abasoomar