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].

Mawlana 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, Mawlana (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