Is It Prohibited to Cut One’s Nails or Hair during the First 10 Days of Dhu’l-Hijja?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Shaykh, is it forbidden to cut nails and hair in the first ten days of dhul hijjah? And to whom does it apply? What’s the exact time for not cutting hair and nails? Is it the first ten days of dhul hijjah or the whole month of dhul qa‘dah?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

For the person in the state of Ihram who intends to perform the Hajj, it is forbidden to cut the nails and hair while in that state. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]

For the one not performing Hajj or ‘Umra, if one intends to slaughter an animal for Eid al-Adha, it is an emphasized Sunna to abstain from cutting the nails, the hair, or doing any grooming. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.