ONE HADITH A DAY
Narrated by Muslim · Authentic hadith
عن عائشة رضي الله عنها مرفوعاً: «عَشْرٌ من الفِطْرة: قَصُّ الشَارب، وإعْفَاء اللِّحْية، والسِّواك، وَاسْتِنْشَاقُ الماء، وقص الأظْفَار، وغَسْل البَرَاجِم، ونَتْف الإبْط، وحلق العَانة، وانْتِقَاصُ الماء» قال الراوي: ونَسِيْتُ العاشرة إلا أن تكون المَضْمَضَة. قال وكِيع - وهو أحد رواته - انْتِقَاص الماء: يعني الاسْتِنْجَاء.
“‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ten practices are part of the Fitrah: Trimming the mustache, letting the beard grow, using the toothstick (tooth-stick), rinsing the nose, trimming the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the armpit hairs, shaving the pubic hair, and washing the private parts with water (after answering the call of nature)." One of the narrators said: "I have forgotten the tenth; except if it was rinsing the mouth."”
In this narration, ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) informs us that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said that there are ten practices that are part of "Fitrah" or sound human nature. "Fitrah" is the natural disposition upon which Allah, the Almighty, created people. What is intended is the sound "Fitrah" because the "Fitrah" of some people deviates from soundness as a result of the way they are raised. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Every newborn is born with Fitrah, and then his parents either turn him into a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian.” The first act of Fitrah is to trim the mustache or to shave it to the point where the upper lip becomes visible, for the sake of hygiene. When the mustache is too long it comes into contact with the food and drink that the person consumes. An overgrown mustache is an ugly and abhorrent sight for many people. A Muslim man should regularly trim or clip his mustache and not let it grow for more than forty days. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A time limit was set for us regarding trimming the mustache, clipping the nails and plucking the pubic hair; that we do not leave that for more than forty nights. The second act of Fitrah is letting the beard grow. The beard is the hair that grows on the chin and jawbones. “Letting it grow” meanings not to shave or shorten it at all. The word "i‘fā’" which is used in the Hadīth in relation to the beard originally means making something plentiful and large. The derivative "‘afaw" is used in the Qur'an to mean incr…