THE PERSONAL HYGIENE OF THE PROPHET

Prophet Muhammad’s Hair

According to documents, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not have short hair; in fact it was on the long side. He wore his hair in three different styles, according to the length. The shortest style would be at the level of the earlobe, while the longest stretched down to his shoulders. There are three separate terms for each style. The terms within the sources, indicating the shortest to the longest, were as follows:

The style that reached as far as his ear lobes was called vafra, that which was slightly below the earlobe was limme, and that which reached as far as the shoulders was known as djumma.

That there are differences among the accounts is entirely normal. Since each narrator provided a depiction according to what they saw, the differences between these accounts should not be assessed as contradictory.

As to how Prophet Muhammad combed his hair, as far as we can understood from the narrations of Ibn Abbas, there were two ways in which it was fashionable to comb one’s hair at the time of the Prophet in the Hejaz. The People of the Book would comb their fringes over their foreheads. The idolaters of the period would part their fringes in the middle.

The Muslims did not try to introduce a new model; rather, to start with they combed their hair in the same way as the People of the Book, combing it over their foreheads. After idolatry had been eradicated in the Hejaz region and there were no supporters left, the Muslims started to part their hair to the side.  

Hair Care

Prophet Muhammad gave the following advice about the care of the hair:

“Whoever grows his hair should care for it”. “Those who have hair shall care for their hair well”.

Islamic sources also report some personal belongings that Prophet Muhammad would always carry with him. These were a comb, a mirror, mishwak, (a small twig for cleaning teeth), a toothpick, scissors and kohl.

The Prophet would take great care of the cleanliness of his clothing and took care that his garments were neat and tidy.

The Prophet stated that garments should be neat and care should be given to this matter; yet he did not approve of spending excessive time getting dressed up. He made a distinction between over-dressing and being chic and smart.

As can be understood from the information available, the hair and beard of the Prophet did not turn noticeably white. In fact, Prophet Muhammad did not experience any significant changes in his physical bodily until he drew his last breath; he did not experience any indications of old age, he lost no teeth from decay, he did not suffer from poor sight, poor hearing, loss of hair, and his beard did not turn white.

According to the available texts, the parts of his hair which did turn white were the top of his beard; that is the sideburns between the ears and eyes, the sections between the lower lip and chin and various parts of his hair. The white sections in his beard were greater in number than those in his hair. These were not overwhelming features. The Prophet tells us about why his hair whitened: “My hair and beard became white with the wisdom of the revelations in Hud and such suwars.”

The Prophet did not use any hair dye; however from time to time he would oil his hair with olive oil. After applying the oil over his head, he would put a piece of cloth under his turban to prevent it being soiled by the olive oil. This piece of cloth would absorb the excess oil and prevent his turban from becoming greasy.

As can be understood from a document recorded by Ibn Sad, the Prophet would wash his hair with a preparation made by boiling the leaves of the sidra tree. Some hairs of the Prophet were kept as keepsakes, or as sacred trusts, and these were passed on from generation to generation.

Applying Scents

Aisha, one of the Prophet’s wives, would personally take care of the Prophet’s garments and the tidiness of his clothes. She would provide the Prophet with the best scents she could find throughout his life.

The Prophet had a scent called sukkah, which he would keep with him and applied when necessary. Among his belongings he kept a special scent for  journeys. The Prophet would never refuse a scent if it were offered to him.

“As a matter of fact, scent is a gift without burden!”

“On the earth, women and fine scents were made dear to me; prayer was granted to me as wisdom.”

The scent the Prophet wore was noticeable as he walked down the street. Anas bin Malik reports this case as follows: “When the Holy Prophet passed through one of the streets of Medina, his fine scent would be discerned by the public and they would know that the Holy Prophet had been around there. We would know that Holy Prophet had arrived due to his fine scent.”  

Applying Kohl

Prophet Muhammad gave great importance to personal hygiene: he oiled his hair, cleaned his teeth with the mishwak twig, applied kohl to his eyes, drank water slowly, would not drink cloudy or poor quality water, had drinking water brought from springs and wells outside Medina, balanced his meals in accordance to the needs of his body. These and many other similar practices were all precautions taken by the Prophet to protect his health.

The Prophet would apply kohl to his eyes before going to bed. He would apply it three times to each eye and then retire. It can be understood from the time when he used the kohl and from general information about its beneficial nature that this was not applied as a form of makeup, but rather as a preventative measure.

Ibn Abbas quotes:

Holy Prophet told: “Apply kohl with ismid. Applying kohl with ismid adds a glow to the eye and increases the eyelashes.” Ibn Abbas states: “The Holy Prophet even had a special kohl container. He would apply kohl to each eye from this container”.