How Do I Expiate for Various Hairs Falling Out during ‘Umra?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Does falling my hair during ‘Umra necessitate expiation?

What if when I perform wudu, my eyebrow hairs come out or my eyelash hairs fall out due to the scrubbing?

Also, is expiation due on me if my nose hairs fall as a result of using a tissue or doing wudu?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

If hairs fall out while in the state of Ihram, expiation is due. This applies whether the hairs fell out due to one’s action or accident. [Maydani, al-Lubab Fi Sharh al-Kitab]

Note that if one’s hair fell out by accident, one is not sinful, but the expiation is required.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Indeed, Allah has overlooked for my community (umma) mistakes, forgetting, and what they are compelled to do.” [Ibn Majah]

More details on this can be found in this link.

Hairs of the Face

The basis in eyebrows, eyelashes, and nose hairs is that if one finds that they fell off, one can consider that they were already detached prior to being in the state of Ihram. This is because such hairs do not fall out as easily as those on the head.

Note that this rule will remain the basis unless one clearly did something that would make such hairs fall off – such as wiping one’s face very hard.

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.