How Should a Muslim Dispose Cut Off Hair and Nails?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

Is there a specific recommended procedure for the disposal of nails and hair that have been cut?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful.

The scholars generally concur that it is recommended to bury everything that is separated from a living human’s body, such as a limb, hair, nails, and the like. [Shafii: Nawawi, al-Majmu` Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, 5.213; Hanbali: Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina 2.96; Hanafi: Turi, Takmilat al-Bahr al-Ra’iq 8.232].

This is because Allah Most High has honored every part of the human being:
“Verily, we have honored the Children of Adam.” [Quran, 17:70]

This was from the habitual practice of many of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the early Muslims, as mentioned in works such as Ibn Abi Shayba’s Musannaf.

Some Hanafi works would seem to indicate that it is necessary (wajib) to bury the hair and nails, but other texts make it clear that what is meant is a linguistic usage of wajib, namely “highly recommended” because they follow it up by saying, “And if one throws it away there is no wrong in it (la ba’sa bihi), though if one throws it in the toilet or washroom, it is disliked.” [Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Turi, Takmilat al-Bahr al-Ra’iq, 8.232, quoting al-Nawazil]

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.