Why it is Makrooh to Appoint An Imaam with a Fashionable Haircut

Q: Salaah-721: You have stated in your Fatwa that it is Makrooh for such a person to lead the salaah whose hair is fashionable. From which sources have you established this?

Answer: Having the hair cut and styled in the fashion of the British is forbidden and Makrooh Tahreemi because it entails emulating the Christians and sinners. Rasulullaah SAW. mentioned that the person who emulates non-Muslims is not from amongst us. Rasulullaah SAW. also forbade us from emulating the Jews and the Christians. Maa Laa Budda Minhu (Pg.131) categorically states that it is Haraam to emulate the Kuffaar and sinners. When Hadhrat Anas RADI. saw a boy with a Jewish haircut, he instructed the people to shave his head. The person who always emulates them is regarded to be a Faasiq and it is Makrooh without any doubts for a Faasiq to be an Imaam.

Such hairstyles also fall into the ambit of Quza, which is prohibited in the Shari'ah. This refers to having part of the hair cut and not the rest of it. When Rasulullaah SAW. saw a boy's hair cut in this manner, he remarked, "Either shave all or leave all.

It has been reported from Imaam Abu Haneefah RAH. that it is Makrooh Tahreemi to shave the hair of the nape. As referred to in the question, it has become the practice of many students to shave their necks, whereas this is Makrooh Tahreemi. The person who perpetually perpetrates a Makrooh Tahreemi act becomes Faasiq and a Faasiq's salaah is Makrooh when there are better people present.

Another reason for his salaah being Makrooh is the fact that the Muqtadis are unhappy (otherwise the question would not have been raised). All the above should not be taken lightly because small things lead to bigger things. Hadhrat Aa'isha RADI. also said, "Beware of thinking nothing of sins."

Consider also the fact that if the Imaams perpetrate acts that are Makrooh and even doubtful, what will happen to the common man? What respect will be left in their eyes for the Imaams? The Imaam needs to be the most righteous of the people and the one who is most cautious in even carrying out things that are doubtful. The books of Fiqh make it clear that the Imaam needs to be one who is most abstinent, even from doubtful things and that it is wrong for people to appoint as their Imaam someone who is not the best of the community. And Allaah knows best what is most correct.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.2