- Sunnah of Henna Dye

Use of henna (mehndi)
The Shariah (Islamic law) allows women to use henna. Hindh-Binte-'Ukbah (may Allah be pleased with her) said to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), 'I want to take oath to you,' to which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, 'First go and colour your hands.'

Male or a Female'
A woman wished to give the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) a book (from behind a curtain), the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) withdrew his hands and said, 'I cannot tell whether this is a male or a female's hand.' The woman replied, 'It is a woman's hand.' The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, 'If it is a woman's hand then the fingers should be coloured with henna.'

It is important to learn from the previous two hadiths that a woman can colour her hands and feet with henna. If a woman does not wish to colour her hands and feet then she should at least colour her fingernails, so that one can distinguish between a man's hand and a woman's hand. Therefore if a woman is interested in colouring her hands then she should not use nail polish, but should resort to henna as the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) agreed with it.

Men & Henna
It is forbidden for men to apply Henna (Mehndi) on their hands or feet. If applied on a young boy then the person putting the henna on him is responsible for the sin.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a person was bought to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) whose hands and feet where coloured with henna. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked, 'Why did he do this'' people replied that he imitates women. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, 'Send him out of Madinah.'

Allahu Akbar! We find that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was displeased with men wearing henna on their hands or feet. It is permissible and Sunnah to apply henna on the hair and beard.

Abu Dhar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that, 'The best thing that changes white hair is Mehndi or Khatam .' Meaning apply either of these.

To dye the beard
Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Abu Qahafa father of 'Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was presented to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) on the day of the conquest of Makkah and his head and his beard were just like snow. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that, 'Change it with something and avoid black.' Meaning dye it with a colour and do not use black.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that, 'The best youth is he who follows the elderly and the worst of the elders is he who follow the youth.'

To dye the hair or beard black is forbidden as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that, 'Black dye is the sign of the inmates of hell.'

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that, 'The first to dye the hair with Mehndi and Khatam was Prophet Ibrahim and the first man to dye his hair black was Pharaoh.'

Mehndi and Khatam are the Sunnah of the friends of Allah (The Exalted) and enemies of Allah (The Exalted) use black dye.

Types of dye'
Shaykh Ahmad Raza Khan (may Allah's mercy be upon him) in his book Ehkam-e-Shariat writes: Red or yellow dyes are good, and in the hadith concerning black dye it states it is of the non-believers. This is unlawful and the ruling of the permissibility is incorrect and void.
He was asked, 'What if the dye is from Wasma''
Ala Hadhrat replied, 'If it is from Wasma or Tasma it is unlawful.'
He was then asked, 'What if an old person wanted to marry a young woman''
Ala Hadhrat replied, 'A bull would not turn into a calf by cutting of its horns.'
He was then asked, 'In some books it states that Imam Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was martyred had dye of Wasma.'
Ala Hadhrat replied, 'Imam Hasan, Hussain and 'Abdullah bin 'Umar, (may Allah be pleased with them all) they would put it on, as they were fighters.'

We find that the only time one can dye their hair or beard is when in jihad and that is to deceive the enemy. To apply dye to cover white hair is to deceive Muslims and to look young. To deceive Muslims is forbidden anyway. 

Dying the hair
'Abd-Allah Ibn 'Abbas, (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, 'At the end of time there will be people who will use this black dye like the crops of doves, these will not experience the fragrance of Paradise.'

Muhammad bin Sirin (may Allah's Mercy be upon him) narrates that, 'I asked Anas, (may Allah be pleased with him) 'Did the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) dye his hair'' Anas replied, 'The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not have but a few Grey hairs.'' Meaning he had no need to dye them.

Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates, 'Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked whether the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used a hair dye or not.' Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) replied, 'The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had not enough grey hair to dye. I could even count the white hairs on his beard.''

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has said that towards the last era there will be some people who will use dye to colour their hair and these people will not even smell the scent of paradise (the scent of paradise can be smelt from a distance of 500 years). Allahu Akbar!

Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that, 'A true believer's dye is yellow, a Muslim's dye is red and a non-believer's dye is black.'

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that, 'Everyone from my Ummah will enter Jannah except those who reject.' The companions asked: 'Who are those who reject'' The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied: 'The person who follows me will enter Jannah and the person who disobeys me has rejected.'

Rules of Beauty
1. To have extensions using someone else's or even your own once taken out is forbidden.
2. It is allowed for women to wear artificial hair (not someone else's) to extend their plats.
3. It is permissible for women to apply henna on their hands and feet as this is for beauty. It is better not to, without any reason colour the hands and feet of young children.
4. It is permissible to use henna on young girls as it is permissible for them to wear jewellery.
5. It is preferable for females to be content with silver jewellery and not insist on gold.
6. It is permissible for women to place beads in their hair made from gold or silver.
7. Whosoever wears gold jewellery due to pride shall be punished in the hereafter.
8. Females should not wear such jewellery that creates a jingling noise with movement especially on the feet as the curse of Allah (The Exalted) is on them.
9. Females can colour their nails with henna.
10. When the women are feeding their children, they should use a veil to cover up even in their own homes.
11. If the eyebrows are too long then they may be trimmed, only if they have over grown.
12. It is permissible to remove the hair of the arms and the legs.
13. To take off the hair from the chest and back is not recommended.
14. You can remove the hair from the arms, feet and stomach.
15. To have a young girl's ears pierced is permissible. Some even get the boys done too, this is not permissible. Boys are not allowed to wear jewellery.
16. For women to wear glass bangles is permissible.
17. To use black dye is forbidden and to use henna is permissible.