Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Last night before Tarawih prayers at my Mosque, our Imam informed us that tonight, a few men from Turkey will be visiting our Mosque, with a part of the beard of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him). I was wondering what the authenticity of these hairs was, and is there any items, possessions, or anything else in the world today left from Muhammed SAWS? May Allah SWT have mercy on you Burhan.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Hair from Beard of Muhammed (SAWS)

There is absolutely no record in the authentic and established Sunnah, nor recorded in history that the Prophet (saws) himself distributed his body hair to any of his companions.  It is possible that when the Messenger of Allah (saws) had a hair-cut or had his hair shaven during the pilgrimage of Hajj or Umrah, that some amongst his companions might have collected his hair…..and subsequently those strands of hair might have been taken to different parts of the world by the generations that came after the Prophet (saws).  

Other than the ‘Hazratbal’ in Srinagar, Kashmir…there are many places in the world which claim to possess the hair of the Prophet (saws)…namely, India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Turkey, etc.  One cannot say with absolute conviction that the hairs displayed at these museums or ‘shrines’ are indeed authentic or not……and if some ignorant people start the worship of a human hair (or absolutely anything for that matter!)….then without an iota of a doubt, they would be guilty of committing the absolute, most heinous, unforgivable crime and abomination of ‘shirk’ with Allah Subhanah!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan