Can Muslim men have long hair or braids?

Shoulder-length hair, a bun, braids, locs: many Muslim men wear their hair long and wonder whether Islam allows it. Muslim men may have long hair and may braid it. The Prophet ﷺ himself wore his hair to his shoulders and at times in braids, and he taught the believers to honor their hair at whatever length they chose. Short hair is permitted too, and the choice belongs to each man’s taste and the custom of his community.

Can Muslim men have long hair in Islam?

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him), who served the Prophet ﷺ for ten years, described his hair:

«كَانَ يَضْرِبُ شَعَرُهُ مَنْكِبَيْهِ»

“His hair would reach his shoulders.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 5903

Anas also said that it was wavy, neither straight nor tightly curled, and that it fell between his ears and his shoulders (Sahih al-Bukhari 5905). The hadith scholars gathered these reports in works such as al-Tirmidhi’s al-Shamāʾil, using the Arabic names for each length: the wafra to the earlobes, the limma between the ears and shoulders, and the jumma to the shoulders. His hair was at each length at different times.

He also changed its style. Ibn ʿAbbās reported that at first he let his hair hang loose over his forehead, and later he parted it (Sahih al-Bukhari 5917). His wife Aisha combed it for him, even during her period, while he leaned his head toward her from the mosque (Sahih al-Bukhari 296). For more on his life and person, see Who was the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?

Did the Prophet ﷺ wear braids?

He did. His cousin Umm Hāniʾ bint Abī Ṭālib remembered his arrival in Mecca:

«قَدِمَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِلَى مَكَّةَ وَلَهُ أَرْبَعُ غَدَائِرَ»

“The Prophet ﷺ came to Mecca with four braids.”

Sunan Abi Dawud 4191

Al-Albani graded this report sahih. The narrator explained the word ghadāʾir as ʿaqāʾiṣ, plaits. Long hair gathered into braids was a familiar style for men in Arabia, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wore it in one of the great moments of his life. Braids, twists, and locs for men today stand on the same ground.

What about the hadith of Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr?

Some cite a report in which the Companion Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr came to the Prophet ﷺ with long hair and heard him say “dhubāb, dhubāb,” a word for something ill-omened. Wāʾil went home and cut his hair. The next day the Prophet ﷺ told him: “I did not mean you, and this is better” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4190). The remark was never about Wāʾil’s hair, and the Prophet ﷺ took care that a Companion should not feel blamed for it. He praised the new haircut as well. The report shows that short hair is good too; long hair remains the Prophet’s ﷺ own practice.

Does long hair make a man resemble women?

The Prophet ﷺ cursed men who make themselves resemble women and women who make themselves resemble men (Sahih al-Bukhari 5885). The commentators explained this as adopting what a society reserves for the other sex. Long hair on a man cannot fall under it, since it was the Prophet’s ﷺ own style and that of many Companions. The parallel question for women is answered in Can Muslim women cut their hair short?

How should Muslim men care for long hair?

The Prophet ﷺ gave one rule for hair of every length:

«مَنْ كَانَ لَهُ شَعْرٌ فَلْيُكْرِمْهُ»

“Whoever has hair, let him honor it.”

Sunan Abi Dawud 4163

Al-Albani graded this hadith hasan sahih. Honoring hair means washing, combing, and oiling it, and keeping it neat. In prayer the Quran asks every believer to come dressed with care:

خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمۡ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسۡجِدٖ

“Take your adornment to every place of prayer.”

Quran 7:31

• Qazaʿ. The Prophet ﷺ forbade shaving parts of the head and leaving tufts on others (Sahih al-Bukhari 5920), and most scholars hold this disliked. Nāfiʿ, who narrated it, said that leaving hair at the forelock and the nape was no harm.
• Ghusl. Let the water reach the scalp; braids and locs can stay as they are when water reaches the roots. The steps are in How to perform ghusl.
• Color. Dyeing hair, including grey hair, is halal; see Is it haram to dye your hair?
• The beard. Its rulings are in Is it haram to shave your beard?

A closing word

Allah made every human being with care:

لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ فِيٓ أَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيمٖ

“We created the human being in the finest form.”

Quran 95:4

Whether you wear your hair long like the Prophet ﷺ at Mecca or short like Wāʾil after his haircut, wear it with gratitude, keep it clean, and let it remind you of the One who shaped you.