Is It Sunnah to Shave the Hair of a Newborn Girl?

Praise be to Allah.

Shaving baby hair in Islam

At-Tirmidhi (1522) narrated that Samurah (may Allah be pleaded with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The boy is in pledge for his `Aqiqah which should be slaughtered on his behalf on the seventh day, and he should be named and his head shaved.” This Hadith was classed as authentic by Al-Albani in Sahih At-Tirmidhi, and it indicates that it is recommended to shave the hair of the newborn.

Is it sunnah to shave the hair of a newborn girl?

The jurists differed with regard to shaving the head of a female newborn. The Malikis and Shafi`is are of the view that it should be shaved as the male’s head is shaved. The Hanbalis are of the view that it should not be shaved.

The Shafi`is quoted as evidence for shaving the head of a female the inauthentic report narrated by Malik, Al-Bayhaqi and others from Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn Al-Husayn who said: Fatimah the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) weighed the hair of Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn, Zaynab and Umm Kalthum, and gave the equivalent weight in silver in charity.

Al-Bayhaqi also narrated it in a report from `Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told Fatimah to give charity equal to the weight in silver of the hair of Al-Husayn. An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There is some weakness in its chain of narration.

The argument of the Hanbalis is based on the fact that in principle women are not allowed to shave their heads, and there is no report concerning shaving the newborn except in the case of a boy.

Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Al-Mughni (1/104): It is proven in the reports that it is disliked for a woman to shave her head unnecessarily. Abu Musa said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) disavowed himself of women who raise their voices and shave their heads (at times of loss). (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Al-Khallal (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated with his chain of narration from Qatadah that `Ikrimah said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade women to shave their heads, and Al-Hasan said: It is mutilation – i.e., changing the creation of Allah.

Because there is no authentic Hadith which speaks of shaving the head of a newborn female, the principle remains, which is that it is forbidden to shave the head. (Sharh Al-Khurashi `ala Mukhtasar Khalil, 3/48; Al-Majmu`, 8/406; Kishshaf Al-Qina`, 3/29)

With regard to the command to remove the harm that is mentioned in the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “With the boy there is his `Aqiqah so shed blood on his behalf and remove the harm from him” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5471) The phrase “remove the harm” may be interpreted in different ways. It was said that what is meant is shaving the head, or removing any dirt that is on it, such as blood etc. So it may be understood that it means it is recommended to wash it.

Al-Hafidh said in Al-Fat-h (9/593): “In the Hadith of Ibn `Abbas that is narrated by At-Tabarani it says: “Remove the harm from him and shave his head.” So he added the idea of shaving the head after saying remove the harm. Therefore we should interpret the word Adha (harm) as referring to something more general in meaning than shaving the head. This is supported by the fact that in some versions of the Hadith of `Amr ibn Shu`ayb it says:  “and wipe the dirt from him”. (Narrated by Abu Ash-Shaykh)” (End quote)

Whatever the case, the Hadith refers to boys only (Ghulam) and this supports the view of the Hanbalis.

For more details, please see the following answers: 60252 and 20018.

And Allah knows best.