The Sacred

Strands of Hair

he Companions of the

Prophet would collect

: strands of his hair and

beard after they were cut for keep-

sakes. Anas ibn Malik explained this

as follows: "Once I saw the Prophet

while he was being shaved by a bar-

ber. The Companions had surround-

ed him, and they did not allow a sin-

gle strand to fall on the ground. They

picked up all of them." 8

According to Umm Umara's narra-

tive, when the Muslims stopped in

Hudaybiya on their way to perform

minor pilgrimage, hair shaved from

the Prophet was left on a tree

branch. The Companions collected it

and shared it among themselves

Umm Umara always kept a handful of

hair with her. For medicinal purposes

it was put in water used to wash il

people.

During the Farewell Pilgrimage

the Prophet gave his hair that had

been cut by Mamar ibn 'Abd Allah to

Abu Talha al-Ansari and told him to

"distribute it to people." The famous

Muslim commander Khalid ibn al-

Walid asked for some hair from the

Prophet, which he placed in his tur

ban and carried for the rest of his life.

Later, when he was criticized for put-

ting himself in danger while trying to

retrieve his turban which had fallen

off during battle, Khalid said that the

Prophet's hair was inside it, adding

that God always granted him victory

for the sake of that hair.