Is shaving your head sunnah for men?

The four schools agree on this.

Explanation

The Prophet ﷺ usually wore his hair to his earlobes or his shoulders, and that is the normal Sunnah style; see is long hair sunnah for men. At the end of Hajj and Umrah he shaved, and he prayed more than once for mercy on those who shave before he included those who shorten. So shaving is never something blameworthy for a man.

Outside Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ called a barber to shave the heads of the young sons of Ja'far after their father was martyred. And when he saw a boy with part of his head shaved, he said to shave all of it or leave all of it, which treats a fully shaved head as a normal option. Al-Tahawi, the great Hanafi hadith scholar, went further and regarded shaving as preferable, which shows the matter is wide.

• Allowed: a clean shave, a buzz cut, or a skin fade where the whole head is cut.
• Avoid: shaving part of the head and leaving the rest long (qaza'); see haram haircuts.
• Women: may not shave the head without a need such as illness; see can women cut their hair short.

For the rite in pilgrimage, see do you have to shave your head for umrah. For care of the hair you keep, see the Sunnah of hair care.

The evidence

Where the ruling is recorded

• Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar (al-Tahawi), Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on shaving the hair. Al-Tahawi's view that shaving the head is a sunnah and better than shortening.
• al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on circumcision, hair and nails. On shaving the head for men and the ruling for women.

Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.