Is dyeing hair black haram?

The command and its wording

The ruling comes from a well-known narration. When Abu Quhafah, the father of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, was brought forward on the day of the conquest of Makkah, his head and beard were white like the thughamah plant. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Change this, and avoid black."— Sahih Muslim, from Jabir ibn Abdullah

Shaykh Ibn Baz draws the ruling directly from this: the command is to change the grey, and the prohibition is to avoid black — for men and women alike. He states plainly that dyeing with black "is not permissible, neither for the elderly man, nor for the woman, nor for the man."

Why the scholars read it as prohibition

IslamWeb explains the reasoning in two steps. First, a prohibition in the texts is carried as prohibition (tahrim) unless something exists to divert it to mere dislike (karahah) — and here, they say, there is nothing to divert it. Second, a warning of punishment cannot attach except to something forbidden or to the abandonment of an obligation. Since a warning is narrated about dyeing with black, the act must fall under prohibition.

"There will be people who dye with black in the latter times, like the crops of pigeons; they will not smell the fragrance of Paradise."— Sunan Abu Dawud 4212, from Ibn Abbas

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen adds a further reason: dyeing grey hair black is a contradiction of Allah's creation, since the grey itself is what Allah decreed.

What is permitted instead

The same texts that forbid black open the door to everything else. The scholars list what is allowed:

• Other colours entirely: red, yellow, henna, and katm (a plant dye) — Ibn Baz says there is no harm in these for men and women together.
• Henna and katm mixed: when combined, the colour comes out between black and red, not pure black, and this is permitted.
• A black that is not pure: if another colour is mixed in until the shade is adham (a very dark brown rather than jet black), Ibn Uthaymeen says there is no harm.
• Returning to your natural colour: if a woman's hair was originally black, she changed it to another colour, and now wants to return it to black, Ibn Uthaymeen permits this — because she is only restoring it to how Allah created it.

When the hair was never grey

This is where the scholars distinguish carefully. The prohibition in the texts is tied to changing grey hair. Ibn Uthaymeen was asked about someone whose hair is already black and who wants to dye it black to strengthen or beautify that colour. He said he does not consider it the same as the grey case, since the hair is black by origin — but he still advised against doing it. So the safer course, even here, is to leave it.

A note on the disagreement

The scholars are not agreed on the exact ruling. IslamWeb records that some held it merely makruh (disliked) rather than forbidden — the relied-upon position of the Hanbali school — citing a narration in which the Prophet ﷺ said to avoid black without the same emphatic wording. But IslamWeb itself concludes that the preponderant view is prohibition, and that the very least that can be said is that it is disliked — which is enough reason to leave it. Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymeen state the prohibition without qualification.

One exception is noted: Ibn Hajar mentions in Fath al-Bari that a warrior in battle is excluded from the prohibition by consensus, since deception of the enemy is intended there.

In practice

If you are covering grey, use henna, katm, or a colour other than black. If you want a dark result, mix so the final shade is brown rather than jet black. If your hair is naturally black and you were considering dyeing it black, the scholars advise leaving it. And if the dyeing would involve deceiving someone — making a person appear younger than they are for a purpose that misleads — then IslamWeb notes that this would be forbidden on that ground alone.

Key takeaways

• Pure black dye on grey hair is not permitted, for men and women alike, according to Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymeen.
• The evidence is the Prophet's ﷺ command to change grey hair and avoid black, with a warning of punishment attached.
• Other colours are permitted — henna, katm, red, yellow — and a black mixed with another colour until it is no longer pure black is also allowed.
• Returning hair to its original black after dyeing it another colour is permitted, since it restores Allah's original creation.
• Some scholars held it merely disliked, but the preponderant view IslamWeb reports is prohibition, and the least that can be said is that it should be left.

Further reading

• Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat al-Shaykh Ibn Baz
• Fath al-Bari, Ibn Hajar
• Sharh Zad al-Mustaqni', al-Shanqiti

And Allah knows best.