Understanding the Best Practices for Disposing of Trimmed Nails and Hair in Islam
Where should trimmed nails be disposed of?
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet Muhammad, his family, companions, and those who follow his guidance until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:
After trimming nails or shaving hair, or even the hair that falls out while combing, it is not obligatory to bury them. However, if someone chooses to bury them, it is a good act. If they are not buried, then there is – Insha’Allah – no harm in that either.
There are some hadiths that mention the burial of hair and nails, but all such narrations are weak and cannot be used as reliable evidence. Imam Al-Bayhaqi, in *Shu’ab al-Iman*, mentions, “There are different narrations regarding the burial of hair and nails, but all are weak.” Similarly, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said, “It is permissible to bury hair and nails, and if one does not do so, there is no harm in it.”
When Shaykh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Uthaymeen was asked about the burial of hair and nails after trimming, he responded, “The scholars have regarded the burial of hair and nails as a good and preferable practice… but to say that if they are left out in the open, it is sinful, there is no such basis.”
Summary: If someone buries trimmed nails or hair, there is no harm in it, and if someone burns them, that is also fine. However, leaving them out in the open may allow people with malicious intentions, like sorcerers, to use them for magic. Therefore, it is better to either bury or burn them, with burial being the preferred method, as this has been considered a good practice by the pious predecessors.
As for the claim that burning or burying nails and hair is not permissible, this is incorrect. Both burial and burning are allowed, although burial is better, despite being slightly more challenging.
And Allah knows best.
(Abu A’ish Jalaluddin Bharo Al-Jabnawi / King Saud University, Riyadh)