Can you please comment on the boys hairstyles nowadays. They shave the sides of the head and leave the top and this causes many of the elders to be aggravated with them.

All Praise Be to Allah, and May His Blessings and Peace Be on His Messenger,

Qaza’ means shaving part of the hair and leaving part. The Prophet (pbuh) forbade this. Ibn ‘Umar (rA) reported that he (pbuh) saw a boy who had part of his head shaved, while the other was left. He forbade that and said: احْلِقُوهُ كُلَّهُ أَوْ اتْرُكُوهُ كُلَّهُ “Shave all of it or leave all of it.” [Al-Nasaa’i and Abu Dawood.] The prohibition was also reported by Al-Bukhâri and Muslim from Ibn ‘Umar who said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) forbade qaza’. Nâfi’ interpreted this to mean “shaving part of a boy’s head and leaving part.”

The position of the four madhâhib and the vast majority of scholars is that qaza’ is makrooh (disliked).

Shortening the sides of the head to look like they are almost shaven while leaving the top does not exactly fit the definition of qaza’, according to the apparent implications of the hadeeths and the explanation of the narrators and the vast majority of scholars. Having said that, the similarity is obvious, and doing so raises two important concerns from a spiritual and moral perspective, not a legal (fiqhi) one: the first is the indiscretion of getting close to what is forbidden, a quality that is not befitting of the vanguard of this Ummah. The second concern is that such practices are usually a result of unthoughtful imitation of other people with suboptimal moral character. It is hoped that our youth (particularly the leaders among them) will not be chasing such fashions. It is also hoped that our elders will address such matters with wisdom and tolerance, while recognizing the nuances of the fiqhi discourse regarding them.

Allah knows best.