Sudden appearance of gray hair at age 20

30-12-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

I have all of a sudden started to grow a few white hairs and Subhanallaah, I am only 20 years-old. May I please have some advice to not worry about them. I've heard that it's a sign from Allaah but what does it mean? Is it a bad thing or good? If you could please answer I would be thankful.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

It is a good sign for a Muslim male or female to have grey or white hair. The Prophet said: "Grey hair is the light of a believer. There is no man who has white (i.e. grey) hair in Islam except that he gets a good deed for every white hair and his degree is raised by one rank." [Al-Bayhaqi] Having white hair is not an evidence of being old, it could happen due to some hereditary factors or other things; so do not worry. Finally, we advise you to the saying of the Prophet : "Change this hair but avoid black colour." [Ahmad] The above narration includes two matters:

1)     Dyeing the hair with henna or the like.

2)     The prohibition of dyeing the hair with black colour, as that could be a way of cheating or deceiving.

Allaah knows best.