No Authentic Verbal Hadith Exists on the Virtues of the Turban
Compiled by: Saeed Mujtaba Saeedi
Introduction
Wearing a turban is undoubtedly established through the practical Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. However, not a single authentic verbal Hadith has been proven regarding its virtues.
Many narrations on this subject are found in the books of Hadith, but all of them are either weak or fabricated. In this article, such narrations are presented along with the evaluations of the hadith scholars, so that people may receive correct guidance.
① First Narration
«عليكم بالعمائم فإنها سيما الملائكة وأرخوا لها خلف ظهوركم»
(Ṭabarānī from Ibn ʿUmar, al-Bayhaqī from ʿUbādah)
Translation:
“Tie turbans, for they are the sign of the angels, and let their ends hang behind your backs.”
Evaluation by Hadith Scholars:
- Imām al-Suyūṭī (رحمه الله) marked this as ḍaʿīf. 【al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr 2/64】
- al-Manāwī (رحمه الله) stated: In its chain is ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus, declared weak by Imām al-Dāraqutnī. 【Fayḍ al-Qadīr 4/345】
- Al-Bayhaqī and Ibn ʿAdī narrated from ʿUbādah (RA), but both chains contain al-Ḥawṣ ibn Ḥakīm, who was declared weak by al-ʿIrāqī. 【Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 3/50】
- Ibn Ṭāhir al-Paṭnī (رحمه الله) listed it among fabricated narrations. 【al-Fawāʾid al-Majmūʿah, al-Shawkānī p.187】
- In al-Lāʾālī al-Maṣnūʿah, it is stated that this narration is not authentic.
Conclusion: This narration is weak and cannot be used as evidence for the virtue of the turban.② Second Narration
«صلاة تطوع أو فريضة بعمامة تعدل خمسا وعشرين صلاة بلا عمامة، وجمعة بعمامة تعدل سبعين جمعة بلا عمامة»
(From Ibn ʿUmar)
Translation:
“One voluntary or obligatory prayer with a turban equals twenty-five prayers without a turban. One Jumuʿah with a turban equals seventy Jumuʿahs without a turban.”
Evaluation:
- Imām al-Suyūṭī considered it authentic. 【al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr 2/48】
- However, great scholars such as Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī and al-Shawkānī graded it as mawḍūʿ (fabricated). 【al-Fawāʾid al-Majmūʿah, p.188】
Conclusion: Fabricated; not a valid proof.③ Third Narration
«إن الله تعالى وملائكته يصلون على أصحاب العمائم يوم الجمعة»
(Ṭabarānī from Abū al-Dardāʾ)
Translation:
“On Jumuʿah, Allah sends mercy upon those who wear turbans, and the angels pray for them.”
Evaluation:
- In its chain is Ayyūb ibn Mudrik, a liar (kadhdhāb). 【Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, Lisān al-Mīzān】
- Ibn Maʿīn, al-Nasāʾī, and others declared him abandoned.
- Ibn al-Jawzī included it in al-Mawḍūʿāt.
Conclusion: Fabricated and unreliable.④ Fourth Narration
«الصلاة في العمامة عشرة آلاف حسنة»
(Musnad al-Firdaws)
Translation:
“Praying with a turban brings ten thousand good deeds.”
Evaluation:
- Exaggerated reward indicates fabrication.
- Al-Shawkānī declared one of its narrators accused of lying. 【al-Fawāʾid al-Majmūʿah, p.188】
- Al-Sakhāwī called it fabricated.
Conclusion: Fabricated.⑤ Fifth Narration
«اعتموا تزدادوا حلما»
(From Ibn ʿAbbās)
Translation:
“Wear turbans, for it increases forbearance.”
Evaluation:
- Contains ʿUbaydullāh ibn Abī Ḥumayd, declared abandoned by Imām Aḥmad. 【al-Mustadrak 4/193】
- Declared fabricated by al-Jurjānī.
Conclusion: Weak and fabricated.⑥ Sixth Narration
«عن علي قال عممني رسول الله ﷺ يوم غدير خم... إن العمامة حاجزة بين الكفر والإيمان»
(Musnad Abī Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī)
Translation:
ʿAlī (RA) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ tied a turban on my head on the Day of Ghadīr Khumm and let its end hang behind me. He said: “Allah aided me at Badr and Ḥunayn with angels who wore such turbans.” He further said: “The turban is a barrier between kufr and īmān.”
Evaluation:
- Contradicts authentic Hadith that ṣalāh is the distinction between kufr and īmān, not the turban.
- Contains al-Ashʿath ibn Saʿd al-Sammān, weak narrator.
Conclusion: Weak, tending toward fabrication.⑦ Seventh Narration
«العمائم تيجان العرب...»
(al-Quḍāʿī and al-Daylamī in Musnad al-Firdaws, from ʿAlī)
Translation:
“Turbans are the crowns of the Arabs, leaning back is their etiquette, and a believer sitting in the masjid is like ribāṭ (guarding in the path of Allah).”
Evaluation:
- Al-Sakhāwī declared it weak. 【al-Fawāʾid al-Majmūʿah, p.187】
Conclusion: Weak.⑧ Eighth Narration
«صلاة على كور العمامة يعدل ثوابها عند الله غزوة في سبيل الله»
Translation:
“A prayer performed with the turban’s folds equals the reward of a battle in the path of Allah.”
Evaluation:
- Its meaning alone exposes fabrication.
- Declared fabricated by Imām al-Shawkānī. 【al-Fawāʾid al-Majmūʿah, p.188】
Conclusion: Fabricated.Statements of Scholars
✿ Ibn al-Dībʿ al-Shaybānī (رحمه الله, d. 944H):
“All narrations on the virtues of the turban, though reported in different wordings, are weak.” 【Tamyīz al-Ṭayyib min al-Khabīth, p.107】
✿ ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mubārakpūrī (رحمه الله, d. 1353H):
“I have not found any authentic marfūʿ hadith regarding the virtue of the turban. All that is reported is either weak or fabricated.” 【Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 3/50】
◈ Summary
- All narrations concerning the virtues of the turban are either weak or fabricated.
- Wearing a turban is practically proven from the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, but no authentic Hadith establishes virtues specific to it.
- True obedience to the Prophet ﷺ means acting upon what is authentically reported, not presenting weak or fabricated narrations as Sunnah.
