Works of Abul Baraa Muhamad Amreeki

All praise is for Allah and peace and blessing be upon His Messenger, and his family and companions.

Concerning that which follows:

By the Student of Knowledge, Shaykh Abdurrahman Murad  Q and A

Question:

In the hadith, the Prophet said, change the color of your white hair. I heard a hadith that you get air from having white hair. Is the second hadith weaker than the first? 

Answer:

It is authentically affirmed that the Prophet, may Allah praise him, commanded that the hair of Abu Bakr’s father be changed from its state (which was stark white) to a different color…and that black dye should not be used.
This is one narration…other narrations indicate that the Prophet, may Allah praise him, forbade one to use black hair dye, and that we should differ from the practice of non-Muslims in this regard (which in a whole, still stands today…that white hair is kept white).
So looking at these narrations, we can understand collectively from them, that you should change the color of the hair if it becomes stark white…but there is another narration, that seemingly indicates that one should keep their hair white, it states: 

من شاب شَيبةً في الاسلامِ ؛ كانت له نورًا يومَ القيامةِ

Meaning: Whoever grows a white hair in Islam, on account of it, he will have a light on the Day of Resurrection. (authentic)

This hadeeth is very literally translated…and it doesn’t mean that you keep your hair white and avoid dying it. You cannot simply take an individual text in the Sunnah and discard all others…this is incorrect! What this text means is that if you grow old in Islam (physically and spiritually) applying it in your life, it would reflect in a like fashion for you on the Day of Resurrection. 

Some may raise the issue that the Prophet, may Allah praise him, die while he had a few white hairs…if it was a must, why didn’t he dye those few hairs? 

This is where it gets technical! Is it Wajib or a Sunnah to change the color of the hair? There is Khilaaf (difference of opinion) in this issue…ultimately, the two sides have impressive arguments. Personally, I take the view that it is a must to change the hair, when the majority of the hair becomes white…but if only a few hairs are white, then in this case you need not change it at that instance. This is the summary of what Ibn Battal, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned in his sharh of Bukhari.