The meaning of tafath

The cutting of the moustache and nails.

I said to Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, with regards to the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Then, let them end their tafath» (22:29). He said: It is to shave and what is in the skin of a person.

Tafath is a man’s abstention from perfume. When he has ended his rites, perfume is permissible to him.

Abu’l-Hasan, peace be upon him, said with regards to the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Then, let them end their tafath, and let them fulfill their vows» (22:29). He said: Tafath is the cutting of trim the tails, casting filth and the casting of the Ihram [1] from it.

I asked Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, about the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Then, let them end their tafath» (22:29). He said: That which comes from a man during his state of Ihram. When he enters Mecca, he should perform the circling and speak with good speech, for indeed, that is an expiation of that which came from him.

I asked him about tafath. He said: It is to trim the head.

I asked him about tafath, so he said: It is to shave and what is in the skin of a person.

It is to trim, and it is untidiness. He said: Among tafath is that you speak during your state of Ihram with horrid speech. If you, then, were to enter Mecca, perform the circling around the House and utter good speech, that would be its expiation.

We were told by Ahmad bin Idrees, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin Ahmad, from Musa bin Umar, from Muhammed bin Isma’eel bin Bazee’, from Ibrahim bin Mahzam, from the one he narrates from, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, that he said: If you enter Mecca, then buy dates with a dirham and give it as charity due to what came from you during your state of Ihram for the Umrah. Then, when you are finished with your pilgrimage, then buy dates with a dirham and give it as charity. Then, if you enter Medina, do the same as that.

I said to Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him: Indeed, Allah has ordered me in His Book with an order, and I would like to know (the meaning of) it. He said: And what is that? I said: The saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Then, let them end their tafath, and let them fulfill their vows» (22:29). He said: «let them end their tafath» is the meeting with the Imam, and «let them fulfill their vows» are those rites. Abdullah bin Sinan said: Then I came to Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, and I said: May Allah make me a sacrifice for you. The saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Then, let them end their tafath, and let them fulfill their vows» (22:29)? He said: It is to take (some off) the mustache, cut the nails, and similar to that. He said: I said: May I be sacrificed for you, Dhuraih al-Muharibi told me of you that you, indeed, said to him that «Then, let them end their tafath» is the meeting with the Imam, and that «and let them fulfill their vows» are those rites. He said: Dhuraih spoke true, and you have spoken true. Indeed, for the Qur’an is an apparent meaning and an internal meaning. And who can handle like what Dhuraih handles?