Answered by: Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji
Question:
I have noticed many men do not cut the small fingernail. When asked why they replied that it is sunnah? is there any proof for that?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Cutting the nails is Sunnah.1 Narrated Ibn `Umar: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “To shave the pubic hair. to clip the nails and to cut the moustaches short, are characteristics of the Fitra.”2 Having said that, the Hadiths from The Prophet P.B.U.H do not explicitly mention the methodology of cutting the nails.3 The books of Fiqh mention the different ways the nails should be cut, each one of them requires each and every nail needs to be cut. The Mustahab method according to the Hanafi jurists is to “start with the index finger of the right hand, then clip towards the little finger, then clip the right thumb. Then clip the little finger of the left hand and continue until the thumb”.4
Only Allah knows best
Written by Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
1 Fatawa Hindiyyah, Volume 9, Page 151, Darul Ishaat
2 Sahih al-Bukhari 5890
3 Fathul Bari, Volume 10, Page 345, Darul Marifa Beirut
4 Fatawa Hindiyyah, Volume 9, Page 152, Darul Ishaat