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Clarifying the Topi: A Look at its Origins and Importance in Islamic Practice

Q: I require the following clarifications regarding wearing a Topi.

  1. Did Rasul Allah Sallallaahu Alaihiwa Sallam and the Sahaabah Radhi Allahu ​Anhum nurture the habit of wearing Topi during their lifetime? Sahih Bukhari 275 mentions of an occasion when Rasul Allah Sallallaahu Alaihiwa Sallam led the Jamaath having just completed his Ghusl with water dripping from his hair. Similarly other references that Rasul Allah Sallallaahu Alaihiwa Sallam did not wear Topi are mentioned in ​Nasa’i -5219, 4980,  Muslim – 4666, 4680, 4270 Bukhari – 3548, 352, 353 and Abu Dawood – 592, 3658.
  2. Did not this practise actually originate in Turkey when it became the capital of the Islamic empire, whose citizens had a traditional habit of wearing the tall and round Topi?
  3. Why do Muslims in many countries offer Salaah without the Topi? Are they going against the Deen? Is their Salaah not valid? 
  4. Then why do not Muslims who go on Haj/Umrah not wear a Topi (covering their head) by un-stitched cloth like they wear for Ihram?
  5. So, going by the above Sahih Hadith, is it still mandatory to wear the Topi ? Is it not a Bid’ah?

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A: Yes. Wearing the topi is a salient feature of Islam from the very era of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). There are many authentic Ahaadith in support of this. Water dripping from one’s hair does not prove that Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) was not wearing a topi at that time. The length of the hair of Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) at times would reach His earlobes, at times his shoulders and at times in between the ear lobes and shoulders. Hence the Sahaabah had seen the hair below the topi dripping with water.  
We have prepared an article on this issue. You may refer to it http://ihyaauddeen.co.za/?p=643

And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)

This answer was collected from MuftiOnline.co.za, where the questions have been answered by Mufti Zakaria Makada (Hafizahullah), who is currently a senior lecturer in the science of Hadith and Fiqh at Madrasah Ta’leemuddeen, Isipingo Beach, South Africa.

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