Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Assalam alaykum
Does a short back and sides haircut prevent my prayers from being accepted?
Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
There is no correlation between your hairstyle and the validity of your prayer. If you prayed whilst taking care of all the conditions and integrals of the prayer, and avoiding the invalidators (such as eating, drinking and talking), your prayer would be valid regardless of anything else.
As for a short back and sides haircut, it is not intrinsically wrong. Rather, any given style can be problematic when done specifically in imitation of non-Muslims or the corrupt, and on condition that they are clearly distinguished by such haircuts. When such factors are absent and you would like to merely style your hair in a particular fashion, this is fine.
Please also see: Is It Permissible to Get a Fade Haircut?
And Allah Most High knows best.
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.