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Is it permissible to keep nail clippings or a piece of hair for memory, or is that considered unlawful?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is recommended to bury hair and nail clippings, as this has been reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and was practiced by a number of the early Muslims. Scholars have explicitly stated its recommendability. The Shafi'is and Hanafis restrict this recommendability to exclude nail and hair clippings from the 'awrah (parts of the body that must be covered), for what is unlawful to look at while attached is unlawful to look at when detached. Keeping these items is disliked due to the frivolity involved, and it may lead to their use in sorcery. It is forbidden to keep them if there is a strong likelihood that someone whose gaze is unlawful may see them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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