Sahih al-Bukhari — hadith #5687–#5711
The verbatim English translation of each narration. Use the interactive reader for search and themes.
Sahih al-Bukhari uses the standard numbering. A Bukhari number here is the same narration you will find under that number on sunnah.com or in a printed edition.
Sahih Muslim is different, and this matters. Our Muslim numbers are site reader numbers — a running count through this translation, in which each chain of narration is listed separately. That gives about 7,458 entries where the standard numbering has roughly 3,000. A Sahih Muslim number on this site will not find the same hadith on sunnah.com, and following it there will usually land you on a different narration entirely. To check a Muslim narration elsewhere, search for its wording rather than its number. We state this plainly because a number that looks authoritative and is not is worse than no number at all.
The themes are our own navigational grouping, and these translations are no substitute for study of the Arabic with qualified scholars (see our editorial policy). A small number of entries with no translated text are omitted rather than guessed at.
Narrated Khalid bin Sa`d:We went out and Ghalib bin Abjar was accompanying us. He fell ill on the way and when we arrived at Medina he was still sick. Ibn Abi 'Atiq came to visit him and said to us, "Treat him with black cumin. Take five or seven seeds and crush them (mix the powder with oil) and drop the resulting mixture into both nostrils, for `Aisha has narrated to me that she heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, 'This black cumin is healing for all diseases except As-Sam.' Aisha said, 'What is As-Sam?' He said, 'Death
Narrated Abu Huraira:I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "There is healing in black cumin for all diseases except death
Narrated 'Urwa:Aisha used to recommend at-Talbina for the sick and for such a person as grieved over a dead person. She used to say, "I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, 'at-Talbina gives rest to the heart of the patient and makes it active and relieves some of his sorrow and grief
Narrated Hisham's father:`Aisha used to recommend at-Talbina and used to say, "It is disliked (by the patient) although it is beneficial
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:The Prophet (ﷺ) was cupped and he paid the wages to the one who had cupped him and then took Su'ut (Medicine sniffed by nose)
Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsan:I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Treat with the Indian incense, for it has healing for seven diseases; it is to be sniffed by one having throat trouble, and to be put into one side of the mouth of one suffering from pleurisy." Once I went to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) with a son of mine who would not eat any food, and the boy passed urine on him whereupon he asked for some water and sprinkled it over the place of urine
Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsan:I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Treat with the Indian incense, for it has healing for seven diseases; it is to be sniffed by one having throat trouble, and to be put into one side of the mouth of one suffering from pleurisy." Once I went to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) with a son of mine who would not eat any food, and the boy passed urine on him whereupon he asked for some water and sprinkled it over the place of urine
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:The Prophet (ﷺ) was cupped while he was fasting
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:The Prophet (ﷺ) was cupped while he was in a state of Ihram
Narrated Anas:that he was asked about the wages of the one who cups others. He said, 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was cupped by `Abd Taiba, to whom he gave two Sa of food and interceded for him with his masters who consequently reduced what they used to charge him daily. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The best medicines you may treat yourselves with are cupping and sea incense.' He added, "You should not torture your children by treating tonsillitis by pressing the tonsils or the palate with the finger, but use incense
Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:that he paid Al-Muqanna a visit during his illness and said, "I will not leave till he gets cupped, for I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "There is healing in cupping
Narrated `Abdullah bin Buhaina:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was cupped on the middle of his head at Lahl Jamal on his way to Mecca while he was in a state of Ihram. Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was cupped on his head
Narrated `Abdullah bin Buhaina:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was cupped on the middle of his head at Lahl Jamal on his way to Mecca while he was in a state of Ihram. Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was cupped on his head
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:The Prophet (ﷺ) was cupped on his head for an ailment he was suffering from while he was in a state of Ihram. at a water place called Lahl Jamal. Ibn `Abbas further said: Allah's Apostle was cupped on his head for unilateral headache while he was in a state of Ihram
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:The Prophet (ﷺ) was cupped on his head for an ailment he was suffering from while he was in a state of Ihram. at a water place called Lahl Jamal. Ibn `Abbas further said: Allah's Apostle was cupped on his head for unilateral headache while he was in a state of Ihram
Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "If there is any good in your medicines, then it is in a gulp of honey, a cupping operation, or branding (cauterization), but I do not like to be (cauterized) branded
Narrated Ka`b bin Ujrah:The Prophet (ﷺ) came to me during the period of Al-Hudaibiya, while I was lighting fire underneath a cooking pot and lice were falling down my head. He said, "Do your lice hurt your?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Shave your head and fast for three days or feed six poor persons or slaughter a sheep as a sacrifice:
Narrated Jabir:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If there is any healing in your medicines then it is a cupping operation, or branding (cauterization), but I do not like to be (cauterized) branded
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'Nations were displayed before me; one or two prophets would pass by along with a few followers. A prophet would pass by accompanied by nobody. Then a big crowd of people passed in front of me and I asked, Who are they Are they my followers?" It was said, 'No. It is Moses and his followers It was said to me, 'Look at the horizon.'' Behold! There was a multitude of people filling the horizon. Then it was said to me, 'Look there and there about the stretching sky! Behold! There was a multitude filling the horizon,' It was said to me, 'This is your nation out of whom seventy thousand shall enter Paradise without reckoning.' "Then the Prophet (ﷺ) entered his house without telling his companions who they (the 70,000) were. So the people started talking about the issue and said, "It is we who have believed in Allah and followed His Apostle; therefore those people are either ourselves or our children who are born m the Islamic era, for we were born in the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance.'' When the Prophet (ﷺ) heard of that, he came out and said. "Those people are those who do not treat themselves with Ruqya, nor do they believe in bad or good omen (from birds etc.) nor do they get themselves branded (Cauterized). but they put their trust (only) in their Lord " On that 'Ukasha bin Muhsin said. "Am I one of them, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?' The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Yes." Then another person got up and said, "Am I one of them?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, 'Ukasha has anticipated you
Narrated Um Salama:The husband of a lady died and her eyes became sore and the people mentioned her story to the Prophet They asked him whether it was permissible for her to use kohl as her eyes were exposed to danger. He said, "Previously, when one of you was bereaved by a husband she would stay in her dirty clothes in a bad unhealthy house (for one year), and when a dog passed by, she would throw a globe of dung. No, (she should observe the prescribed period Idda) for four months and ten days
Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "(There is) no 'Adwa (no contagious disease is conveyed without Allah's permission). nor is there any bad omen (from birds), nor is there any Hamah, nor is there any bad omen in the month of Safar, and one should run away from the leper as one runs away from a lion." Note: The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false
Narrated Sa`id bin Zaid:I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Truffles are like Manna (i.e. they grow naturally without man's care) and their water heals eye diseases
Narrated Ibn `Abbas and `Aisha:Abu Bakr kissed (the forehead of) the Prophet (ﷺ) when he was dead. `Aisha added: We put medicine in one side of his mouth but he started waving us not to insert the medicine into his mouth. We said, "He dislikes the medicine as a patient usually does." But when he came to his senses he said, "Did I not forbid you to put medicine (by force) in the side of my mouth?" We said, "We thought it was just because a patient usually dislikes medicine." He said, "None of those who are in the house but will be forced to take medicine in the side of his mouth while I am watching, except Al-`Abbas, for he had not witnessed your deed
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cursed women who engaged in tattooing (permanent marking of the skin), those who removed facial hair, and those who filed gaps between their teeth artificially for beauty purposes. These practices were condemned because they alter what Allah has created. When Um Ya'qub questioned whether such a prohibition existed in the Qur'an, 'Abdullah cited the verse: "What the Messenger gives you, take it; and what he forbids you, abstain from it" (Qur'an 59:7), explaining that following the Prophet's guidance is itself a Qur'anic command.
This hadith is narrated through 'Alqama from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, one of the Prophet's closest Companions and an authority on Islamic jurisprudence. The exchange with Um Ya'qub reflects a real discussion about the sources of Islamic law: while some practices are explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an, others are established through the Prophet's (peace be upon him) explicit statements and actions (Sunnah). The legal principle here is that the Prophet's guidance—even when not directly quoted in the Qur'an—derives its authority from Qur'anic verses commanding obedience to the Messenger.
Muslims should recognize that following the Sunnah (the Prophet's teachings and example) is not separate from obeying the Qur'an but rather integral to it. The hadith also teaches that women should avoid beautification practices that involve permanent or artificial alteration of their natural features, as Islamic teachings emphasize accepting Allah's creation. More broadly, believers must seek knowledge carefully and understand that Islamic rulings come from both the Qur'an and the authenticated teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) expressed strong disapproval—through a curse, meaning exclusion from his intercession—toward women who engage in two practices: lengthening hair artificially (using false hair extensions or similar additions) and tattooing the body (marking the skin with permanent designs). The hadith applies both to the woman who performs these acts and to the woman who requests or allows them to be done to her.
Ibn 'Umar, a companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him), transmitted this teaching about prohibitions related to appearance and the body. This narration addresses cultural practices among Arabian women of the time that involved altering natural appearance. The condemnation reflects Islamic teaching on preserving the creation (fitrah) as Allah made it, and avoiding deceptive practices that misrepresent one's true state. Such prohibitions are part of broader Islamic guidance on modesty, natural beauty, and the limits of permissible self-adornment.
Muslims should understand that Islam values natural appearance and discourages practices that fundamentally alter or deceive about one's physical state. While Islamic law permits many forms of adornment—including henna, kohl, and modest beautification—there are boundaries rooted in authenticity and respect for Allah's creation. For women today, this hadith encourages reliance on natural beauty and permissible enhancements rather than extensive artificial modifications. The principle applies more broadly: believers should seek inner beauty through character and piety, remembering that the most valuable adornment is taqwa (God-consciousness). Understanding these guidelines helps Muslims balance reasonable self-care with the spiritual values Islam emphasizes.