Cutting the Hair and Letting it Grow Long
I heard a Hadith which states that a man shaved some of the hair on his head and left some it, and the Messenger of Allah forbade this, saying:
Shave all of it, or leave all of it. So is shortening it forbidden, and how should we understand the Words of Allah, the Most High:
...(some) having your heads shaved and (some) having your head hair cut short...
Shortening the hair on the head is not forbidden, neither is shaving it Indeed, the former is permissible and so is the latter, but it is better for a person to follow what is the usual practice, if we say that removing some of the hair is a custom, rather than a Sunnah.
As for what he has indicated in his question, the Hadith refers to the occasion when the Prophet saw a man who had shaved a section of his head and left a section of it, so the Prophet ordered him to shave all of it, or leave all of it. But if it is shaved or cut, or left without shaving or cutting, there is no objection to that. As for the Words of Allah, the Most High:
...having your heads shaved and cut short. this refers to what Allah, the Most Glorified, Most High promised His Messenger and his Companions, when He said:
Certainly, you shall enter Al-Masjid Al-Haram if Allah wills, secure (some) having your heads shaved and (some) having your head hair cut short...
- because it is allowed for the one making 'Umrah to shave his head or shorten his hair, though there is evidence which indicates that shaving it is better than cutting it, and that is the case.
Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 1 Pages 390-391