Is shaving or shortening hair required to include all hair on the head for men and women?
Chapter on Mentioning Hajj and Entering Makkah
Al-Mughni
Book of Hajj
Primary text
Shaving or shortening the hair must encompass all the hair on the head for both men and women. This position is held by Malik. The evidence for this necessity is the saying of Allah Almighty: {having your heads shaved} (Quran 48:27), which is general in scope, encompassing all of it. Furthermore, the Prophet, peace be upon him, shaved his entire head as an explanation of the absolute command, thus making reference to his action obligatory. This is also analogous to wiping (masah) in purification, as the ritual relates to the head and thus requires comprehensive treatment. If the hair is braided, the shortening must be done from the heads of the braids. Similarly, Malik stated that a woman must shorten all of her plaits.
Supporting text
A view from Ahmad permits partial shortening, based on the precedent of wiping during ablution. Ibn Hamid held a similar opinion. Al-Shafi'i stated that shortening from three hairs suffices. Ibn al-Mundhir preferred that whatever falls under the designation of shortening (taqsir) is sufficient due to the comprehensive nature of the linguistic term.