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Henna in Early Islam
Henna is not mentioned anywhere in the Qur’an, but its use is referred to several times in the ḥadith literature [aḥadith are sayings or anecdotes about the Prophet Muhammad, as narrated by his companions and followers, compiled between the 8th and 9th centuries CE.]. There are 22 instances in the corpus of aḥadith where henna use is mentioned: eleven references to men, including the Prophet, using it to colour their hair and beards; five references to the colour of the water of a spoiled well as being like ‘an infusion of henna leaves’; one reference to its use as a medicinal treatment; and five references to its use as bodily adornment. Of those latter five, one deals with henna adornment by a mukhannath [a person occupying an intermediate gender role, between male and female: male-bodied, but with visible markers of feminine gender identity], which is frowned upon as an imitation of female behaviour; the remaining four deal with women’s decorative use of henna.
Interestingly, and significantly, none of those four aḥadith mention ritual use of henna or imply any existence of a henna ceremony. One of them describes how a woman motioned with her hand to the Prophet from behind a curtain; he could not tell if the hand was a man’s or a woman’s, and told her that if she was a woman she should show it by dyeing her nails with henna. This implies that it was accepted for women to dye their hands for ornament and that this was seen as a feminine trait. Interestingly, the second ḥadith relates that when ‘A’isha, one of the wives of Muhammad, was asked about dyeing with henna, she responded that it was allowed, but that she did not like to use it, since her husband, the Prophet, disliked its odour. These two aḥadith, taken together, suggest that henna use for early Muslim women was an acceptable ornament but not obligatory. The last two aḥadith reference a custom of abstaining from the use of henna during mourning, which may imply some connection between henna and celebration or happiness; however, other forms of beautification, such as kohl and new clothing, are also forbidden.
Interestingly, and significantly, none of those four aḥadith mention ritual use of henna or imply any existence of a henna ceremony. One of them describes how a woman motioned with her hand to the Prophet from behind a curtain; he could not tell if the hand was a man’s or a woman’s, and told her that if she was a woman she should show it by dyeing her nails with henna. This implies that it was accepted for women to dye their hands for ornament and that this was seen as a feminine trait. Interestingly, the second ḥadith relates that when ‘A’isha, one of the wives of Muhammad, was asked about dyeing with henna, she responded that it was allowed, but that she did not like to use it, since her husband, the Prophet, disliked its odour. These two aḥadith, taken together, suggest that henna use for early Muslim women was an acceptable ornament but not obligatory. The last two aḥadith reference a custom of abstaining from the use of henna during mourning, which may imply some connection between henna and celebration or happiness; however, other forms of beautification, such as kohl and new clothing, are also forbidden.
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There is an important mention of henna use in an early Islamic history, the Kitab al-Muḥabbar of Muḥammad ibn Habib [a 9th-century Muslim biographer and scholar, who died in Samarra, Iraq, in 859 CE. The Kitab al-Muḥabbar, composed circa 840 CE, is considered his most important work but it has unfortunately survived in only one 13th-century copy]. It records that after the death of the Prophet, there were some women in the Ḥaḍramaut who celebrated by hennaing their hands and playing music. When the news reached Abu Bakr, the successor of the Prophet and the first caliph, he ordered that the women be punished for their blasphemy by having their hands cut off, the henna stain providing damning evidence of their participation. While the women are labeled as ‘harlots’, there is clearly something else at play here, since many of the women were not of a suitable age for prostitution, and many were from noble or royal families. Interestingly, some of the women were explicitly mentioned as being Jewish.
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 Photo: Hyder Kazmi
Model: Hannah "Boots" Janoowalla |
It has been suggested that these women were in fact, as Beeston writes, “priestesses of the old pagan religion of South Arabia, who hoped that the death of Muhammad would afford them a chance of staging a revival of the old religion”; others have interpreted this as trivializing the bloody anti-Muhammad rebellion (ridda) and subsequent massacre of the Ḥaḍrami Kinda tribe by reframing and blaming it on women ‘of dubious reputation’. In any case, it is clear that the celebration of these women was threatening both religiously and politically to Abu Bakr and the nascent Muslim leadership. We can learn from this story that henna was not only forbidden during mourning, but also specifically a sign of celebration. These women are not Muslim: some are pagan, and some are Jewish. This may perhaps be an indication that the use of henna in celebration was customary among pagan and Jewish communities in the Arabian peninsula prior to Islam; however, since this is an Islamic source, it is impossible to tell for certain. It can be said only that attributing celebratory henna use to Jewish and pagan women would not have seemed improbable to ibn Habib’s readers two hundred years later.
The corpus of early Islamic literature, therefore, shows that henna was used medicinally and ornamentally, as a dye for both hair and skin, and particularly for female adornment. It does not indicate, however, that early Muslims practiced any of the ceremonial uses of henna which characterized later cultures, namely henna rituals surrounding birth, circumcision/puberty, and marriage; nor is there any indication that henna was used to create body art, in the form of patterns or designs. Given the content of the aḥadith examined above, it is interesting that folk traditions and later oral literature in Islamic cultures attributed a great deal of ritual significance to henna. As Kelly Spurles notes, “[the use of henna in Islam] is part of a complex of phenomena (including male circumcision and female veiling) that were tightly integrated into the Islamic cultural pattern, despite their very peripheral status in the foundational text”.
The use of henna in Islamic cultures is emphasized as a sunnah [a behaviour, usually learnt from the example of the prophet Muhammad, that is encouraged but not obligatory], and countries with a large Muslim presence often have strong henna traditions, particularly if they are situated within or near the geographic range of henna growth; the use of henna in Muslim communities serves as a visible marker to display an individual’s piety and devotion to the tradition. It should also be noted that the area of the Islamic empire corresponds closely to the growing range of the henna plant. The relationship between the growth range of the henna plant and early Islamic expansion has yet to be fully explored; it can be hypothesized that in some areas its use was introduced with the arrival of Islam, while in other areas the arrival of Islam may have strengthened the pre-Islamic traditions of henna use that were already present.
The use of henna in Islamic cultures is emphasized as a sunnah [a behaviour, usually learnt from the example of the prophet Muhammad, that is encouraged but not obligatory], and countries with a large Muslim presence often have strong henna traditions, particularly if they are situated within or near the geographic range of henna growth; the use of henna in Muslim communities serves as a visible marker to display an individual’s piety and devotion to the tradition. It should also be noted that the area of the Islamic empire corresponds closely to the growing range of the henna plant. The relationship between the growth range of the henna plant and early Islamic expansion has yet to be fully explored; it can be hypothesized that in some areas its use was introduced with the arrival of Islam, while in other areas the arrival of Islam may have strengthened the pre-Islamic traditions of henna use that were already present.
Sources and References:
Beeston, Alfred Felix Landon (AFL). 1952 The So-Called Harlots of Ḥaḍramaut. Oriens, Vol. 5, No. 1.
Lecker, Michael. 1995 Judaism among Kinda and the Ridda of Kinda. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 115, No. 4.
Lichtenstädter, Ilse. 1939 Muḥammad Ibn Ḥabîb and His Kitâb al-Muḥabbar. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1.
Rowson, Everett. 1991 The Effeminates of Early Medina. JAOS, Vol. 111, No. 4.
Spurles, Patricia Kelly. 2004 Henna for Brides and Gazelles: Ritual, Women’s Work, and Tourism in Morocco.
Lecker, Michael. 1995 Judaism among Kinda and the Ridda of Kinda. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 115, No. 4.
Lichtenstädter, Ilse. 1939 Muḥammad Ibn Ḥabîb and His Kitâb al-Muḥabbar. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1.
Rowson, Everett. 1991 The Effeminates of Early Medina. JAOS, Vol. 111, No. 4.
Spurles, Patricia Kelly. 2004 Henna for Brides and Gazelles: Ritual, Women’s Work, and Tourism in Morocco.