SUNNAT of cutting nails

Pairing ones nails is a sunnah of Nabi salallahu alayhi wasallam. The nails should be paired whenever the need arises. [i]

῾Allāmah Tahtāwi rahmatullah alayh (d.1231H) mentions that nails should be paired once a weak and preferably on a Friday. If one delays from pairing once a week (due to slow growth of nails or some other reason) then he should pair them once in fifteen days. Leaving the nails unpaired for more than forty days is a sin. [ii]

There is no sunnah of pairing the nails in a specific sequence or order. However, there are different opinions about what is the preferred sequence.

Imām Ghazāli rahmatullah alayh (d.505H) has preferred and expounded on a particular sequence for pairing nails in hisIhyā’ Ulūmid Dīn. He mentions that one should start pairing the nails from the Shahadah finger of the right hand and then move towards the right till the small finger. Then one should start with the small finger of left hand and move towards the thumb of the left hand. Finally one should finish pairing at one’s right thumb. [iii]

῾Allāmah Nawāwi rahmatullah alayh (d.676H) has mentioned in his Al Majmū῾Sharhul Muhadhibthat this view of Imām Ghazāli rehmatullah alayh is acceptable except for the part where he says that the right thumb should be delayed it the end. ῾Allāmah Nawāwi rahmatullah alayh says that pairing the right thumb before starting the left hand will fulfil the preference of “beginning (an action) with the right”. [iv]

Mullah ῾Ali Qārī rahmatullah alayh (d.1014H) has thus conclusively mentioned in Mirqāt ul Mafatīh Sharah Mishkātil Masābīh that the preferred method is to start from the right index finger (Shahadah finger) to the right small finger then the right thumb. Thereafter, for left hand start from the small finger and ending towards the thumb. [v]

Pairing of the toe nails will be from the small right toe to the small left toe. [v]

With regards to specifying a particular day too, different opinions have been mentioned in the books. ῾Allāmah ibn Hajar rahmatullah alayh makes clarification of these views and mentions that the most appropriate view is that there is no reason to make any day specific for pairing ones nails. However, one may choose Jumu῾āh(Friday) to pair ones nails since most people reserve this day to clean themselves and beautify for the congregation. [vi]