Is it permissible for a woman to wear a hair grip that does not show the size of the hair from behind the head cover? Is it permissible to wear a hair grip that shows the size of the hair before other women and mahram (permanently unmarriageable) men? In the later case, is it included in the Hadeeth in which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, described some women saying that their heads "look like the humps of camels, leaning to one side…"?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible to use a hair grip, as it is just a tool used to collect hair. It is unrelated to the Hadeeth in which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, described some women whose heads look like the humps of camels. This is so because a hair grip is typically fixed to the back of the head while the Hadeeth refers to the action of enlarging the head by using veils and turbans or fixing hair extensions or any other things that are wrapped around the head to give a false impression of having heavy and long hair that looks like the humps of camels when collected above the head. So the Hadeeth refers to things that are fixed to the top of the head, not to the back, as well as things that are added to the hair in order to give a false impression of having heavy hair. However, it is clear that a hair grip is just a tool, not hair.

Commenting on this part of the Hadeeth, Al-Humaydi said, "They make their heads look larger using veils, turbans, and hair extensions so that they look as high as the humps of camels." [Tafseer Ghareeb Ma fee As-Saheehayn]

Al-Munawi said, "They (women) enlarge their  heads by wrapping pieces of cloth, bands, and scarves around them, and this makes their heads look like the humps of camels."

Ibn Al-‘Arabi said, "It is a metaphor for magnifying heads by wrapping pieces of cloth so that a person who looks at them falsely thinks that it is the size of the hair."     

Allah knows best.