What is Qaza‘? What is the ruling on Qaza‘? Is it impermissible to cut the hair shorter on the edges or to have graded haircuts (on the sides)? Is it permissible for a man to cut the hair growing between his eyebrows?

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

Qaza‘ is to shave part of the head and leave another part unshaven. It has also been said that it is to shave separate parts of the head. This is known as Qaza‘, which is derived from the Arabic word "Qaza‘ah", meaning a thin cloudlet or cloud rack.

Muslim jurists agreed that such a practice is disliked because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade it.

Nevertheless, some scholars considered Qaza‘ permissible if done on the hair on the temples or the back of the neck.

As for cutting the hair shorter on the sides of the head, it is not considered Qaza‘ since the prohibition is exclusive to shaving, unless this is done to resemble the disbelievers or people of depravity and dissoluteness; in this case, it is also impermissible.

As for the ruling on removing the hair between the eyebrows for men and women, there is no harm in that if the hair is separate from the eyebrow hair and not connected to it. If it is connected to the eyebrow hair, then it is impermissible to remove it as it is considered a part of the eyebrow.

Dr. ‘Abdul-Kareem Zaydan said:

As for thinning the hair of the eyebrows by plucking them or plucking their edges or removing the hair between the eyebrows if they are connected, all these things are impermissible because they are implied by the prohibition and because this is included in Nams (plucking of the eyebrows), which is forbidden in Islam. [Ahkam Al-Mar’ah wa Al-Bayt Al-Muslim]

Allaah Knows best.