Assalaam alaykum. I heard a story saying that Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed put hairs of prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, under his helmet to obtain blessings; is that true?

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 is His slave and Messenger.

We have not come across the chain of narration of the story of Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed, may Allah be pleased with him, keeping hairs from the hair of the Prophet ; Ibn Katheer mentioned it in Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah without mentioning any chain of narrators for it, but he introduced it with a wording that indicates that it is weak: “It was narrated that Khaalid's helmet fell off during the Battle of Al-Yarmook. He asked the people to help him find it, and he was every insistent on finding it. The people blamed him for this, so he said, ‘It has some of the hair from the forehead of the Prophet and every time I went into the battle with it, Allah gave me victory.’” 

However, there are authentic ahaadeeth which prove that the Companions used to seek blessing from the effects of the Prophet like his hair and the water that he used to perform ablution, and those show that this is permissible.

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated the story of the Prophet shaving his hair on the day of 'Eed-ul-Adhha (day of sacrifice) and said, “He called for the barber and, pointing towards the right side of his head, said, ‘(Start from) here,’ and he then distributed his hair among those who were near him. He then pointed to the barber (to shave) the left side, and he shaved it, and he gave (this hair) to Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her).” [Muslim and Ahmad]

Another narration reads, “He started with the right half (of his head), and he distributed it among the people, giving each one or two hairs. And then (he asked the barber) to shave the left side ... then he (the Prophet) said, ‘Here is Abu Talhah,’ and he gave it [all the remaining hair] to Abu Talhah.”

Besides, Abu Juhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated, “The Prophet came to us at midday and water was brought for his ablution. After he had performed ablution, the people took the remaining water and wiped their bodies with it (as a blessing…”

There are other ahaadeeth that indicate that the Companions sought blessings from the effects of the Prophet . However, this seeking of blessing is peculiar to the Prophet .

The fatwa of the Standing Committee reads:

“Seeking blessing from righteous living people is an innovation, because the Companions did not do so among themselves, neither with the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs, nor with other Companions, because it is a means to commit Shirk (polytheism), so it was an obligation to leave this matter. It may even amount to major Shirk if one believes that the righteous person can benefit or harm by himself, that he disposes of the affairs of the universe, and so forth. As regards what the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, did with the Prophet such as seeking blessings in the water that he used to perform ablution, and with his hair, then this was from his characteristics, because Allah put blessings in his body, his hair, and his sweat, but this does not apply to anyone else…”

Allah knows best.