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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/17/05 at 13:30:58 |
| [slm]..... 1. I have thick eyebrows that come all across my face, with no partition in the middle. Is it permissible for me to cut them in the middle, or to cut unwanted thick hair? 2. As a young man, I am much irritated by my very thick eyebrows, which have now joined, forming a single eyebrow stretching over both eyes. When I suggest that I should remove part of the hair, my mother objects saying that this is good only for girls. Please comment. Answers: 1. Such a question is normally asked by a young woman but this time it is put by a young man who finds his thick hair a source of irritation. In normal situations we would give an answer that this is not permissible. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has made it clear that all types of changing one's appearance are not permissible. On eyebrow thinning, he curses the woman who undertakes the task and the one who requests it to be done for her. If this is not acceptable in the case of a woman, it is certainly less so for a man, because changing one's appearance is one way of changing God's creation, which is forbidden in Islam. In the Qur'an, God says about the unbelievers: "In His stead, they invoke only lifeless symbols", thus invoking none but a rebellious Satan, whom God has rejected, for he had said: "Of Your servants I shall indeed take my due share, and shall certainly lead them astray, and fill them with vain desires; and I shall command them and they will slit the ears of cattle (in idolatrous sacrifice); and I shall command them and they will corrupt God's creation. But all who take Satan rather than God for their master do incur a manifest loss." (4: 117-119) Here corrupting God's creation is clearly shown to be part of Satan's designs against humanity. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has warned against all aspects of such change, including removing or thinning eyebrows, trimming teeth, etc. Having said that, a case may be made for a person who suffers from some abnormality in his or her appearance, which causes them much distress. If one has an abnormally thick hair in some part of one's face, which makes that person subject to taunts, ridicule or other forms of irritation, and if this is seen to weigh heavily on such person, then this may be a case for relaxing the restriction. [Or there may be some part of the eyebrow that outgrows the rest so as to extend to the eye lashes and obstruct one's sight, it may be permissible to clip only such extended eyebrows. This is not intended to bring some change in appearance.] However, this applies to individual cases. We cannot give a general ruling except to say that in such a case there may be room for permissibility, depending on the special circumstances of the case. 2. A woman who thins her eyebrows, or removes them totally or partly, in order to give herself a different appearance is strongly censured by the Prophet, peace be upon him. In fact Islam condemns any practice that gives a false appearance. Therefore, my advice to you is not to change the way you look, and to accept what God has given you. Only in a case where something in one's appearance is abnormal, giving the person concerned much bother that modification is acceptable. Thus, if a woman grows hair in some odd places, giving her a real problem and causing people to point her out with some unkind remarks, she may remove what causes her such hurt. You will note the difference between the two situations: when it is a question of a better appearance, it is condemned; but when it is a question of sparing oneself what hurts, it is permissible. Allahu Alim. Allah (SWT) bless..... Ma-assalaamah........ |
| Re: The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/17/05 at 14:08:00 |
| [slm].... This issue to some of you may seem controversial, but the answer is really simple and stated above. Now mind you, it's all in intentions. My eyebrows were never trimmed or done and I have thick eyebrows. They grow over my eyelids. Even when I meet my relatives long after 15 years since my birth, they knew I was my father's daughter because I had his thick "manly" eyebrows. Didn't bother me at all cause Allah (SWT) created me this way. I was big on girls that beautfied their eyebrows. I was one that read hadiths to them. Then I got older and I was noticing the stares even more. I thought it was because I was a Muslimah in hijab until my cousin went to do something for me at college and the lady referred to me as "the girl with the thick eyebrows." That was me, I was known on campus as the girl with thick eyebrows or bushy eyebrows or 2 bushes on top of her eyes. It's not funny. People spoke to my cousin about me concerning that. She never told me because she thought I knew. I was like a little teary eyed about it cause it did hurt a little. So I did research on Islamic rulings of eyebrows in books, on the internet, hadith books, seerahs and surahs. The answer was "yes, but...." I wanted to make sure that the "but" was lagit so I asked my Imam without letting him know my dilemma and he said the same thing. And he said, "Allah (SWT) does not burden His (SWT) beleivers with simple things. Allah (SWT) knows your intentions." So if you go have your eyebrows beautified or mutilated like it appears to be so-some ladies shave their eyebrows and then draw it in (like what's the point?), then vanity is forbidden. Trimming it to make you look like a woman is like trimming other parts of your body to keep you clean. Allah (SWT) knows YOU. Ma-assalaamah.... |
| Re: The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 03/20/05 at 12:23:15 |
| [slm] Sr. Trustworthy, can you provide a source for the Q/A you posted? What is the name of the scholar who answered the question? I do not intend by this inquirity to cast doubt regarding the content of the Q/A you quoted. It's only because the scholars have warned us not to take our Deen from unknown sources. Jazaki Allahu khairan. |
| 03/20/05 at 12:28:58 |
| Abu_Hamza |
| Re: The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/21/05 at 20:13:31 |
| [slm]... Sweet. I knew it was either going to be you or Bhaloo who would challenge me. No problem. 1 – Hair which we are commanded to remove or shorten. This is known as Sunan al-Fitrah, such as removing the pubic hairs, trimming the moustache and plucking the armpit hairs. That also includes shaving or cutting the hair of the head during Hajj or ‘Umrah. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Ten (actions) are part of the fitrah [natural inclinations of man]: trimming the moustache, letting the beard grow, using the siwaak (tooth-stick), rinsing the nose with water, clipping the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the armpit hairs, shaving the pubes and washing oneself with water after relieving oneself.” Zakariyya said: Mus’ab said: And I forgot the tenth but it may have been rinsing the mouth with water. Narrated by Muslim, 261 2 – Hair which we are forbidden to remove, which includes the eyebrows. The action of removing the hair of the eyebrows is called al-namas. It is also forbidden to remove the hair of the beard. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Allaah has cursed the woman who does tattoos and the one who has them done, the woman who plucks eyebrows (al-naamisah) and the one who has it done (al-mutanammisah), and the one who files her teeth for the purpose of beauty, altering the creation of Allaah.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5931; Muslim, 2125) And it was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Be different from the mushrikeen: let your beards grow and trim your moustaches.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5892; Muslim, 259) al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The naamisah is the woman who removes hair from the face and the mutanammisah is the one who asks to have that done. This action is haraam, unless a woman develops a beard or moustache, in which case it is not haraam to remove it, rather that is mustahabb in our view. Sharh al-Nawawi li Saheeh Muslim, 14/106 3 – Hair concerning which the texts are silent and do not say whether it is to be removed or left as it is, such as hair on the legs, hands, cheeks or forehead. There is some difference of scholarly opinion concerning this. Some said that it is not permissible to remove it, because removing it implies changing the creation of Allaah, as Allaah tells us that the Shaytaan said: “ ‘and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allaah’”[al-Nisa’ 4:119 – interpretation of the meaning] Some said that this is one of the things concerning which nothing was said, so the ruling is that it is allowed. It is permissible to leave it or to remove it, because whatever is not mentioned in the Qur’aan or Sunnah is permissible. This was the view favoured by the scholars of the Standing Committee and by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen. See Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, 3/879 It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah: (a) There is no sin on a woman if she removes hair on her upper lip, thighs, calves and arms. This is not part of the tanammus (plucking) that is forbidden. (Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/194, 195) (b) The Committee was asked: What is the Islamic ruling on plucking the hair between the eyebrows? They replied: It is permissible to pluck it, because it is not part of the eyebrows. (Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/197) The Standing Committee was asked: What is the ruling on a woman removing hair from her body? They replied: It is permissible for her to do that, apart from the hair of the eyebrows and head. It is not permissible for her to remove the hair of her head or to remove any part of the eyebrows, whether by shaving or any other means. Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/194 As for plucking the eyebrows, this is haraam and is a major sin, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed those who do it. But as for removing facial hair, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars as to whether it is permissible to remove it. This is based on their various understandings of the word al-namas. Some scholars said that al-namas means removing any facial hair, and they did not limit it to the eyebrows. Others were of the view that al-namas refers to removing the hair of the eyebrows only. This was the view favoured by the Standing Committee as is clear from the fatwas quoted above. It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah: Al-namas means plucking the hair of the eyebrows, which is not permissible because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the woman who plucks eyebrows (al-naamisah) and the one who has it done (al-mutanammisah). Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/195 And Allaah knows best. http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=9037&dgn=4 |
| Re: The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/21/05 at 20:18:40 |
| [slm]... Now there are many other places where yu can go to find the rulings of what Al-namas really refers to: facial hair or just eyebrows. You can really get scientific about this as well where one would differentiate between what is facial hair and what is eyebrow hair. I know there are books on this subject as well including hadiths that states the above in regards to what hair is permissable to remove on the face. When I have more time, I will write more about it. As always, search for the answers yourself since it is your belief and make certain sure that you not get all of your answers from the net. Allahu Alim.... Til next time and always.... Allah (SWT) bless... Ma-assalaamah...... |
| 03/21/05 at 20:21:02 |
| Trustworthy |
| Re: The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 03/22/05 at 11:11:38 |
| [slm] [quote author=Trustworthy link=board=madrasa;num=1111084259;start=0#3 date=03/21/05 at 20:13:31] [slm]... Sweet. I knew it was either going to be you or Bhaloo who would challenge me.[/quote] Sister, I did not mean to challenge you at all. My apologies if I came across that way. I was only asking about the source of the article, which I am still interested in. Jazaki Allahu khairan. |
| Re: The Issue with the Eyebrows for men and women |
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| Trustworthy |
| 04/01/05 at 20:15:43 |
| [slm]... Ayeeee Bro....you don't need to apologize. Apologize for what? Someone told me that freinds don't need to apologize to each other because freinds never think anything of anything between each other. So no worries. It's all good. I know what you meant. Anyways....forgive me for taking so long to respond back, I was quite busy. Tis particular inforamtion in my first posted note came from Our Dialogue.com. Wish I could write more, but time is not cooperating with me right now. Like it ever does anyway....uhm....no complaints.... ;D Take care. Allah (SWT) bless.... Ma-assalaamah..... |
| 04/02/05 at 03:33:18 |
| Trustworthy |
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