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Fatwa CenterA woman trying to improve her appearance
Question
I am a lady who has a long nose. I was going to have an operation for it. It is affecting my thinking about my self. I removed some of my eyebrow hair, but I didn't change the look of my eyes, just made it clean for them and I feel better now because I think I look better. Some of my family members blame me for what I did. Is what I did wrong to make them blame me while I feel better and I don't show men my face. (Only in important thinks like in hospital)?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
A woman is not permitted to remove the hair of her eyebrows by plucking nor to modify them by a thread, razor, scissors or anything else, since such an action is considered a form of a prohibited Nams (plucking the eyebrows). The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) cursed those women who does such an action, whether it be to herself or to others.
In Sahih books of al-Bukhari and Muslim 'Abdullah Ibn Masoud reported that: "Allah has cursed female tattoo makers - and those females who get tattooed, and those women who have their superfluous hair plucked from their faces and those who get that hair plucked, and those women who get their teeth filed (to make space between them) for beauty, and thus interfere in Allah's Creation" .
Such a Hadith came to Umm Yaqoob 's knowledge (a woman from the children of Banu Asad) while she was reading the Qur'an. So, she came to Ibn Masoud and asked him 'How did this Hadith come to my knowledge! It states that you have cursed female makers of tattoo and those who get tattooed, females who practise Nams and those who it is practiced for, and those females who get their teeth filed for beauty, and thus interfere in Allah's Creation'. Ibn Masoud said: 'Why should I not curse those whom the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) has cursed since it is in the Qur'an? The woman said: 'I read the whole Qur'an, but I did not find that'. He said: 'If you had read you would have found it'. Allah Said, {…And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), …} [59:7].
The woman said: 'Your wife did such an action (i.e. Nams)'. Ibn Masoud said: 'Go and look at her'. The woman entered Ibn Masoud 's house and looked at her wife's face, but she did not find what she was looking for, then, she return to Ibn Masoud and said: 'I did not find anything'.
Ibn Masoud said, 'If she did something like that I would not have sex with her'.
But, if a woman's eyebrows have a harmful superfluous hair that may cause harm to her eyes by any means, then there is no objection to remove what is harmful only. This, in fact, does not constitute a Nams.
As for a beautification operation of your nose, know that such operations are of two kinds:
First, to remove some physical defect such an extra finger. Here, there is harm no to remove such a thing, since the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) ordered a man whose nose was cut off to fit a golden nose.
Second, an operation for the sake of beautification only. This form of operation is prohibited as stated in the above-mentioned Hadith. Such an action is, in fact, to make one more beautiful and to remove some physical blemish. In other words, it is a form of interference in Allah's Creation and a devilish act.
Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {Shaitan said…and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allâh. …} [4:119].
However, if one's nose is in an abnormal size, that spoils, one's creation and we can remove such a deformation without causing another harm, then there will be no objection to have such an operation.
Allah knows best.
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