Chapter 296
Prohibition of Wearing False Hair, Tattooing and Filling of Teeth

Allah, the Exalted, says:

"They (all those who worship others than Allah) invoke nothing but female deities besides Him (Allah), and they invoke nothing but Shaitan (Satan), a persistent rebel! Allah cursed him. And he [Shaitan (Satan)] said: `I will take an appointed portion of your slaves. Verily, I will mislead them, and surely, I will arouse in them false desires; and certainly, I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah'...'' (4:117-119)

1642. Asma' (May Allah be pleased with her) said: A woman came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have a daughter who had an attack of small pox and her hair fell off. Now I want to celebrate her marriage. Can I get her a wig?'' Thereupon the Prophet (PBUH) said, "Allah has cursed the maker and wearer of a wig.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: This Hadith mentions women of three kinds, namely:

1. One who patches or joins the hair.

2. One who desires to have such hair.

3. One whose hair are taken to mix with the hair of another woman.

All the three of them have been cursed. Such artificial hair are called wig. `Beauty Parlours' are very active in prompting the use of wigs and other shameful fashions. May Allah save us from such evils.

Almost the same Hadith has been related from `Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her).

1643. Humaid bin `Abdur-Rahman (May Allah be pleased wth him) said: I saw Mu`awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) during the Hajj (pilgrimage) standing on the pulpit. He took from the guard a bunch of hair, and said: "O people of Al-Madinah! Where are your scholars? (Why do they do not prohibit you) I heard the Prophet (PBUH) prohibiting from using this (false hair) and saying, `The people of Bani Israel were ruined when their women wore such hair.'''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Commentary:
1. In his sermon Muawiyah was referring to the evils which have been mentioned in the previous Hadith. Thus, we learn that if men see any mischief spreading in the society, they must take notice of it and try to prevent the public from it. They should also call the attention of the `Ulama' to that mischief so that they too raise voice against it.

2. To keep silent over the spread of evils among people is akin to inviting destruction and the Wrath of Allah on society.

3. There is a stern warning for present-day Muslims also because women today have generally discarded their veil and taken to display their charm and beauty like prostitutes. These and numerous other evils rampant in Muslim society are far more vulgar and dangerous than the evil of using wigs and keeping shameful hair styles. To make matters worse, the Muslim masses are silent over this immoral parade of evils, and the `Ulama' also hesitate to criticize these evils openly in their speeches and sermons.

1644. Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) cursed the maker and wearer of a wig and the tattooer and the one who is tattooed.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: Al-Washimah is a woman who practises Al-Washm Al-Washm was performed (in the past) by piercing needle in some part of the body for drawing blood and then filling the cavity caused by it with antimony, indigo, etc., to make the spot green or black. This is called tattooing. In the Arab society of the Prophet's time, this fashion was very popular among women for enhancing their charms and beauty in the same way as the fashion of patching someone's hair with his own. Al-Mustaushima is a woman who asks some women for tattooing and/or a woman who marks tattoos on the skin of another woman.

As this act amounts to changing the natural appearance of a person, both women, that is the one who subjects her body to tattooing and the one who makes this operation, are cursed. Such fashions are in vogue in this age also. Plucking the eyelashes and filling them with colours and other material of make up, or like Hindu women, making mark between the eyebrows with cinnabar etc., fall in the category of such fashions. Such means of make up which are practised nowadays by women and on which huge amounts of money are wasted are the things which have been cursed. Muslim women should, therefore, avoid such evils as they are ruinous for religion as well as worldly life.

Similar is the case of nail polish. In the opinion of some religious scholars, this act invalidates Wudu'. Women are now also in the habit of keeping long nails on which nail polish is applied to give an effect of beastly claws. All such vile fashions have been borrowed by oriental societies from the class of shameless women of the West, and Muslim women have also adopted them. We must strictly abstain from them because they tend to create resemblance to the non-Muslims, which is unlawful and is rated as a major sin.

1645. Ibn Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those women who have themselves tattooed, and those women who get their hair removed from their eyebrows and faces (except the beard and the mustache), and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth for beauty, whereby they change Allah's creation. A woman started to argue with him, saying: "What is all this?'' He replied: "Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) cursed and who are cursed in Allah's Book? Allah, the Exalted, has said in His Book:

"And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad (PBUH)) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it).'' (59:7)
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: We learn from this Hadith that any effort to bring about a change in one's natural appearance is unlawful. Al-Washm (tattooing), Al-Washr (slimming the teeth), At-Tafalluj (to create gaps between the teeth), An-Nams (the plucking of eyelashes) etc., come in the category of forbidden and unlawful fashions. It should be mentioned here that the use of henna is permissible because it does not bring about any such change which is forbidden. The use of henna is permissible subject to the condition that woman should not make its display before any man who is not a Mahram (Mahram is a person with whom it is basically not lawful to contract marriage).