The Ruling on Wiping Over Nail Polish and Henna, and a Warning Against Issuing Fatwas Without Knowledge

The questioner:
With this thing, to the knights, allowing the boy to enter upon the women.

The Shaykh:
And in the context of a reminder, because I have heard many questions about one who issued a fatwa out of ignorance, stating that nail polish and thick dyes are like a cast or like leather socks, and that one wipes over them. This is ignorance. This is the fatwa of an ignorant person; it is not permissible to act upon it. No one from the people of knowledge has said this. It does not have the ruling of a cast, nor the ruling of leather socks. It must be removed; it must be removed from the place of purification. Even if one wipes over it, his purification is not valid, because wiping is based on specific textual evidence and is not permissible except in the places where the evidence has established it. Does a person issue fatwas to people when he has no knowledge?
This is a very great calamity. This fatwa has become a platform for some people, and they do not refrain from issuing fatwas when they have no knowledge, no accumulation of learning, and have not studied the science of fatwa. This is a great error, and we fear its effects on the people. Yes, a fatwa is not an easy matter, because you are informing about Allah, saying this is lawful and this is forbidden. Perhaps you will mislead people, and they will perform acts of worship in a manner not prescribed, or perhaps they will consume forbidden things based on your fatwa, and you are the one who bears this responsibility. A person in good health does not issue a fatwa except out of necessity, and does not issue a fatwa except if he has knowledge and accumulation of learning. It is obligatory for people to fear Allah in this matter, and not to rush into issuing fatwas without knowledge.
We have heard that some of them listen to tapes or read from books and issue fatwas to people, while they have not understood what is in the tapes or what is in the books, and they go and issue fatwas to people. This is a great calamity.

Another questioner:
Or also about the henna.

The Shaykh:
There is no problem at all with henna. There is no problem with it, not on the legs or on the hands. And on the hands, there is no contradiction; there is no harm. Henna is permissible in all its types. Yes, for women, it does not affect anything at all. It does not affect anything except the thing that solidifies and has thickness, having a thickness, a covering over the skin. Henna has no covering and no thickness; it is only a color. Yes.