What is the ruling on a woman going out to the market or the mosque while wearing perfume?

The questioner : Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you. The questioner, O Shaykh Muhammad, says: Regarding perfume for women and her going out to the mosque or to the markets, what is the ruling?

The Shaykh : It is not permissible for a woman to go out to the market while wearing perfume, whether in the form of oil or incense. The evidence for this is that the Prophet forbade a woman wearing incense from attending the mosque, because incense has a pleasant scent that stirs desire and leads to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Therefore, if a woman wants to go out, she should not go out wearing a perfume whose scent can be smelled, except if the scent is very faint and can only be smelled by someone who is very close to her and puts his nose right next to the place where the perfume is. In that case, she is excused, because its presence is like its absence. However, if it is a perfume that can be smelled from a distance, even slightly, it is not permissible for a woman to go out wearing it. Yes.

The questioner : Shaykh, some women bring perfume during the women's prayer for the tarawih prayer. Do you have any guidance regarding that?

The Shaykh : If a woman brings incense to the mosque, let her place the incense burner far away from the women so that the place has a pleasant scent, but she should not hang it on the women's clothes.