Is it permissible for a woman to remove the hair between her eyebrows if it disfigures her appearance, or to thin it out and improve it?
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The questioner : Her final question asks: Is it permissible for a woman to remove the hair between her eyebrows if it disfigures her appearance, or to thin the shape of her eyebrows and improve them, or is it not?
The Shaykh : This issue falls into two categories.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The first category is if this is done by plucking. This is forbidden (muharram) and is one of the major sins, because it is plucking the eyebrows (namas), for which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who does it.
The second category is if it is done by cutting or shaving. There is scholarly disagreement (khilaf) among the scholars as to whether this is considered plucking the eyebrows (namas) or not. The safest course is to avoid it and for the woman not to do it. As for hair that is not customary, such as hair that grows in places where it is not the norm, like if a woman has a mustache, or if hair grows on her cheek, or something similar, there is nothing wrong with removing it, because it is contrary to the norm and it is disfiguring for the woman.
As for the eyebrows, it is customary for them to be thin and fine, and it is customary for them to be thick and wide. This is a customary matter. What is customary is not to be altered, because people do not consider it a defect; rather, they consider its absence to be beauty, or its presence to be beauty. It is not among the matters that are a defect such that a person needs to remove it.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah bless you.
The questioner, A.M.A. from Sudan, sent this question, saying:
The Shaykh : This issue falls into two categories.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The first category is if this is done by plucking. This is forbidden (muharram) and is one of the major sins, because it is plucking the eyebrows (namas), for which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who does it.
The second category is if it is done by cutting or shaving. There is scholarly disagreement (khilaf) among the scholars as to whether this is considered plucking the eyebrows (namas) or not. The safest course is to avoid it and for the woman not to do it. As for hair that is not customary, such as hair that grows in places where it is not the norm, like if a woman has a mustache, or if hair grows on her cheek, or something similar, there is nothing wrong with removing it, because it is contrary to the norm and it is disfiguring for the woman.
As for the eyebrows, it is customary for them to be thin and fine, and it is customary for them to be thick and wide. This is a customary matter. What is customary is not to be altered, because people do not consider it a defect; rather, they consider its absence to be beauty, or its presence to be beauty. It is not among the matters that are a defect such that a person needs to remove it.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah bless you.
The questioner, A.M.A. from Sudan, sent this question, saying: