The Ruling on a Woman Shortening Her Hair
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Is it permissible for her to shorten her hair herself?
Answer:
In 'Umrah, in Hajj or 'Umrah, it is obligatory for her to shave her head, and this obligation is a rite of the pilgrimage. As for outside of 'Umrah, which is what they call outside of the rite, which is what they now call a haircut or a cut, this requires a detailed explanation according to the most precise of the scholars. If a woman shortens her head hair for the sake of hardship, to alleviate the hardship, especially if she is advanced in age, her hair is long, and it requires effort and care, then she may shorten it until it is neat, like a bun reaching the lobes of her ears. This is permissible due to the hardship, as some of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did after his passing; they would shave their heads due to the hardship.
Because keeping it long is a hardship; it requires constant attention, and indeed it requires expense. A woman may be poor and have nothing to anoint her head with, or materials for her head hair, so she is poor. Thus, she lightens it in order to reduce her expenses. There is nothing wrong with this if the shortening is for the sake of need. However, if the shortening is for the sake of adornment, not for the sake of need, that is the point of dispute. Some scholars say there is nothing wrong with it, and some scholars say this is not permissible, because it is removing the natural state and imitating the disbelieving women. This is the stronger position in my view; this is the correct one. Our Shaykh, Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him), wrote words on this topic in his tafsir, on the topic of women cutting their hair, in his tafsir of Surat al-Hajj. Here, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim also has words on this issue in the fatwas, which should be consulted.
Is it permissible for her to shorten her hair herself?
Answer:
In 'Umrah, in Hajj or 'Umrah, it is obligatory for her to shave her head, and this obligation is a rite of the pilgrimage. As for outside of 'Umrah, which is what they call outside of the rite, which is what they now call a haircut or a cut, this requires a detailed explanation according to the most precise of the scholars. If a woman shortens her head hair for the sake of hardship, to alleviate the hardship, especially if she is advanced in age, her hair is long, and it requires effort and care, then she may shorten it until it is neat, like a bun reaching the lobes of her ears. This is permissible due to the hardship, as some of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did after his passing; they would shave their heads due to the hardship.
Because keeping it long is a hardship; it requires constant attention, and indeed it requires expense. A woman may be poor and have nothing to anoint her head with, or materials for her head hair, so she is poor. Thus, she lightens it in order to reduce her expenses. There is nothing wrong with this if the shortening is for the sake of need. However, if the shortening is for the sake of adornment, not for the sake of need, that is the point of dispute. Some scholars say there is nothing wrong with it, and some scholars say this is not permissible, because it is removing the natural state and imitating the disbelieving women. This is the stronger position in my view; this is the correct one. Our Shaykh, Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him), wrote words on this topic in his tafsir, on the topic of women cutting their hair, in his tafsir of Surat al-Hajj. Here, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim also has words on this issue in the fatwas, which should be consulted.
Source
تقصير المرأة شعر رأسها — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.