Is it permissible for a woman to remove excess hair from her eyebrows, and is it permissible for her to pluck the hair from her hands and legs?

The questioner : The questioner asks: Is it permissible for a woman to remove excess hair from her eyebrows, and is it permissible for her to pluck the hair from her hands and legs?

The Shaykh : Removing excess hair from the eyebrows, if it has reached a point where it causes harm, such as eyebrow hair falling into the eye, there is no blame on her for cutting that excess which harms her. Likewise, if hair grows above the eyebrow that disfigures it, she may remove that hair. As for the normal eyebrow that does not cause her harm, it is not permissible for her to cut anything from it or remove it. As for removing hair from the hands and legs, if it is excessive, there is nothing wrong with removing it because it is disfiguring. If it is normal, some scholars have said that it should not be removed, because removing it is a change of the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Others have said that it is permissible to remove it because it is something about which Allah has been silent. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning it is not obligatory for you. He said that hair is divided into three categories: what the Shari'ah has explicitly prohibited removing, what the Shari'ah has explicitly requested removing, and what it has been silent about. What the Shari'ah has explicitly requested removing should be removed, such as the armpits, the pubic area, and the mustache for a man. What the Shari'ah has explicitly prohibited removing should not be removed, such as the beard for a man and the eyebrows for a woman, and indeed for a man as well, for we refrain from it. What it has been silent about is a matter of discretion, because if it were something Allah the Exalted did not want to exist, He would have commanded its removal, and if it were something He wanted to remain, He would have commanded its preservation. Since He was silent about it, this returns to the choice of the person: if he wishes, he removes it, and if he wishes, he leaves it. Of this type is the hair that grows on the neck, the hair that grows on the neck below the beards. It is permissible to shave this because it is not part of the beard. As for the hair between the beards, or between the beards from below, that is part of the beard, because the beard is the hair growing on the jaws and the cheeks. Whether it grows on the jaws or between them from below, all of that is part of the beard. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded letting the beards grow.