Is it permissible for a woman to cut her hair if it reaches half of her lower leg?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : What is the ruling of the Shari'ah, in your opinion, O honorable Shaykh, regarding a woman cutting her hair if it reaches half of her lower leg?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : What is the ruling on a woman cutting her hair if it reaches half of her lower leg?
The Shaykh : By Allah, I do not know the authenticity of this report that a woman's hair reaches half of her lower leg, but Allah is capable of all things. If it reaches half of her lower leg, there is no blame on her for cutting it to the usual length among women, in a manner that does not cause her harm. However, if the hair is of the usual length that does not cause harm, the scholars, especially the Hanbali jurists (may Allah have mercy on them), disliked cutting the hair from the front or the back. But if she cuts it in a way that resembles a man's head, then this cutting is forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 4097Sahih (Al-Albani) So if a woman cuts her head so that it becomes like a man's head, she has imitated a man, whether she intended to imitate him or not, because the intention to imitate is not a condition for the act of imitation to occur.
So the form of imitation is achieved even without intention. If the form of imitation is achieved, it is prohibited. There is no difference in this between imitating the disbelievers, or a woman imitating a man, or a man imitating a woman, because the intention to imitate is not a condition as long as it occurs in the manner of imitation. However, we should know what the reality of imitation is. The reality of imitation is that a person does something that is specific to the one he imitates, such that this thing is a characteristic of the disbelievers, for example, or this thing is a characteristic of women, or this thing is a characteristic of men. If this thing is a characteristic of the disbelievers, it is not permissible for a Muslim to do it, whether with the intention of imitation or without the intention of imitation. Likewise, if it is a characteristic of men, it is not permissible for a woman to do it, and if it is a characteristic of women, it is not permissible for a man to do it.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The listener, Fawziyah Salman from Sudan, says.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : What is the ruling on a woman cutting her hair if it reaches half of her lower leg?
The Shaykh : By Allah, I do not know the authenticity of this report that a woman's hair reaches half of her lower leg, but Allah is capable of all things. If it reaches half of her lower leg, there is no blame on her for cutting it to the usual length among women, in a manner that does not cause her harm. However, if the hair is of the usual length that does not cause harm, the scholars, especially the Hanbali jurists (may Allah have mercy on them), disliked cutting the hair from the front or the back. But if she cuts it in a way that resembles a man's head, then this cutting is forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
cursed women who imitate men
لعن المتشبهات من النساء بالرجالSo the form of imitation is achieved even without intention. If the form of imitation is achieved, it is prohibited. There is no difference in this between imitating the disbelievers, or a woman imitating a man, or a man imitating a woman, because the intention to imitate is not a condition as long as it occurs in the manner of imitation. However, we should know what the reality of imitation is. The reality of imitation is that a person does something that is specific to the one he imitates, such that this thing is a characteristic of the disbelievers, for example, or this thing is a characteristic of women, or this thing is a characteristic of men. If this thing is a characteristic of the disbelievers, it is not permissible for a Muslim to do it, whether with the intention of imitation or without the intention of imitation. Likewise, if it is a characteristic of men, it is not permissible for a woman to do it, and if it is a characteristic of women, it is not permissible for a man to do it.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The listener, Fawziyah Salman from Sudan, says.