If a woman has hair on her cheek, is it permissible for her to pluck it out, and does this not fall under plucking the eyebrows?

The questioner : If a woman has hair on her chin or beard and she resembles men, is it permissible for her to pluck it out, or is this considered plucking the eyebrows?

The Shaykh : As for this hesitation between the chin and the beard, it is a strange matter. If it had remained with the first term, that would have been better: "on her chin." As for the hair on her beard, she does not have a beard. The problem is the common colloquial errors where "chin" means "beard," and the implication of this is that a woman does not have a chin. The truth is, if she did not have a chin, she would not have lived, eaten, or drunk. But the chin is the place of the beard, and the question is clear, of course. In the past, some scholars addressed this problem: a woman might grow a beard, so what does she do? There is no doubt that scholars differed on such a strange phenomenon. Some said that she may shave it, or even pluck it. Others said—and we are with these people—that Allah the Exalted said . So when we see a woman with a beard, we exactly recall an elderly man without a beard. This is the creation of Allah, and this is the creation of Allah, and what is between them, which is the majority of people—women and men—men with beards and women without beards. So, our Lord the Exalted did not create the beardless man in vain, and consequently, He did not create the bearded woman in vain. If we remember this fact, which is self-evident to every Muslim who believes in Allah the Exalted, if the matter is so, then we must leave everything as Allah created it, because this is the creation after which there is no creation, meaning the good creation.
Therefore, the statement and fatwa that it is permissible for this woman to shave this beard is like the statement that it is permissible to wear a false beard for one who has no beard. Why do people today—we know and see many men who do not have beards—have you heard that any of them used a false beard in the manner of the English Lords? They have traditions there; our Lord creates them as He creates human beings, men always with beards, so they shave them. When the time comes for their special council, the House of Lords, to convene, they put false beards on their chins. So your Lord created you with beards, then you return to them after shaving them. Why? Because the prevailing environment we live in does not like beards; beards are detested. So the man himself praises his Lord and says from the depths of his heart, when he stands before the mirror: . And the issue in general is that our Lord the Exalted did not create anything in vain. Just as we treat men by leaving them as their Lord created them, so too with women, exactly. This is my opinion and belief, stemming from my observation that Allah the Exalted did not create anything in vain. How can it be otherwise when there is the beard regarding plucking the eyebrows? This text is general and absolute, whether it is in the eyebrows, or in the cheeks, or in the lip, or in the beard. All of this falls within the generality of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): other than that.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... So by some command or by some wisdom, I forgot to write today's lesson in the library. Then a path opened for me, and while I was walking on the road, I was researching a topic that I have always touched upon, which is not new to you: the question about the woman if she is hairy, or if she grew a beard. Until the question came to me while I was walking on the road, so I answered it with what I believe in regarding Allah: that it is not permissible for a woman, let alone a man, to touch her beard with harm.