A Woman’s Use of Cosmetics: Does It Fall Under Changing Allah’s Creation?

The questioner : Regarding a woman’s use of cosmetics, does it fall under changing the beauty of Allah’s creation?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the cosmetics known today as makeup are a foreign custom. The Muslims were prohibited in many Prophetic hadiths from imitating the disbelievers. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So there is no doubt that our mothers, grandmothers, and those before them did not know anything called makeup. However, there is something known among women as adornment and beautification. If a woman wants to adorn herself for her husband in the privacy of her home, she may adorn herself with any adornment except makeup, because it involves imitating the disbelievers. I recall a hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud from Umm Salama, and I think it was about the women in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who used to paint their faces with warseh. Warseh is a plant that dyes a light yellow color. Perhaps this is what is included in his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . So if a woman adorns herself with anything other than European makeup, because it is imitating the Europeans, especially as you see, unfortunately, the eagerness of women to chase new fashions. I have reached, as you see, a great age, and I have witnessed, for example, some women where the fashion was to paint the lips entirely from beginning to end. I also witnessed a time when that fashion died out because it was finally established for them that...

The questioner:....

The Shaykh : No, by Allah, I intended to say something else. It is mentioned that among the beauties of a man’s creation is that he has a broad mouth, as established in the descriptions of his (peace and blessings be upon him) character. Why? Because a broad mouth helps a man in speech, eloquence, and clarity, and the like. The opposite is true for a woman; her mouth should be delicate and small. So be aware that this red dye enlarges the mouth, and that is ugliness. If we add to the deception by putting a simple mark like this... The point is, I witnessed this and that, but later a new fashion appeared where the red had to be a deep, bright red. At first, they did not like this either. Time passed, and the new fashion became what? The new fashion is that the red should be a pale color. This is more beautiful, meaning that every day there is a new fashion, and women are generally light-minded; they chase the fashion every day. This reminds me of a joke I once read: A man passed by his friend, and his friend was in a hurry. He said to him, "What is the matter, you are in a hurry?" He said, "My wife asked me to buy her a dress from the market, and here it is in my hand, and I want to reach her at home before a new fashion comes out and it becomes outdated." Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to adorn his wife and provide her with supplies of makeup, because this is in fact imitating the disbelievers and paying attention to what is not permissible to pay attention to in Islam. What else remains? There is also kohl for the eyes. Kohl is prescribed, but coloring the eyelids green is also imitating the disbelievers. Coloring the eyelids green is different from kohl. So kohl is permissible, and it may even have beneficial effects in sterilizing the eye and the like. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the master of all humanity, used to apply kohl and said: . The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to apply this ishmud kohl, let alone women. It is well-established from the righteous Salaf that it is permissible for a woman to appear in the street without adornment except for two types of adornment: "kohl for the eyes, and henna for the hands." This is an exception. It is permissible for a woman, when she leaves her house, to leave her face uncovered only. If she has applied kohl, it is established in the authentic hadith that a woman’s husband died while she was pregnant. When she gave birth, she applied kohl and adorned herself for the suitors. A man from the Companions, known by his kunya Abu al-Sanabil ibn Ba'akik, saw her. He said: "It is not lawful for you to marry until you complete the waiting period of widowhood, which is four months and ten days." She understood this and went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to ask him. She told him that she had given birth and that so-and-so had said this and that to her. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ibn Ba'akik lied, or Abu al-Sanabil lied. Marry whom you wish." This occurred in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and it falls within the opinion of some of the exegetes from the Salaf and Khalaf regarding the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: . What is revealed of it is the face and the hands. Kohl and henna are exceptions. Therefore, there is no harm in a woman using kohl in her eyes as part of her adornment, unlike coloring her eyelids green. That is a custom of the disbelievers or the wicked women who do not care about adhering to the customs of Muslims. Yes.