Many female students, when we advise them that lengthening the nails is contrary to the Sunnah, are lax about it and say that the Sunnah is something for which its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished.
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The questioner : The questioner from Riyadh says: There are many female students who, when we advise them that lengthening the nails is contrary to the Sunnah, are lax about it and say that the Sunnah is something for which its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished. Is there any guidance for these women?
The Shaykh : Yes. I direct this word to all women, both young and old, and I say that a woman should fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and save herself from the Fire. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that he found that most of the people of the Fire are women. And she, the woman, should follow the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set a time limit of forty days for cutting the nails and similar things that are removed. The apparent meaning of this hadith is that it is not permissible to delay cutting the nails for more than forty days.
As for her saying that the Sunnah is something for which its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished, this is negligence on her part. Do you not know that a day will come when she will wish that she had one more good deed in her good deeds? And where did this fashion come from? It was not known among our mothers or grandmothers. Furthermore, this fashion involving nail polish contains something that prevents water from reaching the nail, which invalidates the ablution, because one of the conditions for the validity of the ablution is removing anything that prevents water from reaching the skin or the nail.
Also, among these fashions, as we have heard, some of them put nail polish and lengthen the nails on only one finger, while the rest are cut. This is a clear contradiction, because the nails have one path: either they are all cut, or they are all left. Leaving them for more than forty days is contrary to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) set for his Ummah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes. I direct this word to all women, both young and old, and I say that a woman should fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and save herself from the Fire. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that he found that most of the people of the Fire are women. And she, the woman, should follow the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set a time limit of forty days for cutting the nails and similar things that are removed. The apparent meaning of this hadith is that it is not permissible to delay cutting the nails for more than forty days.
As for her saying that the Sunnah is something for which its doer is rewarded and its leaver is not punished, this is negligence on her part. Do you not know that a day will come when she will wish that she had one more good deed in her good deeds? And where did this fashion come from? It was not known among our mothers or grandmothers. Furthermore, this fashion involving nail polish contains something that prevents water from reaching the nail, which invalidates the ablution, because one of the conditions for the validity of the ablution is removing anything that prevents water from reaching the skin or the nail.
Also, among these fashions, as we have heard, some of them put nail polish and lengthen the nails on only one finger, while the rest are cut. This is a clear contradiction, because the nails have one path: either they are all cut, or they are all left. Leaving them for more than forty days is contrary to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) set for his Ummah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.