What is your ruling on a woman shaving her legs and arms?
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The questioner : What is your ruling on a woman shaving her legs and arms, knowing that before marriage I used to shave, but after my marriage my husband forbade me from doing so because it is altering the creation of Allah? He mentioned to me a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 2125a to the end of the hadith. Do you have any guidance for us in this matter, O honorable scholar?
The Shaykh : Yes, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Resurrection. We must know that removing hair falls into three categories. The first category is what the Shari'ah has commanded, such as the hair of the pubic area, the armpits, and the mustache. It is a recommended practice (sunnah) to shave the pubic hair, pluck the armpit hair, and trim or cut the mustache. This is part of the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) with which Allah created His creation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified that this should not be left for more than forty days. To this is added the fingernails, for it is a recommended practice (sunnah) to cut or trim them, and they should not be left for more than forty days.
The second category is hair that the Shari'ah has forbidden removing, or has commanded what contradicts removal, such as the hair of the beard. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded letting the beard grow, letting it hang down, and keeping it full, and he said: This implies that shaving the beard is forbidden.
The third category is what the Shari'ah has been silent about, neither commanding its removal nor forbidding its removal, such as the hair of the chest, the neck, the arms, the legs, and the abdomen. If this hair is excessive, there is no harm in reducing it, and there is no blame in doing so, because it removes what disfigures the appearance.
However, if it is not excessive, it is better not to touch it, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not create it in vain, but there must be a benefit in it. Some scholars have said that removing it is either disliked or forbidden, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:119] But this ruling is not clear to me; that is, it is not clear to me that removing it is disliked or forbidden. Rather, removing it is among the permissible matters, except that leaving it is better, out of fear of falling into what Satan commands, which is altering the creation of Allah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. The listener also says.
Allah had cursed those women who tattooed and who have themselves tattooed, those who pluck hair from their faces
لعن الله الواشمات والمستوشمات والنامصات والمتفلجاتThe Shaykh : Yes, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Resurrection. We must know that removing hair falls into three categories. The first category is what the Shari'ah has commanded, such as the hair of the pubic area, the armpits, and the mustache. It is a recommended practice (sunnah) to shave the pubic hair, pluck the armpit hair, and trim or cut the mustache. This is part of the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) with which Allah created His creation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified that this should not be left for more than forty days. To this is added the fingernails, for it is a recommended practice (sunnah) to cut or trim them, and they should not be left for more than forty days.
The second category is hair that the Shari'ah has forbidden removing, or has commanded what contradicts removal, such as the hair of the beard. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded letting the beard grow, letting it hang down, and keeping it full, and he said:
Differ from the Zoroastrians, differ from the polytheists
خالفوا المجوس، خالفوا المشركينThe third category is what the Shari'ah has been silent about, neither commanding its removal nor forbidding its removal, such as the hair of the chest, the neck, the arms, the legs, and the abdomen. If this hair is excessive, there is no harm in reducing it, and there is no blame in doing so, because it removes what disfigures the appearance.
However, if it is not excessive, it is better not to touch it, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not create it in vain, but there must be a benefit in it. Some scholars have said that removing it is either disliked or forbidden, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah
وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِThe questioner : May Allah reward you. The listener also says.