The questioner says: “O honorable Shaykh, what is your ruling on a woman shaving her legs and arms, knowing that before marriage I used to shave, but after marriage my husband forbade me from doing so?”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
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 a change of Allah’s creation. He mentioned to me a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (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 Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. We must know that the removal of 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 beard. It is a recommended practice (sunnah) to shave the pubic area, pluck the armpit hair, and trim or cut the beard. This is part of the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) upon 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 it, 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 on one for doing so, because this removes what disfigures the appearance.
As for when it is not excessive, it is better not to touch it, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not create it in vain; rather, there must be a benefit in it. Some scholars have said that its removal is either disliked (makruh) or forbidden (haram), citing the statement of Allah the Exalted regarding Satan:[An-Nisa 4:119] However, this ruling is not clear to me; that is, it is not clear to me that its removal is disliked or forbidden. Rather, its removal is among the permissible matters, except that leaving it is better, out of fear of falling into what Satan commands, which is changing Allah’s creation. 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, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. We must know that the removal of 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 beard. It is a recommended practice (sunnah) to shave the pubic area, pluck the armpit hair, and trim or cut the beard. This is part of the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) upon 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 it, 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 on one for doing so, because this removes what disfigures the appearance.
As for when it is not excessive, it is better not to touch it, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not create it in vain; rather, there must be a benefit in it. Some scholars have said that its removal is either disliked (makruh) or forbidden (haram), citing the statement of Allah the Exalted regarding Satan:
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.