What is the ruling on using skin-whitening creams, reddening the lips, and using contact lenses?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : This is a female questioner, O honorable Shaykh, asking and saying: What is the ruling on using skin-whitening creams and colored substances such as lipstick and the like?
The Shaykh : Yes. We must know an important rule that Allah the Exalted established in the Book:[Al-Baqarah 2:29]. All things are lawful; this is the original ruling for them. As for the creams that claim to whiten the face, there is nothing wrong with using them, and there is no blame on one who does so, because they are among the things Allah created for us on earth. However, I fear that the face might be whitened until it becomes like leprosy. Let the woman beware of this, for perhaps with frequent repetition, the skin color will turn to an ugly whiteness. But if it is merely for a whiteness that involves no harm, there is nothing wrong with it. Likewise, lip reddener is also fine, except if it prevents water from reaching the skin during ablution, in which case it is not permissible to use it. And as for the eyes, what are they called? They are called lenses. These contact lenses are permissible with two conditions: The first condition is that harm is eliminated, such that one asks the doctor whether this affects the eye or not. The second condition is that the lens does not make the woman’s eye look like an animal’s eye, because it has reached us that some lenses make the eye look like a cat’s eye. Do you know what a cat is?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : What is it? Yes, the *bas*—the *bas*—with the *ba* opened. The author of *al-Qamus al-Muhit* said: *bas*—with the *ba* opened—and the common people break it, saying what?
The student: *Bas*.
The Shaykh : So, the one who says *bis* is speaking in the common dialect, and the one who says *bas* is speaking in the eloquent dialect. Well, in any case, if the contact lenses make the eye look like the eye of a cat or a *bas*, yes, you have become a speaker of the common dialect, and this is not permissible. But if it makes the eye, for example, honey-colored in order to improve the blackness of the eye and the whiteness of the sclera, there is nothing wrong with that.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Yes. We must know an important rule that Allah the Exalted established in the Book:
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth
هو الذي خلق لكم ما في الأرض جميعاThe student: Yes.
The Shaykh : What is it? Yes, the *bas*—the *bas*—with the *ba* opened. The author of *al-Qamus al-Muhit* said: *bas*—with the *ba* opened—and the common people break it, saying what?
The student: *Bas*.
The Shaykh : So, the one who says *bis* is speaking in the common dialect, and the one who says *bas* is speaking in the eloquent dialect. Well, in any case, if the contact lenses make the eye look like the eye of a cat or a *bas*, yes, you have become a speaker of the common dialect, and this is not permissible. But if it makes the eye, for example, honey-colored in order to improve the blackness of the eye and the whiteness of the sclera, there is nothing wrong with that.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.