Some women have hair growing on their faces; is it permissible for them to remove it?
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The questioner : Shaykh!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Shaykh, some women have hair growing on their faces; is it permissible for them to remove it?
The Shaykh : Yes, this falls under *nams* (plucking the facial hair). The author did not mention *nams*, and I wish he had, because it is important, and women are now using it to adorn themselves:Sahih al-Bukhari 5936: Our jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) said:
*Nams* is the plucking of facial hair, so they specified it as plucking and specified it as the face. Accordingly, plucking hair other than on the face is not *nams*, and cutting it is not *nams*; [it is] cutting facial hair.
So we say: if a woman plucks the hair on her face to adorn herself, that is not permissible. But if it is to remove a defect, it is permissible.
The questioner : The beard, O Shaykh, for some women!
The Shaykh : Yes, that is what I mean. Some women have hair growing in the area of the mustache; when I see it, I say this is like the hair of a young boy, meaning there is distinct hair there. We say: there is no blame on her for removing it by any means of removal, whether by plucking or otherwise.
As for merely having, for example, a hair grow on her cheek or her temple, it is not permissible for her to pluck it, but I see no harm in cutting it.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Shaykh, some women have hair growing on their faces; is it permissible for them to remove it?
The Shaykh : Yes, this falls under *nams* (plucking the facial hair). The author did not mention *nams*, and I wish he had, because it is important, and women are now using it to adorn themselves:
Narrated Asma': (the daughter of Abu Bakr) Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has cursed such a lady as artificially lengthening (her or someone else's) hair or gets her hair lengthened.
لعن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم النامصة والمتنمصة*Nams* is the plucking of facial hair, so they specified it as plucking and specified it as the face. Accordingly, plucking hair other than on the face is not *nams*, and cutting it is not *nams*; [it is] cutting facial hair.
So we say: if a woman plucks the hair on her face to adorn herself, that is not permissible. But if it is to remove a defect, it is permissible.
The questioner : The beard, O Shaykh, for some women!
The Shaykh : Yes, that is what I mean. Some women have hair growing in the area of the mustache; when I see it, I say this is like the hair of a young boy, meaning there is distinct hair there. We say: there is no blame on her for removing it by any means of removal, whether by plucking or otherwise.
As for merely having, for example, a hair grow on her cheek or her temple, it is not permissible for her to pluck it, but I see no harm in cutting it.