Ruling on cosmetics

17-3-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the Islamic ruling regarding the use of cosmetics by women? Which of them are Haram, if any?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Islam has made lawful to the woman to use whatever beautifies her such as wearing silk, gold, putting on Henna and other modern cosmetic products. If the woman is married, Islam urges her to do so for the sake of pleasing her husband. But the use of cosmetics is fixed by Sharia rules. Otherwise using it becomes forbidden such as clipping the eyebrows, making artificial space between teeth, cutting hair like men or non-Muslim women and wearing tight contour or translucent garments and then going out exposing their beauty to men.
Briefly, it is permissible for a woman to use cosmetics abiding by the rulings of the Sharia.
Finally, we emphasize two facts:
a) A woman should not expose her beauty to alien men.
b) She should not use any cosmetic that could harm her health.
Allah knows best.