Saturday, February 2, 2013

The Beauty No-No's of the Muslimette

Asalaamu'alaikum!
The Muslimette is not a hermit :-) She is aware of trends in beauty, but knows that Allah, her Lord, has set for her limits, and she respects those to the best of her abilities. 
Well now, every woman has her beauty rituals, depending on her likes, culture etc. But down here you'll pick some general guidelines which Muslim women (generally) need to follow :-)

  • Fake lashes may seem like the way to make your eyes pop. Hair extensions or lash extensions are the way Victoria Beckham adds a few inches to her hair. HOWEVER, Bukhaari and Muslim (2122) narrated that Asma’ bint Abi Bakr said: "A woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allaah, I have a daughter who is newly married, and she had the measles and her hair fell out. Can I give her hair extensions?” He said: “Allaah has cursed the one who fixes hair extensions and the one who has that done.” According to scholars, adding fake lashes fall into the same category. 
  • Cosmetic ingredients like pork fat are prohibited. I have heard of the impermissibility of dead sea derivatives too from a local Sheikh (scholar).
  • Eyebrows thinning out/ shaping/ plucking/ threading/waxing is not allowed in Islam. According to an authentic hadeeth, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The woman who plucks facial hair and the woman who has this done are cursed.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari and Muslim). (Facial hair is here understood as eyebrows, not upper lip hair.) And yeah, in a case where your lashes are so bushy you can't see properly, you MAY trim them.
  •  Permanent make up and tattoo: It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah said: “Allaah has cursed the women who do tattoos and those who ask for tattoos to be done, those who ask for their eyebrows to be plucked, and the women ask for their teeth to be filed for the purpose of beautification, changing the creation of Allaah.” 
  • Camel hump  Hijaab!( Ok,you'll tell me, how's that relevant? Bad for your hair, bad for your Imaan). Narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen: people with whips like the tails of cattle with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed yet naked, astray and leading others astray, with their heads like the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance, although it fragrance may be detected from such and such a distance.”  Narrated by Muslim, 2128. Scary, no? According to scholars, putting flower bobbles which make your head (under your hijaab, and outside it) look like a camel hump is prohibited. (And adding extra weight to your hair by those huge clips leads to hair fall anyway!)
  • Fake nails/extensions are prohibited too.(Unhygienic too if you ask me.) Nails should be trimmed (at most) every 40 days. 
Verily, I will mislead them, and surely, I will arouse in them false desires; and certainly, I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allaah.’ And whoever takes Shaytaan (Satan) as a Wali (protector or helper) instead of Allaah, has surely, suffered a manifest loss”

[al-Nisa’ 4:117-119] 

I personally feel okay with heavy make up around my mahrams (men I'm never allowed to marry, in simpler terms). But the moment I'm out of the house, even if I wear make up, I feel more comfortable with natural looking or lesser make up which wouldn't draw attention on me. I do not wear make up in a way "to change the nature created by Allaah" to the best of my abilities, Alhamdulilah.
Of course, the above information is part of my convictions, backed by scholars' analysis and proof from reputed books. Allah knows best!
Source: http://islamqa.info/en/
What are your beauty faves and no-no's?

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