Beautification \ Make-up \

[bamalli]

Ruling concerning shortening eyebrows, letting fingernails grow long and using nail polish

Question:
(1) What is the ruling concerning shortening extra eyebrow hairs?
(2) What is the ruling concerning letting fingernails grow long and putting on finger nail polish, given that I make ablution before putting them on and it stays for twenty-four hours and then remove it?
(3) Is it allowed for a woman to wear hijaab without covering her face when she travels abroad?

Response:
(1) It is not allowed to remove or shorten eyebrow hairs. It is confirmed that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) cursed the one who has them removed and the one who removed them. The scholars have stated that the Hadeeth is in reference to those who remove eyebrow hairs.

(2) Letting the fingernails grow is something that goes against the sunnah of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam). He said, ((From the acts of nature are five: circumcision, removing pubic hairs, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the hair from under the armpits.)) It is not allowed to leave them for more than forty nights. This is based on the Hadeeth of Anas who said, "The Messenger of Allaah set a time limit for us for trimming the moustache, trimming nails, removing armpit hairs and removing pubic hairs. They cannot be left for more than forty nights." Letting them grow long resembles animals and some of the disbelievers. As for nail polish, it is better to avoid it. One must remove it when making ablution since it prevents water from reaching the nails.

(3) It is obligatory for women to wear hijaab in front of non mahram men both inside and outside of the country. Allaah has said, {And when you ask them, ask them from behind a screen, that is proper for your hearts and for their hearts}, [al-Ahzaab 53]. This verse refers to the face and the rest of the body. In fact, the face is the distinguishing part of the woman and it is her most alluring aspect. Allaah also says, {O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful}, [al-Ahzaab 59]. Another verse states, {[Tell the believing women] not to reveal their adornments except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers,}, [an-Noor 31]. This verse indicates that hijaab is obligatory upon a woman both inside and outside of the country, in front of the Muslims and the non-Muslims. It is not allowed for any woman who believes in Allaah and the Hereafter to be lax in this matter as such is an act of disobedience to Allaah and His Messengers. Furthermore, it leads temptation regardless if it be in or outside the country.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz
Fataawa al-Mar.ah

[Hafsy_Lady]

Ehemm......ehemmmm, Sai dai Allah ya yafe mu. Now girma yazo. I repent. I take refuge & seek solace in Gods hand. To mudai zamanin mu, mun dan taba su eyebrow but never added any foreign matter but mun dawo hanya mun tuba.

But I dont think there is anything wrong with doing a lil pecker beautiness & pouting.....a'a nace for megida.

A woman can wear hijab as long as she is covered properly....its not obligatory for the face to be covered even in front of non-muharrams, as long as she keeps her gaze low. Whether men would do the same, I doubt, dem too sabi x-ray look.
Allah dai ya saka kowa a hanya.

Jazakallah brother

[HUSNAA]

I have a hard time trying to live up to face covering. I dont believe it is strictly necessary. Islam is a religion which takes a middle course. Everyone's  face of course is their physical  essence ofcourse cos that is how we recognize one another effectively. However, I doubt very much that Hijab wearing includes the seclusion of a woman's face. That is too extreme. I say this because I once heard a tale from a girl who lived in Saudia. She told me about these two male best friends. One was extremely good looking and had a sister. The other friend had seen the sister in hijab ofcourse. Completely covered and faceless. So he began to imagine to himself that if his friend was this handsome how much more beautiful would be the sister? Now because he couldnt get a look at her face, he began to fantasize about her and also whenever he met his friend, and they embraced or kissed on cheeks he would imagine it was the girl he was embracing or kissing. Now that to me has all the signs for homosexual tendencies developing abi??????
The other one of course was a book I read about this real life Saudian princess and her escapades with her friends which eventually led to the death of one of the friends (by honor killing....her father drowned her in the house swimming pool). They used to visit  an American gentleman incognito  as they were covered from face to toe. Eventually however, they were noticed (how couldnt they be noticed when they enter a foreigner's apartment in that regalia and in Saudi Arabia?) and were caught redhanded whence their identities became known and led to the death of one of them unfortunately.
Thirdly, there have been cases of men dressing up as women and doing dastardly deeds. This surely then defeats the aim of dissuading acts of zina. Because of this I doubt that covering the face is really part of hijab.

[hayat]

Haba anty husnaa, how can you blame the face hijab for other people's perversions. As for the young man, whether his friends sister covered her face or not, he would have still indulged in his perversion one way or the other. For the princess, i dont understand how she was identified when her face was covered. And for the men who wear the hijab to commint zina, well women also do that you know. I'm sure you've heard of women who wear hijab in the day time and mini-skirts when the sun goes to sleep.

[HUSNAA]

I still maintain that face hijab is not necessary.
The guy was not perverted. He was tantalized by the fact that he couldnt see his friend's sister's face.  If he could have, for example, then it will become common place to him eventually. If he could see her face, he may find she probably looked totally different from her brother, and even if she did look like her brother, it would be in a totally feminine way which  would dispel the link he formed between the brother and sister's looks.

Why is it that it is allowed to look at the girl one is perhaps intending to marry ? If it were compulsory for faces to be covered, then it would be haram for the intended bride's face to be viewed by the potential groom till after the nikaah because he is in effect inspecting the girl and may not necessarily marry her.

As for the princess. How was she found out?  For a start, the American is a source of information. The girls told him who they were and I am sure he was mighty impressed to be cohorting with princesses, and u can bet for starters that they un-hijabed themselves in front of him. If the authorities roughed him up a bit wont he spill the beans? 

You implied that women also use the hijab to do dastardly things. What u have done is just proved my point. Both men and women do it. For women its not so much of an issue cos they are supposed to be in hijab anyway. But u can  see the misuse of it because of the face covering. If a woman covers her face, who is to know that it was she who was  in hijab during the day and in mini skirts at night? But if she had to leave her face open all the time wouldnt she be recognized during the day and at night as the same person? Would she like to be termed a munafique?  No.........

[hayat]

I am not saying that the face hijab is compulsory, but it is highly recommended. Anyway as you have confessed, you have a hard time living up to that standard. But i still fail to see how you link the face hijab to other people's perversion. What if he could see her face...then maybe the next thing is to fantacise what her figure is like because she will be wearing her abaya. the bottom line for the guy is that what he had was a sexual fantacy and no amount of covering will have stopped his perversion. And probably if he had a wife, then when ever he had any sexual relationship with her, he would imagine the face of his friend's sister. As for the common man, the hijab will be a hijab both for him and the woman becos he wouldnt have to kill himself to take a peek at the woman wearing the face hijab, thereby reducing zina of the eyes.

As for the man looking at the the woman he intends to marry, the argument you used is not sufficient to prove that the face hijab is not compulsory...if it were. Because even for the woman not wearing face hijab, it is not allowed for a man to give her X-ray kind of looks. But because here the context is marriage, the shari'a has allowed for the man to look at his intending bride (reasonably). This is the beauty of islam..flexibility.

And lastly for the women who also wear the hijab and still commit zina, i did not prove your point, instead i think you missed the point. Everything that has been prescribed or allowed in the shari'a is for the generel well being of mankind. some people benefit from it when they apply it sincerely while others abuse it, and because they abuse it, that is not to say that the ruling is flawed rather it is the man that is flawed.e.g Shari'a allows a man to marry upto four wives with conditions, but men do marry more than one and dont stick to the rules and as a result there is alot of pain and anguish for mothers and children..but of course someone who doesnt agree with this allowance can pick of these kind of examples to prove that allowing men to marry more that one wife is flawed.
Hope i'm making sense.

[HUSNAA]

I am not saying that the face hijab is compulsory, but it is highly recommended.

But according to what Bammalli posted on the fatwa passed by Sheikh ibn Baaz, it is obligatory. That is why I have difficulty coming to terms with it because to me it is not obligatory. I have read a hadeeth in which the prophet  outlined the compulsory parts that should be covered and he pointed to the whole body except the face and the hands from the wrist to the digits. I am having a hard time because I dont think it is necessary not bcos i cant do it.

But i still fail to see how you link the face hijab to other people's perversion. What if he could see her face...then maybe the next thing is to fantacise what her figure is like because she will be wearing her abaya.

You are wrong there. Very wrong. You see, once a woman covers up her figure she immediately ceases to be an object of desire. No one gives her a second glance let alone think unhealthy thoughts about her. If that were to happen, it would mean a woman is wearing suggestive clothing, and suggestive clothing is what gets men fantasizing, not a shapeless abaya.  When the woman covers up, she is left completely alone and not annoyed as mentioned in the Quran surah Al-azhaab verse 59:
'Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful}'.
This is contrary to yr assertion that men will fantasize about what she her figure will be after she is covered up. Thus there is no way that cases of abuse will arise.
As for the face, the woman of course shouldnt wear makeup. That is a huge attraction to the opposite sex ofcourse.

As for the man looking at the the woman he intends to marry, the argument you used is not sufficient to prove that the face hijab is not compulsory...if it were. Because even for the woman not wearing face hijab, it is not allowed for a man to give her X-ray kind of looks. But because here the context is marriage, the shari'a has allowed for the man to look at his intending bride (reasonably). This is the beauty of islam..flexibility.

I think the argument I used is convincing. Why, because it is like drinking alcohol. It is totally banned, even a sip is haram, and a sip wont get one intoxicated, but it is still forbidden because a sip leads to a bigger gulp and so on.. rather like a heap of little pebbles will eventually become a small hillock. So if covering the face was compulsory, then there is no way that the ruling will be bent for those wishing to see a girl bfor marrying her.

And lastly for the women who also wear the hijab and still commit zina, i did not prove your point, instead i think you missed the point. Everything that has been prescribed or allowed in the shari'a is for the generel well being of mankind. some people benefit from it when they apply it sincerely while others abuse it, and because they abuse it, that is not to say that the ruling is flawed rather it is the man that is flawed.e.g Shari'a allows a man to marry upto four wives with conditions, but men do marry more than one and dont stick to the rules and as a result there is alot of pain and anguish for mothers and children..but of course someone who doesnt agree with this allowance can pick of these kind of examples to prove that allowing men to marry more that one wife is flawed.
Hope i'm making sense.

You mention an abuse of a sharia law concerning marriage. It is abused because it has clauses attached to it. You will find that where there are no conditionalities attached, there is no room for abuse, and if u find abuse, it is because the correct ruling is not being followed. For example, the ruling for hijab there are no conditionalities or clauses attached. It is either do it like that or you disobey. There are no options. The option was introduced by man. That is the face covering. Therefore the issue of abuse cropped up.

[hayat]

Well my point still is... there is no way you can blame a man's perversion on another woman wearing the face hijab. You quoted from surah Al-Ahzaab (in your rush to prove me wrong....do you want to be objective or do you just want to win an argument?) and said it was contrary to what i said...now i dont know why you keep misunderstanding. I never said MEN will fantacise because a woman wears her abaya, what i was trying to make you understand is that the man with a perversion in his heart for whom you are trying to make excuses will not stop only at kissing the girl's brother simply because he can't see her face. Do you want me to believe it is because he couldnt see her face that he resorted to kissing her brother. What if he was left alone with the girl, what will happen? maybe rape. And probably his interest is really the brother and not the girl.

I dont know what you will say with regards to the verse you quoted regarding what happened last year in egypt on Eid day when a bunch of young men went on a rampage assaulting young ladies who were properly dressed. As Allah says the hijab is to protect women from annoyance, but that did not stop the young men...so what excuse will you make for them.

You say there is no way the shari'a will let a man see a woman he intends to marry if the face hijab was compulsory...well shari'a has a rules of dos and donts as well as exceptions.
I dont know if you know, but the face hijab was compulsory for the wives of the prophet (SAW). But they were required to take it off when performing hajj. Another example is a patient (male or female) exposing their aura when they go to see a doctor, which under normal circumstances is haram but becomes permissible for a reason. So as i say, even though islam is strict, it is not rigid like a dried up stick.

I also noticed you keep saying you dont think the face veil is necessary...i dont know based on what do you form this kind of personal opinion..but as i say, it was compulsory for the wives of rasullulah (SAW) and aisha (RA) made du'a to Allah for women that wore the face veil. Even scholars who don't agree that the veil is compulsory all agree unanimously that to wear it is the better option. So when you say you dont think it is necessary....i dont know what you mean.