Allah loves his creation to groom themselves and make an effort to look beautiful, but Allah does not want us to change what He has given us. With mircoblading and plucking eyebrows, we change our physical appearance so a few questions arise.
Is mircoblading haram? And is plucking eyebrows haram? We looked into these questions and here is what we found on the dos and don’ts of the eyebrow in Islam.
Scholars have deduced that mircoblading and plucking eyebrows is considered haram as it changes one’s appearance. However, trimming and shaping eyebrows remain controversial among Scholars. You can groom your eyebrows as long as you do it the halal way.
Table of Contents:
1. Is Microblading Haram?
2. Why is Microblading Considered Haram?
3. Is Eyebrow Microblading Haram?
4. Is Microblading Considered a Tattoo?
5. Mircoblading and Wudu
6. Why is it Haram to Pluck Eyebrows?
7. Is it Haram to Shape Your Eyebrows?
8. Is Waxing Your Eyebrows Haram?
9. Is it Haram to Get Your Eyebrows Done?
Is Microblading Haram?
To answer is microblading haram or halal, we need to understand what is mircoblading. According to MedicalNewsToday, mircoblading is a term given to cosmetic tattooing via a process that fills in your eyebrows to make them appear fuller. For mircoblading, a tool similar to a pen with needles is used (source).
Moreover, while microblading does not penetrate the skin, it scratches the skin with a medical-grade pigment. It results in small incisions in the skin from where the pigment is added to the skin. Due to the use of this pigment, scholars consider mircoblading to be the same as tattooing, which is haram in Islam. Learn more about why Tattoos are considered haram.
When asked “Is Microblading, cutting, shaving or plucking eyebrows permissible in Islam?”, Scholar Assim Al Hakeem answers that mircoblading is in fact haram.
However, a lot of Muslim women go on to get mircoblading done without asking if it’s halal or not (source).
Why is Microblading Considered Haram?
Mircoblading is considered haram because the procedure result in a change to our appearance that is semi-permanent. About changing features of our body that Allah has given us, Allah says in Surah Al Nisa.
…cursed by Allah—who said, “I will surely take hold of a certain number of Your servants. I will certainly mislead them and delude them with empty hopes. Also, I will order them and they will slit the ears of cattle and alter Allah’s creation.”
And whoever takes Satan as a guardian instead of Allah has certainly suffered a tremendous loss…It is they who will have Hell as their home, and they will find no escape from it!
Quran (4:118-120)(source)
Here, the “alter Allah’s creation” refers to getting tattoos and plastic surgery to change one appearance. Mircoblading falls into the category of changing one appearance so scholars consider it haram in Islam (source).
Is Eyebrow Microblading Haram?
Since mircoblading is considered haram, eyebrow mircoblading is also haram since it changes the natural beauty of our face. In Surah Al-Nur, Allah has given us a clear indication of preserving our natural beauty:
And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments except what normally appears.
Quran (24:31) (source)
Allah loves his creation to keep themselves clean and groom themselves, but to not change that which has been naturally given to them. Eyebrow mircoblading changes the look of your eyebrows and face and due to its relation to tattooing, it’s also forbidden.
Trying to change one’s appearance through such methods is haram. Allah loves beauty and makeup is halal but trying to change your features like your eyebrows in a semi-permanent or permanent way is trying to change what features Allah has given us so it is haram.
Is Microblading Considered a Tattoo?
We have established that mircoblading is similar to tattooing, but there is one difference. Mircoblading lasts for eighteen months to 2 years while tattooing is permanent and can only be removed via laser.
So, why is mircoblading haram if it’s temporary?
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) has been reported to have said regarding any kind of tattooing by Ibn `Umar:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah has cursed such a lady as lengthens (her or someone else’s) hair artificially or gets it lengthened, and also a lady who tattoos (herself or someone else) or gets herself tattooed.
(Shahi Bukhari, Book 77, Hadith 152) (source)
From this hadith, it has been concluded that any type of tattooing, be it only temporary is haram in Islam. Mircoblading is a type of tattoo so it is haram.
Mircoblading and Wudu
Islamic scholars have divided hair removal into three categories:
- hair that needs to be shortened or removed
- hair which is forbidden to remove
- hair regarding which the Quran and hadith are silent
Plucking the eyebrows come in the second category. It is forbidden for women to pluck their eyebrows, and plucking and shaving of eyebrows are both forbidden for both unmarried and married women.
Permission of plucking eyebrows by unmarried women stands on shaky grounds but in his hadith, Prophet (PBUH) has used the term, “women” so it means all women, regardless of their marital status (source).
Why is it Haram to Pluck Eyebrows?
Eyebrow plucking is haram as it changes the natural beauty that Allah has given women. Anything that changes the features Allah has given us is haram, including:
- eyebrow plucking
- shaving
- plastic surgery
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) has reported having said by Abdullah;
Allah has cursed those women who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah.
Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet (ﷺ) has cursed? And that is in Allah’s Book. i.e. His Saying: ‘And what the Apostle gives you take it and what he forbids you abstain (from it).
(Shahi Bukhari, Book 77, Hadith 146) (source)
While plucking your eyebrow hair is forbidden and comes under al-nams, removing the hair between your eyebrows, the unibrow, is permissible. Moreover, removing upper lips, arms, and calve hair is permissible in Islam according to the Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah (source).
Is it Haram to Shape Your Eyebrows?
The Quran and Hadith only mention changes one’s appearance is haram, but the arguments of shaping your eyebrows don’t specifically come in them. According to Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, scholars appear controversial about this topic.
He is an Islamic scholar and a senior lecturer at the Islamic Institute of Toronto in Canada.
One group of scholars consider shaping haram as they link it with plucking and the hadith of the Prophet (PBUH);
Allah has cursed those women who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed…
(Shahi Bukhari) (source)
Hence, they state that shaping and trimming are also forbidden or haram.
However, another group of scholars considers trimming or shaping your eyebrows permissible if you have long or bushy eyebrows. In this case, you are only trimming or shaping to make them look tidy so it is permissible.
They offer up the argument that in the hadith, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) forbade plucking of eyebrows as it’s akin to defaming your face. But, trimming or shaping doesn’t defame the face so they consider it permissible in Islam.
With shaping, you can enhance Allah’s creation, something which Allah likes. However, this argument is still controversial and Allah knows best (source).
Is Waxing Your Eyebrows Haram?
Plucking your eyebrows is haram and if you are using wax to pluck your eyebrows, it is also haram.
In the rules of eyebrow removal, the medium doesn’t matter, the only thing that matters is that you shouldn’t remove eyebrows in a way that defames your appearance.
Darul Uloom has classified waxing as an act against the culture of Islam, however, they haven’t stated that it is haram.
Removing hair through waxing or shaving from other parts of the body is khilaf-e-adab (against the culture).
As such, it might be considered permissible to wax the hair of your unibrow but not your eyebrow, Unibrow is the hair between your eyebrows and since it is not a part of the eyebrows, scholars have concluded that it is halal to remove it via wax (source).
Is it Haram to Get Your Eyebrows Done?
As long as you don’t remove any eyebrow hair, getting your eyebrows done the halal way is fine according to most scholars.
In her video, “HOW TO DO EYEBROWS WITHOUT PLUCKING – LADIES ONLY (halal edition)”, Bliifee tells ladies how to groom and shape their eyebrows without any hair removal.
This video shows that Muslim women don’t need to go into haram to look beautiful. You can stay in the halal circle and still find numerous ways to look beautiful.
Plucking, mircoblading, or removing any type of hair from your eyebrows is haram, and women shouldn’t get caught up in the latest fashion and do these things.
For more information on what scholars have to say about eyebrow plucking, shaving, or reducing it, listen to Shaykh Ibn Jibreen’s video on Huda TV. He says that:
It is not permissible to cut the hair of the eyebrows or to shave it, reduce it or pluck it. This is not a matter of beauty, rather it is altering the creation of Allaah Who is the Best of creators.
Source – YouTube
It is not wrong to get your eyebrows done but using techniques like microblading and plucking that remove hair is considered haram by majority of scholars. However, you can get your eyebrows done or shape them as long as you do it the halal way.
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