Remember the other day when I busted the myth about our hair being expected to be unkempt? Fine. Now, let’s talk heart-to-heart. “Pàtéwó” and “all-back” are not the only hairstyles you can do. Partial excuse granted to the miskeen spinsters who are still in school; but as for the married sisters, you have to up your game ooo! Don’t say I didn’t tell you ooo!
Islaam is a simple and beautiful religion. One of the principles laid down is that any social behaviour or action other than acts of worship (Mu’aamalah), is allowed until proven otherwise. So, you are free to beautify your hair anyhow you want, but you must know those things that the Shari’a takes exception to. I’ll like to mention those exceptions only, and then you can do elimination method and fill in the gaps…
1. Don’t imitate the men or kaafir women. You can take off a chunk (if it’s too long and difficult to manage) but no shaving. No Anita Baker cut. No Rihanna cut.
It was narrated in Saheeh Muslim that Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said: “The wives of the Prophet (saw) used to cut their hair until it came just below their ears.”
2. Don’t attach. This connotes the changing of Allaah’s creation which is one of shaytan’s tricks.
“… and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allaah… ” (Quran chapter 4 verse 119)
However, what constitutes attachment should be made clear:
*anything that falsely elongates the hair, eg. Weave on, threads that are woven longer than the length of the hair etc.
*anything that gives the wrong impression of your true hair, eg. Wigs, human hair
*anything that prevents the hair from the permeability of ablution or ghusl water, eg. Synthetic attachments
3. Don’t dye black. Yes, you can dye your hair; from red to violet. But stay away from black.
The Messnger of Allaah (saw) once said to a man, “Change this white hair but avoid black.” Saheeh Muslim (5476). In another hadith, he (saw) said: “There will be people at the end of time who will dye their hair black like the crops of pigeons; they will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (4212) and al-Nasaa’i (8/138)
4. Don’t make a camel hump. Shuku is not a good style for hijabites, unless the “handle” is made to fall behind the occiput.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: There are two types of people of Hell whom I have not seen: a people with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they beat the people, and women who are clothed but naked, walking with an enticing gait and with their heads looking like the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will not enter Paradise and will not even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from such and such a distance? (Muslim, 2128).
5. Don’t apply products made from harmful or haram ingredients. This is quite simple. It’s just the same way you’d read the information on any packaged food, drink or drug before consumption. Watch out for Alcohol especially.
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Now, let’s talk a bit about “other” hairs
*Don’t pluck your eyebrows, it’s haram. Narrated by ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood (ra): I heard the Messenger of Allaah (saw) say: “Allaah has cursed the woman who does tattoos and the one who has them done, the woman who plucks eyebrows (al-naamisah) and the one who has it done (al-mutanammisah), and the one who files her teeth for the purpose of beauty, altering the creation of Allaah.” (Al-Bukhaari, 5931; Muslim, 2125)
*Don’t attach eyelashes. Be content with what Allaah has given you.
*Plucking the underarm hairs is the best method. It’s sunnah and it prevents irritation and ingrown hairs. You can use tweezers, wax or depilating devices for much ease. Avoid chemicals as much as you can.
*As for the bikini area… Hmm… That’s a big topic on it’s own. I know most of you must have got enough information from Google and youtube. But whatever you do, chemicals around the vulva is a “no no”! Razors are not that friendly either.
*Remove any male-pattern hair on your body. (Do I even need to say this? Yuck!). I’m talking about moustache, beard, chest hair, pubic hair extending up to the navel and down to the thighs, bushy hair on the arms and legs etc. There’s no clear cut ruling on this, so… (Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/194, 195). Apart from the potential disfigurement, it can be a sign of underlying disease and there are medical and surgical procedures to tackle it. (see a physician)
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