Is Body Piercing Allowed for Men?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz A. Khan

Question: Why is body piercing not acceptable for the man …especially if they do pierce their ears. Would you kindly give me some  Quranic and Hadith reference. I need to explain to a brother.

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and states.

Mutilation

Body piercing is considered a type of mutilation (muthla), which is unlawful in Islam. Our bodies are a trust (amana) granted to us by Allah, and we are ordered to preserve this trust and maintain our bodies well.

There are many hadiths on this prohibition, such as:

–The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade robbery and mutilation (muthla). [Sahih Bukhari]

–Various Companions (Allah be pleased with them) relate that, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would encourage us to give charity (sadaqa) and prohibit us from mutilation (muthla).” [Abu Dawud, Nasa’i]

The exception to this ruling is with respect to women, who are allowed to pierce specifically their ears or noses, as that is considered a type of adornment recognized by the Sacred Law. For women to pierce other parts of the body, or for men to pierce any part of their bodies, is not recognized as adornment and hence remains unlawful mutilation. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Imitation

Finally, for a man to pierce his ear entails his imitation of women, and in many hadiths our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men. [Sahih Bukhari, Abu Dawud]

And Allah knows best.
wassalam
Faraz

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani