How Long Is It Permitted To Go Without Shaving?

Question: How long can I not shave? What is the ruling of plucking nostril and armpit hair for both males and females?

Answer:

Assalamu alaykum,

Thank you for your question. The ruling in the Shafi`i school for men and women is below:

“e4.1 It is a sunna (3) for those used to it, to pluck away the hair of the underarms and nostrils, though if plucking the underarms is a hardship, then shaving them; and to shave the pubic hair;“ [The Reliance of the Traveller]

One of my teachers, Shaykh Abdul-Karim Yahya, said that it is sunna to remove the hair that grows around the front and rear private parts. The sunna for a man is to shave it, and for a woman is to pluck it (or wax) if she can, but either way fulfills the sunna. It is offensive to delay its removal beyond when needed and more offensive to delay it beyond forty days. So, when described (by common acknowledgment-`urf) as needing removal, it should be removed, and one should not wait beyond forty days. [Abdul-Hamid’s supercommentary on Tuhfa: Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Hawashi al-Sharwani Wa Ibn Qasim al-Abbadi ‘Ala Tuhfah al-Muhtaj Bi sharh al-Minhaj, 9:375.]

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.