What Does Islam Say About Women Wearing Makeup?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What Does Islam Say About Women Wearing Makeup?

 Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is permissible for a Muslim woman to wear makeup. In fact, in some circumstances, she may be rewarded for doing so. This ruling applies in the following circumstances:

1) Adorning Herself Privately, Not Publically

It is permissible and rewarding for a woman to adorn herself with her spouse. The inverse is also true. It is also permissible for her to adorn herself in a gathering where no non-mahram (marriageable) men are present.

2) The Makeup Does Not Prevent the Validity of Her Wudu/Ghusl

Some makeup acts as a preventative barrier for water in the washing of the wudu/ghusl. This is still within the bounds of permissibility when a woman cannot pray or remove the makeup before the next wudu/ghusl for prayer.

What is Prohibited?

It is prohibited for a woman to wear makeup that is customarily used to beautify herself if done in public or the presence of non-mahram men.

Anti-aging products and makeup meant solely to conceal flaws are not necessarily prohibited because they are not customarily used for beautification, rather a concealment. However, caution dictates that a Muslim woman should still avoid this type of makeup when going in public or before non-mahram men.

Allah Most High commands Muslim women saying, “Settle in your homes, and do not display yourselves as women did in the days of ˹pre-Islamic˺ ignorance. Establish prayer, pay alms-tax, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only intends to keep ˹the causes of˺ evil away from you and purify you completely, O  members of the ˹Prophet’s˺ family!” [Qur’an; 33:33]

In pre-Islamic Arabia (known as the time of ignorance), women would adorn themselves with makeup and perfume in public and act flirtatiously and/or seductively before the opposite gender. This is prohibited and forbidden directly by the Qur’an and Prophetic teachings.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and some texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.