Is It Sinful for a Teen Not to Cut His Pubic and Armpit Hair?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I am 15 years old, and I recently learned from my Hafiz sahib that we should cut our pubic and armpit hair once every 40 days, but I have had pubic hair for the past 1.5 years.
Is it sinful not to cut those hairs because I didn’t know then? I’m still a teen, so I’m having a hard time even thinking about cutting those hairs, so what do I do? Please assist!
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for seeking guidance.
You will not be sinful, as you were unaware at the time. You need to gain confidence and direction from someone you trust, who possesses the knowledge and can give you direction on how to go on about removing hair from your body; first, ask your father, teacher, or it could be your older sibling, cousin, close friend, etc.
How Often Do We Remove the Bodily Hair
- It is recommended to do so weekly;
- Permitted to delay until 15 days;
- Prohibitively disliked and sinful to leave beyond 40 days. [Nahlawi, al-Durar al-Mubaha]
Related:
Proper Method of Removing Pubic Hair
Ritual Purity: A Reader
A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)
Balancing Confidence and Humility and the Wisdom of Trials from Allah
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance, such as Islamic Studies Curriculum?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
