'Allah had cursed those women who tattoo and who have themselves tattooed, those who pluck hair from their faces and those who make spaces between their teeth for beautification, changing what Allah has created.' (hadith...)
I just read a post on a different blog about the controversial issue of plucking ones' eyebrows. The above hadith was copied and pasted straight from their blog.
So, I started wondering about this. My (Muslim) SIL always gets her eyebrows threaded at the mall. I personally get mine waxed every time I get my haircut. I know, I know, I'm new to Islam, so leave he scholars to deciding what's right and wrong. WELL, I may be new to Islam, but I'm not new to God. I've loved God all my life and have always feared and worshiped Him. My understanding of God is not that He will curse me for removing a minuscule amount of hair from my face. I'll admit upfront...I've got a lot of conflicting feelings regarding the whole hadith system. In regards to my eyebrows...if it's not in the Qur'an, I'll continue to get them waxed. My husband for one would be sorely disappointed if I stopped taking care of my eyebrows and let them run amuck on my face. Am I not allowed to please my husband?
I went in search for a bit more information on this hadith...and came up with this quotation:
"And it was suggested that what is forbidden is only that which is permanent, because that is changing the creation of Allaah; as for that which is not permanent, such as kohl which used for adornment by women, that is permitted by the scholars."
And now I'm even more stumped. SO, things that are PERMANENT are forbidden. Oh, okay, so my eyebrows don't grown back every month? How is plucking your eyebrows permanent?
And speaking of changing the creation of Allah, (I'm gonna get beat up for this one) what about body piercing? Saudi Arabia, the Islamic capital of the world, pierces the ears of baby girls in the hospital shortly after birth. Um...isn't that practice even more vain than plucking ones unsightly eyebrows? My ears are not pierced. My Christian parents would not allow me to put holes in the body that God gave me. But yet Muslims are in agreement that ear piercing (for women) is allowed, but no other body piercing, Heavens no!
I can pierce my ears...but I can't wax my eyebrows? I can use kohl...but I can't wax my eyebrows?
This hadith also got me thinking about "those who make spaces between their teeth for beautification." I, and most everyone I went to school with, had braces. I personally started treatment in the fourth grade. I got my palate expanded in the 6th grade, braces put on shortly thereafter, and did not get them removed until 9th grade. My teeth were BAD, and my mouth was too narrow to hold all of them (hence, the palate expander). In addition, my wisdom teeth were extracted from my gums three years ago because there was no room for them. The bottom ones would have dissolved the roots of my back teeth, and the top one (i only had 3) was blocking my sinus cavity.
So am I (and most everyone I know) cursed for getting braces?
I feel guilty typing these things 'out loud.' I fear that I'm a bad Muslim for questioning so much and coming to conclusions contrary to those of respected scholars.
Again and again I hear "Islam is all about taking the middle ground." If this is true, though, why are there such extreme rulings on such mundane matters as these?
9 comments:
I think it's because some people like to impose rules on such mundane things in order to control others. :-/
Your post makes sense to me!
The questions you've asked are questions I ask all the time!!
My family is waiting to have enough money to put braces on me, my older brother had them and just took them off. It's costly but hopefully it can stop the pain my wisdom teeth are causing and they're making my teeth crowd one another T.T So I see nothing wrong with braces. Earrings? My mother got my ears pierced when I was 4 months old!!! So I see nothing wrong with getting my lip pierced (not that my parents would allow me of course -heh- )
I don't 'do' my eyebrows because my eyebrows look 'done' to begin with lool I just take off the middle so I won't have a unibrow -shiver-
Anywho this is just my opinion, but those hadiths really are things that get me thinking, don't worry you're not a bad muslim. Questioning actually brings me closer to the religion once I find the answers ^_^
Salam
Those hadith are hadiths used by wahabis. If you wish i have a ruling by a shia Ayatollah about the issue (piercing and tatooing)
This is from Fadhallah a more "moderate" shia alim:
Its in pdf and i have to send it to some mail but its a ruling on these issues.
Allah has given us brains to use to think with, would it really be wrong to pluck hair in your face that makes you look like a man? Some have more hair some have less.
What if you are born with a defect that can be fixed with help of an operation?
My sisters and my mother and all women i know of pluck their eyebrows..
I know it's totally un-PC to say what I am about to say and generally I get badly critised but Allah demands we recommend eachother to truth so here goes:
Bismilahirahmanirahim
Allah's words are in The Quran ONLY. So anything outside of the Quran which lays claim to what Allah says, I would take with a whole heap of salt and seriously contemplate what exactly you are doing when you accept it as God's words.
Really really think about what you are doing when you take it as Gods word and before you accept it is from God. The Quran says this very clearly and repeatedly, and warns constantly of people who assign words to Allah whilst they do not know.
Once you have really really contemplated as to whether you want to take something outside of the Quran as God's word or not, and you have come to a decision in yourself - then contemplate how you choose to adopt that message.
Now...I get slaughtered for saying that!
This is where you have to decide what it is you are going to follow or not.. It is not up to the community, but up to you.
Be careful of the hadiths you look at, many are incorrect. Some Muslims only follow Quran because Hadiths have so much potential of being flawed..
Others only follwo certain Hadith. From what I know, there are only 1 or 2 book of Hadiths that are even considered legitimate..
So, be careful what people you listen to.
Salam
there are thousends of hadiths but both sunnis and shias have certain rules for deciding which ones are true or not. Some sunnis mean that the sahih hadiths are 100% right but most agree that hadiths are important to understand the holy Quran and to understand our religion. There are only the quranists or supporters of Khalifa who dont take hadiths.
I don't think you should feel guilty typing these things "out loud". I totally understand how you feel ... when I pose questions to my husband I get shot down for "questioning the religion". So, I don't ask him things anymore, really... it's normal to ask questions. In one of Jeffrey Lang's books (I'm not sure if you've read them?) he talks about how there's a reluctance in the American Sunni Muslim (and Muslim in general) community in regards to questioning things. It's not as strong in the Shia community, according to what he stated.
I agree with what Jasmine & Sarah Elizabeth said. They're my buddies. :)
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah said: “Allaah has cursed the women who do tattoos and those who ask for tattoos to be done, those who ask for their eyebrows to be plucked, and the women ask for their teeth to be filed for the purpose of beautification, changing the creation of Allaah.” A woman from the tribe of Bani Asad whose name was Umm Ya’qoob heard of that and she came and said, “I have heard that you have cursed So and so and So and so.” He said, “Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed and who are mentioned in the Book of Allaah?’ She said, “I have read what is between the two covers [of the Qur’aan], and I did not find anything in it like what you have said.” He said, “If you have read it, have you not read that Allaah says,
‘And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)’
[al-Hashr 59:7]?”
She said, “Of course.” He said, “He forbade that.” She said, “I think your wife does it.” He said, “Go and look.” So she went and looked and she did not see what she was looking for. He said, “If she had been like that, she would not be with us.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4604; Muslim, 2125
the hadith about plucking of the eyebrows is authentic. that means that we have to obey. i dont think we want Allah's curse upon us. no one does. we dont want to live without His mercy. thats what keep us going. Hes the most merciful but Hes also the most severe in punishment. remember this hadith please. remember that Allah said that we follow the prophet muhammad salalahou alayhi wasalam whos his messenger. dont follow people follow Allah and Islam.
make your own research, search for authenticity of the hadith and then come to your own conclusions which are based on what Allah commands us. im tired of people saying we follow the Quran only. not pointing at you though
Salam Nikki!!
All I can say is...HALLELUJAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fjdskalfjdsk;lajfkds;lajfkds;lajfdsk;la someone agrees with me!! I was born into a Muslim family, so I'm not new to faith in God. I highly doubt God would curse me for removing a little bit of hair from my face, because it makes my face look manly and ugly. And I'm with you on the braces.
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