Tattoos in Islam

[Aymerlu 3]

Melly: Just out of curiousity what made you post this article?

Assalamu alaykum sister.

One of the members here recently got a tattoo. And while I know she is not a Muslim, someone else mentioned thinking about getting one, and I didn't know if that person was Muslim or not.

Since none of us can know everything there is to know in Islam, and since I had heard and read that tattoos were not allowed, I figured it would be nice if I made a post so that *anyone* could read it and either get more information if they wanted to, and if not, then they could ignore it.

It was not meant to poke a finger at anyone, family, friends, whoever.

I was simply trying to do a service to make people aware of something.

Apparently, no one here wants any information so I'll refrain from trying to be helpful in the future.

wasalam

I think the person you are are talking about and no, I'm not a muslim. My husband just said nothing is haram about tattoos......UNLESS it is something that could harm another person such as something evil, etc. I'm sure I'm not saying this quite right because he got upset and started yammering in arabic and I didn't understand a word he said.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

We had a pretty good discussion on this topic last year:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42661

[Marry American 0]

My husband wants to get a tattoo(my name, he he). I did not ask him why. I will this evening. If he decides to get one, I will get a cover up at the same time. In college years ago, I got a sorority symbol placed on my shoulder, it is very small. It is dull. I have been wanting to cover it up with something colorful. If I had the choice to get my original tatto or not, I do not know what my choice would be-but I would be more careful in deciding. I have ear piercings that I regret. I wished I had only one hole in each ear. I wear only tiny tiny diamonds so no big deal. You hardly notice the holes.

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

My husband and I plan to open a tattoo shop after he gets approval to work. He is muslim and he is planing to get tattoo's. I am a tattoo artist for 17 years and when he gets here he will learn the trade. He is a artist himself. We met in a tattoo chat room. He wants a portrait of his mother and of me the two most important women in his life.

[Henia 11]

Esalaam/Hello/Salut

I have no idea who this post was geared towards, but I guess it does not matter after all. Maybe as Melly said someonecould gain something from it.

It is clear that all the religions of the Books says Allah (or the God, whatever language or name you use) does not allow any (exception of circumcism and medical mercies) alteration to the orginal "creation" So if one is a Muslim or not is clearly irrelevant here. The Torah/ Old Testement states: You shall not scrape your flesh for a (dead) soul, and tattoos do not put upon you, I am the L-rd (Leviticus 19:28). There are those who say that this is a divine decree (in the Torah) whose reason is unknown (Rashi on Tractate Makoth 21A). Maimonides writes that "...this was the custom of the gentiles that they inscribe themselves for idol worship that is to say that he is a slave sold and enlisted for its worship..."(Laws of Idol Worship 12:11). And the Prophet (saw) said "Allah's Apostle said, 'The evil eye is a fact,' and he forbade tattooing" (Sahih Bukhari)

Also the Quran states the same:

“… ‘And I will surely lead them astray, and arouse desires in them, and command them and they will cut the cattle’s ears, and I will surely command them and they will change Allah’s creation.’ Whoever chooses the Devil for a friend instead of Allah is assuredly a loser, and his loss is manifest.” (An-Nisa’: 119)

“There is no altering Allah’s creation.” (Ar-Rum: 30); “And do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands.” (Al-Baqarah: 195).

But then again we are human, and just cos you are a Muslim, Christian orJew does not mean you do or will follow all the rules. Unforunately many donnot.

I adore you: by Islamic tradition ear priercings are allowed as women of the Pr.Mohammed(saw)'s time wore them. Several Hadiths report this. The only exception some scholars and jurists have made in this context is the case of ear piercing specifically for females. This is so because of the specific need of women to wear jewelry.

In Arabia a girl usually has her ears pierced at birth, and a Bedouin child may have them pierced in two or three places. The holes are kept open with silk cords until she is old enough to wear ear-rings. There are even some pieces of jewelry which attach to the nose, and then attach to other head ornaments.

It is also worth mentioning in this respect that ear piercing is somewhat different; for there are fewer hazards in ear piercing as compared to piercing of tongues, lips and eye-lids, etc.

MK: thanks for reposting that very interesting thread

[Marry American 0]

Esalaam/Hello/Salut

I adore you: by Islamic tradition ear priercings are allowed as women of the Pr.Mohammed(saw)'s time wore them. Several Hadiths report this. The only exception some scholars and jurists have made in this context is the case of ear piercing specifically for females. This is so because of the specific need of women to wear jewelry.

In Arabia a girl usually has her ears pierced at birth, and a Bedouin child may have them pierced in two or three places. The holes are kept open with silk cords until she is old enough to wear ear-rings. There are even some pieces of jewelry which attach to the nose, and then attach to other head ornaments.

It is also worth mentioning in this respect that ear piercing is somewhat different; for there are fewer hazards in ear piercing as compared to piercing of tongues, lips and eye-lids, etc.

I mentioned my ear piercings just because I wished I had not gotten more than one hole in each ear, not based on any sort of religion at all.

[doodlebug 3]

And as for the question by Doodle: any sins (anything that is clearly written in the Quran as haraam) is enchallah (God wlling) forgiven when one converts. What a Muslim is required to do is to genuinely repent of having had it, resolving not to have anything of the sort in future. He should seek God's forgiveness. Their prayer and pilgrimage are certainly valid. It has to be remembered that genuine repentance of any sin erases it completely. Although in the case of the tattoo, the effect remains on one's body, the fact that the person concerned has repented means that no further action is required.

um...i never asked a question. I already knew this.

[doodlebug 3]

There are only 70 clearly stated haraam (forbidden sins) in the Quran. So basically unless it is clearly stated as hraam, it is not haraam. But makruh. And to say something is haraam, when it is not or it is unclear is...in essence also a sin.

01. Associating anything with Allah

02. Murder

03. Practising magic

04. Not Praying

05. Not paying Zakat

06. Not fasting on a Day of Ramadan without excuse

07. Not performing Hajj, while being able to do so

08. Disrespect to parents

09. Abandoning relatives

10. Fornication and Adultery

11. Homosexuality(sodomy)

12. Interest(Riba)

13. Wrongfully consuming the property of an orphan

14. Lying about Allah and His Messenger

15. Running away from the battlefield

16. A leader's deceiving his people and being unjust to them

17. Pride and arrogance

18. Bearing false witness

19. Drinking Khamr (wine)

20. Gambling

21. Slandering chaste women

22. Stealing from the spoils of war

23. Stealing

24. Highway Robbery

25. Taking false oath

26. Oppression

27. Illegal gain

28. Consuming wealth acquired unlawfully

29. Committing suicide

30. Frequent lying

31. Judging unjustly

32. Giving and Accepting bribes

33. Woman's imitating man and man's imitating woman

34. Being cuckold

35. Marrying a divorced woman in order to make her lawful for the husband

36. Not protecting oneself from urine

37. Showing-off

38. Learning knowledge of the religion for the sake of this world and concealing that knowledge

39. Bertrayal of trust

40. Recounting favours

41. Denying Allah's Decree

42. Listening (to) people's private conversations

43. Carrying tales

44. Cursing

45. Breaking contracts

46. Believing in fortune-tellers and astrologers

47. A woman's bad conduct towards her husband

48. Making statues and pictures

49. Lamenting, wailing, tearing the clothing, and doing other things of this sort when an affliction befalls

50. Treating others unjustly

51. Overbearing conduct toward the wife, the servant, the weak, and animals

52. Offending one's neighbour

53. Offending and abusing Muslims

54. Offending people and having an arrogant attitude toward them

55. Trailing one's garment in pride

56. Men's wearing silk and gold

57. A slave's running away from his master

58. Slaughtering an animal which has been dedicated to anyone other than Allah

59. To knowingly ascribe one's paternity to a father other than one's own

60. Arguing and disputing violently

61. Witholding excess water

62. Giving short weight or measure

63. Feeling secure from Allah's Plan

64. Offending Allah's righteous friends

65. Not praying in congregation but praying alone without an excuse

66. Persistently missing Friday Prayers without any excuse

67. Unsurping the rights of the heir through bequests

68. Deceiving and plotting evil

69. Spying for the enemy of the Muslims

70. Cursing or insulting any of the Companiions of Allah's Messenger

I got about 7 or 8 of those suckers so I guess I'm doomed.

[~Jess~ 0]

I was just passin by this thread....yes i just got a tattoo done last week. Im not Muslim, Geo isnt Muslim......I respect everyone and i hope that posting the pictures of my tattoo didnt offend anyone.

[coolred38 0]

Theres a difference between something being haram(absolutely forbidden) and disliked....several of the things in your list of haram deeds are mentioned as being disliked and should be avoided if possible...but not necessarily haram. Also, many of those things mentioned are in hadith and not necessarily in the Quran....not meaning they dont matter...just pointing that out.

[MelindaandTarek 0]

My husband and I plan to open a tattoo shop after he gets approval to work. He is muslim and he is planing to get tattoo's. I am a tattoo artist for 17 years and when he gets here he will learn the trade. He is a artist himself. We met in a tattoo chat room. He wants a portrait of his mother and of me the two most important women in his life.

you are a tatoo artists?! ok how cool is that?!

[Aymerlu 3]

Theres a difference between something being haram(absolutely forbidden) and disliked....several of the things in your list of haram deeds are mentioned as being disliked and should be avoided if possible...but not necessarily haram. Also, many of those things mentioned are in hadith and not necessarily in the Quran....not meaning they dont matter...just pointing that out.

I'm glad you said this. Every time a thread regarding tattoos come on VJ I'm always asking my husband questions. He said the exact same thing you stated, but I have never said anything on the board because I typically like to lay low and not start big debates. His sisters and I had this conversation as well last year when I was in Egypt visiting them and they said they see no wrong in tattoos.

[allousa 1]

I guess I will go to h-e-l-l for the eyebrow waxing. I have NO CHOICE but to keep those suckers under control. I've got thick dark eyebrows!!!! Definitely don't want a unibrow!!!!!

[Alhamdulillah 0]

If an authentic hadith indicates that the prophet not only forbade an action but also accompanied the prohibition with a curse then it's generally taken as a haraam action and a major sin. Of course it's not necessary for others to agree.

**Narrated Aun bin Abu Juhaifa: I saw my father buying a slave whose profession was cupping, and ordered that his instruments (of cupping) be broken. I asked him the reason for doing so. He replied, "Allah's Apostle prohibited taking money for blood, the price of a dog, and the earnings of a slave-girl by prostitution; he cursed her who tattoos and her who gets tattooed, the eater of Riba (usury), and the maker of pictures." (Book #34, Hadith #440)

**Narrated Alqama: 'Abdullah (bin Masud) said. "Allah curses those ladies who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those ladies who remove the hair from their faces and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth in order to look more beautiful whereby they change Allah's creation." His saying reached a lady from Bani Asd called Um Yaqub who came (to Abdullah) and said, "I have come to know that you have cursed such-and-such (ladies)?" He replied, "Why should I not curse these whom Allah's Apostle has cursed and who are (cursed) in Allah's Book!" Um Yaqub said, "I have read the whole Quran, but I did not find in it what you say." He said, "Verily, if you have read it (i.e. the Quran), you have found it. Didn't you read: 'And whatsoever the Apostle gives you take it and whatsoever he forbids you, you abstain (from it). (59.7) She replied, "Yes, I did," He said, "Verily, Allah's Apostle forbade such things." "She said, "But I see your wife doing these things?" He said, "Go and watch her." She went and watched her but could not see anything in support of her statement. On that he said, "If my wife was as you thought, I would not keep her in my company." (Book #60, Hadith #408)

**Narrated Abu Juhaifa: The Prophet cursed the lady who practices tattooing and the one who gets herself tattooed, and one who eats (takes) Riba' (usury) and the one who gives it. And he prohibited taking the price of a dog, and the money earned by prostitution, and cursed the makers of pictures. (Book #63, Hadith #259)

**Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah. Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet has cursed? And that is in Allah's Book. i.e. His Saying: 'And what the Apostle gives you take it and what he forbids you abstain (from it).' (59.7) (Book #72, Hadith #815)

**Narrated Humaid bin 'Abdur-Rahman bin 'Auf that in the year he performed Hajj. he heard Mu'awiya bin Abi Sufyan, who was on the pulpit and was taking a tuft of hair from one of his guards, saying, "Where are your religious learned men? I heard Allah's Apostle forbidding this (false hair) and saying, 'The children of Israel were destroyed when their women started using this.'" Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah has cursed the lady who artificially lengthens (her or someone else's) hair and the one who gets her hair lengthened and the One who tattoos (herself or someone else) and the one who gets herself tattooed" (Book #72, Hadith #816)

**Narrated Ibn Umar Allah's Apostle said, "Allah has cursed such a lady as lengthens (her or someone else's) hair artificially or gets it lengthened, and also a lady who tattoos (herself or someone else) or gets herself tattooed. (Book #72, Hadith #820)

**Narrated 'Alqama: 'Abdullah cursed those women who practiced tattooing and those who removed hair from their faces and those who created spaces between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, such ladies as changed what Allah has created. Um Ya'qub said, "What is that?" 'Abdullah said, "Why should I not curse those who were cursed by Allah's Apostle and are referred to in Allah's Book?" She said to him "By Allah, I have read the whole Qur'an but I have not found such a thing. 'Abdullah said, "By Allah, if you had read it (carefully) you would have found it. (Allah says:) 'And what the Apostle gives you take it and what he forbids you abstain (from it).' (59.7) (Book #72, Hadith #822)

**Narrated Ibn 'Umar : The Prophet has cursed the lady who lengthens her hair artificially and the one who gets her hair lengthened, and also the lady who tattoos (herself or others) and the one who gets herself tattooed. (Book #72, Hadith #823)

**Narrated Ibn 'Umar : I heard the Prophet saying, (or the Prophet said), "Allah has cursed the lady who practices tattooing and that who gets it done for herself, and also the lady who lengthens hair artificially and that who gets her hair lengthened artificially." The Prophet has cursed such ladies. (Book #72, Hadith #825)

**Narrated Ibn Mas'ud: Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing or get it done for themselves, and those who remove hair from their faces, and those who create spaces between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, such ladies as change the features created by Allah. Why then shall I not curse those whom Allah's Apostle has cursed and who are cursed in Allah's Book too? (Book #72, Hadith #826)

**Narrated Abu Huraira : Allah's Apostle said, "The evil eye is a fact," and he forbade tattooing. (Book #72, Hadith #827)

**Narrated Abu Huraira : A woman who used to practise tattooing was brought to 'Umar. 'Umar got up and said, "I beseech you by Allah, which of you heard the Prophet saying something about tattooing?" l got up and said, "0 chief of the Believers! l heard something." He said, "What did you hear?" I said, "I heard the Prophet (addressing the ladies), saying, 'Do not practise tattooing and do not get yourselves tattooed.'" (Book #72, Hadith #830)

**Narrated Abu Juhaifa: that he had bought a slave whose profession was cupping. The Prophet forbade taking the price of blood and the price of a dog and the earnings of a prostitute, and cursed the one who took or gave (Riba') usury, and the lady who tattooed others or got herself tattooed, and the picture-maker. (Book #72, Hadith #845)

[deemabrouk 0]

i have a tattoo from 6 years ago on my back... I converted AFTER i got the tattoo..

My husband now is saying that he heard a Mulfti (how ever you spell it) say that a person with a tattoo can not fully make ghusl/ wudu... therefor the prayers are not counted

I have NEVER heard that before.. and I REFUSE to get a tattoo removal...

oh yeah... i pluck/ wax my eyebrows... and most of the arab / muslim born DO!!!!!!

Edited September 12, 2007 by deemabrouk