Question:
Is microblading haram in Islam? My eyebrows are naturally thin with fine light hair. This causes me self-confidence issues and makes me feel very unattractive.
My husband loves me a lot but I feel he also finds me unattractive with thin eyebrow hair. Is it halal in Islam to microblade my eyebrows to please my husband and also to build my self-confidence?
Answer:
Thank you for your question dear sister in Islam. May Allah reward you for your God consciousnesses and concern to learn the halal and haram in the deen of Allah.
It is a great sign of Iman (faith) that rather than following your whims and desires. You want to learn if microblading is halal or haram in Islam. And follow what is pleasing to Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him).
Is Microblading Haram in Islam?
Microblading eyebrows is haram in Islam and carries the same ruling as tattoos. It is a sinful act of changing the creation of Allah which is a major sin in Islam.
As far as we know microblading did not exist at the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). So there is no verse in the Qur’an or Hadith that explicitly prohibits microblading. However, this does not make microblading eyebrows halal…
Today we have many new intoxicating drugs that may not have existed in the same form at the time of the Prophet. And therefore they are not mentioned by name in the Qur’an or Hadith. This does not mean these drugs now become halal if they are not mentioned by name. The verse in the Qur’an prohibits intoxicants in all its forms whether that be alcohol or drugs. Regardless if they are mentioned by name in the Qur’an or not.
Similarly, microblading eyebrows may not be mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith. However, microblading resembles tattooing and permanent tattooing is haram in Islam.
The evidence for this is found in the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). For a more detailed answer on tattoos being haram please refer to this link.
Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar:
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, “Allah has cursed the woman who tattoos (others) or gets herself tattooed“.
[Collected by Sahih Al Bukhari • Book 77, Hadith 152 • Graded Authentic]
Some people argue that medically speaking microblading is not the same as tattooing.
Let’s first understand what exactly is microblading. Then understand if microblading is the same as tattooing from an Islamic perspective.
What is Microblading?
Microblading is something women generally do to get fuller eyebrows. It is a semi-permanent technique used to avoid hours penciling in eyebrows everyday.
According to the well known women’s lifestyle and beauty magazine Elle. Microblading consists of a pen like tool with the nib sloped as a blade. The blade has 10-12 little needles at the end. Unlike modern-day tattooing the needles don’t penetrate the skin. Rather they scratch the surface on the epidermis layer for the skin with a medical grade pigment. This results in creating fuller eyebrows with fine, realistic and natural hair strokes.
Source: https://www.elle.com/uk/beauty/a31566/microblading-eyebrows/
Is Microblading the Same as Tattooing in Islam?
From a medical and beauty stand-point beauticians today differentiate between tattooing and microblading.
Tattooing penetrates the skin, is permanent and would need a laser to remove. Microblading does not penetrate the skin, is semi-permanent and fades away after some months. This can be eighteen months to two years.
However, from an Islamic perspective they both are the same thing. Technicalities of how one penetrates the skin and the other scratches bears no relevance. The bottom line is that both techniques pigment the skin. And both techniques last for a long time.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade beautification via pigmentation of the skin. The Arabic word ‘washama’ refers to any form of pigmentation of the skin. Both tattooing and microblading would fall under this.
Why is Microblading Haram in Islam?
Microblading is haram because like tattooing it changes the beautiful creation of Allah. As we’ve established above that from an Islamic perspective microblading and tattooing are the same.
In the Qur’an Allah mentions that Shaytan would mislead us. One of the ways of his deception would be to make us ‘change the creation of Allah’.
‘(Satan) whom Allah has cursed. For he had said, “I will surely take from among Your servants a specific portion. And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them (sinful) desires. And I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle. And I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah. (i.e. tattoo themselves).”
And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss. Satan promises them and arouses desire in them. But Satan does not promise them except delusion. The refuge of those will be Hell, and they will not find from it an escape’. – [Quran 4:118-121]
Source: https://quran.com/4/118-121
The hadith of the Prophet tells us that getting tattoos is changing the creation. And cursed those women that got it done and did it to others.
Narrated by ‘Abdullah:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed the women who practice tattooing and those who seek to be tattooed. Seeking beautification by changing the creation of Allah.
[Collected by Jami` at-Tirmidhi • Book 43, Hadith 3010 • Graded Authentic]
Changing the creation of Allah whether via tattoo or microblading is a major sin. We should always be grateful and content with the way Allah has created us. We should not seek beautification through tattooing or microblading. This is a deception of the Shaytan and makes us displease Allah.
For more details on why microblading is haram please read the details of why tattooing is haram in Islam here.
Can you do Wudu with Microblading?
One of the conditions for a person’s wudu to be complete is that the water must touch the skin. If a person has a tattoo or has microbladed their eyebrows this would not be possible. The pigment on the skin would prevent water reaching the skin and the wudu would be incomplete.
The evidence that the water must touch the skin is found in the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said. “Abu Dharr, clean earth is a means of ablution, even if you do not find water for ten years. When you find water, you should make it touch your skin.”
[Sunan Abi Dawud • Book 1, Hadith 333 • Graded Authentic]
Narrated by Abu Hurairah:
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said. “The soil is a purifier for a Muslim (for wudu), even if he does not find water for ten years. But if he finds water, he must fear Allah and let it touch his skin.”
[Bulugh al-Maram • Book 1, Hadith 160]
Is Eyebrow Tinting Haram?
Tinting the eyebrows is not haram in Islam. It is completely halal and permissible to tint your eyebrows to a natural look of women around you. The emphasis here being ‘natural look’.
All forms of temporary beautification makeup are halal for women in Islam. The only condition is that if the makeup is beyond natural then you should not appear with such makeup in front of strange men that are not mahram to you.
Same goes for tinting eyebrows. If you tint your eyebrows to the level that it looks beyond natural with shades and elegance to beautify yourself. Then you should not appear in front of non-mahrams with such makeup. But if you tint your eyebrows to a natural look of women around you then it is halal for you to appear in front of anyone.
“And tell the believing women to lower their vision and guard their private parts. And not expose their charms except that which (naturally) appears” – [Qur’an 24:31]
Source: https://quran.com/24/31
Tinting your eyebrows to a natural look is the halal alternative to microblading. It will help with your self confidence challenges and also make you feel beautiful in front of your husband.
Yes, tinting eyebrows is temporary and yes it will be a nuisance to tint your eyebrows everyday. But you will avoid displeasing Allah by changing His creation.
When is Microblading Halal?
The only time microblading is halal in Islam is if it is done as a remedy to an illness or disease. So if a person has a known medical condition where they do not even have any eyebrows. Then for such a person it would be halal to microblade eyebrows.
The evidence for this is the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) about tattoos being halal as a remedy. As we’ve established above microblading would be considered tattooing in the sharia. So the same condition for tattoos being halal would apply to microblading.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Awn, from Ash-Sha’bi, from Al-Harith, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) cursed the one who consumes Riba, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and the one who witnesses it. The woman who does tattoos and the woman who has that done unless it is done as a remedy (for an illness).”
[Sunan an-Nasa’i • Book 48, Hadith 65 • Graded Hasan]
Conclusion
Microblading is haram in Islam unless it is done as a remedy to an illness. Microblading resembles tattooing which changes the beautiful creation of Allah. As a Muslim you should not microblade your eyebrows nor microblade others.
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All evidence provided in this answer is from the Qur’an and authentic (sahih) and reliable (hasan) hadith.
And Allah the Most Wise knows best.
