Perfume for women
| Fatwa #1005 | Category: Miscellaneous | Country: | Date: 8th March 2024 |
| Fatwa #1005 | Date: 8th March 2024 |
| Category: Miscellaneous | |
| Country: | |
Question
Wasalam alaykun, is it permissible for women to use perfume? If not, what of if their bodies emit bad odor or the perfume does not attract the attention of men?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Allah in His Infinite Wisdom has made different laws for men and women based on biological differences between the two genders.
For example, men are prohibited from wearing gold, silver, and silk, whereas these are permissible for women. Likewise, we find that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has strongly deterred women from venturing out of the home with perfume. Whereas the same ruling is not found with regards to men.
See the following hadith,[1]
وَالمَرْأَةُ إِذَا اسْتَعْطَرَتْ فَمَرَّتْ بِالمَجْلِسِ فَهِيَ كَذَا وَكَذَا (يَعْنِي زَانِيَةً) كل عَيْنٍ زَانِيَةٌ
Translation: “Every eye is adulterous and if a woman uses perfume then passes by a gathering (giving off her odour) then she is so and so.. meaning similar to an adulteress”
It is known that perfume has the power to arouse people, especially when it is an interaction between opposite genders. By default, a woman is supposed to conceal her beauty. Perfume by its nature spreads her scent instead of concealing it. Therefore, a woman would not be in hijab (which is necessary) if she puts on a perfume which exposes or spreads her scent around her. This is a possible wisdom behind the prohibition of perfume for women when she goes outside the house.
However, there are certain light scents such as soap, deodorant, shampoo and the like which do not spread the scent like perfume, rather, they are confined to the body and become a barrier for foul odours. These would be permissible to use.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Nabeel Valli
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia
سنن الترمذي ت شاكر (5/ 106) [1]
2786 – حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ القَطَّانُ، عَنْ ثَابِتِ بْنِ عُمَارَةَ الحَنَفِيِّ، عَنْ غُنَيْمِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ، عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: «كُلُّ عَيْنٍ زَانِيَةٌ، وَالمَرْأَةُ إِذَا اسْتَعْطَرَتْ فَمَرَّتْ بِالمَجْلِسِ فَهِيَ كَذَا وَكَذَا» يَعْنِي زَانِيَةً وَفِي البَابِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ: «هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ»