Plucking Eyebrows = HARAM!

bluepen03 wrote: Salam, I don't under stand why eyebrow plucking is haram.

You can get the part b/w your brows cleaned up - there is a hadith (Saying  of Prophet Muhammad) that tells muslim women (and men) not to get tattoos and piercings, and space their teeth or shape their brows because this is what the non-muslim women used to do. (In summary).

If eye brow shaping is haram, then so is wearing eyeliner and makeup. but since this is not explicitly mention in any Hadith or the Qur'an it's ok?

Wearing eye-liner and makeup is not haraam - it depends on how you use it. If you are using these products to show-off or attract the attention of un-related males, then it can be haraam. Depends on the use.

There is nothing wrong with women using make-up or eye-liner for their husbands, family-members or in female gatherings.

Practically speaking if you want to use make-up in your daily life, to hide scars/acne or to look more presentable, best to do it in an under-stated manner without looking too ostentatious. (Heavy eye-makeup, colorful lips etc).

Many women don't realise it is for the general betterment of women. As Muslims, we are encouraged to dress up and display our ornaments to our men (spouses) and family-members, not the general public. This is better rather than have a society where women dress to the nines when they go out in public, creating an environment of female competition where women are judged based on looks and their beauty is being rated and judged by random people.

Also, there IS a hadith that talks about eye-brow plucking - scholars say it is okay to clean up the part above the nose, (which causes the unibrow) because it is not part of the actual brow. Also, if a woman is excessively hairy, so much so that it makes her look very unattractive and hinders suitors, she is allowed to even neaten her brows (because hers is an exceptional case).

I understand that men and women can be captivated by beauty of ones eyes. so, if someone was born with perfect eyebrows where it looks really neat and well groomed, it's ok, even if their eyebrows look attractive. but others who weren't blessed with good looking eyebrows have to leave them be?

People come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, skin colors etc. Some are deemed more attractive by society and some are not. Its not just about eye-brows... if one has that mentality, where does one stop? What about hair? Skin? Weight?  Ok, so its not 'fair' that not everybody was created the same physically - but thats life. And as Muslims we believe that Allah in His infinite wisdom created everybody the way they are.

I understand that the purpose of the Hadith is so that we don't alter what we are born with. 'shaping the teeth.' does braces account for that??? and I know my dentist has trimmed my teeth before...why? i never questioned.

Since you are not sure "why" this hadith was saying this, you need to look at the explanation of the Hadith by Scholars. You are not allowed to create artificial spaces in b/w the teeth like the hadith says. I have not heard anywhere that getting braces is haraam. You should take these concerns to a reliable scholar or read-up...

Anyway, getting braces is perfectly fine Islamically. What would NOT be fine is getting gold-teeth or things like that.

Also, I don't know if "altering one's natural state" is the reason for the hadith... because as Muslims we are allowed to do a lot of things that �lter our natural state' like get haircuts, remove body hair, cut our nails, dye our nails, dye our hair - etc etc. There are SOME things that are explicitly prohibited and we stay away from them (like tattoos etc).

And I know women who actually alter their appearance by shaving off the eyebrow and tattooing it completely. this i can see why it's haram, because u r literally changing whats on your face, but shaping your eyebrow is like giving yourself a haircut..... unless that too is haram...

You sound really frustrated.... I think that as Muslims before we can be comfortable implementing Islamic tenets into our lives, we need to be comfortable with our Deen. I think it would be a good idea to get in touch with the Qur'an, read the explanation, listen to/attend some beneficial talks/lectures etc. If we don't even know why we do/or don't do certain things in Islam, we find it harder.

The issue is not as simple as 'plucking eyebrows" I''m sure even if somebody did say u can pluck, there would be something else that would bother you. That can happen if we aren't really in touch with Allah and the Qur'an. The issue is deeper, not as simple as eye-brows. May Allah help us all implement deen and find it easy.

Anyway: You CAN neaten ur brows by removing the hair above ur nose and trimming hairs with a scissor that stick out. I would still be careful about plucking the brows into a shape, unless you ask a scholar. If this issue is REALLY bringing down your imaan, and thats all you can think about and you are feeling really frustrated, maybe I'm not supposed to say it, but my advise would be - do it then. I mean, if you are not plucking, but thinking all the time about how its so unfair, and why this is so - then there really is no point to not-plucking is there? Because you are not doing it for the right reasons...

I agree that plucking your eyebrows is forbidden, but is cutting them forbidden? And cutting in the term of enhancing the shape, not changing it. Because I've always known namas means plucking, but is cutting cursed too? Please gimme an answer. ):

I get extremely irate when I see young women wearing hijab, and they have plucked eyebrows as well. Unfortunately, theres not much we can do except try to lead them to the right path. Alhamdullilah, I was blessed with good looking eyebrows, so i dont touch mine. But my mom used to pluck hers until she realized she was committing a sin. So now she bleaches the stray hairs with hair bleach, and its just as effective.