Hair: what a woman may shave, cut or remove according to the four schools

In brief Scholars divide a woman's hair into four groups: Hair whose removal is required: pubic and underarm hair. Hair that should not be shaved: the hair of the head, which a woman may nevertheless shorten. Hair that may not be plucked for beautification: the eyebrows, with a difference of opinion on fine facial hair. Hair she is free to remove: the hair of the legs, arms and the rest of the body, as well as a beard or moustache that grows abnormally. 1. Pubic and underarm hair: a sunna of the fiṭra The Prophet ﷺ said: خَمْسٌ مِنَ الْفِطْرَةِ: الْخِتَانُ، وَالِاسْتِحْدَادُ، وَتَقْلِيمُ الْأَظْفَارِ، وَنَتْفُ الْإِبْطِ، وَقَصُّ الشَّارِبِ "Five things are part of the natural disposition (fiṭra): circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, clipping the nails, plucking the underarm hair and trimming the moustache." (al-Bukhārī, no. 5889; Muslim, no. 257) Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: وُقِّتَ لَنَا فِي قَصِّ الشَّارِبِ، وَتَقْلِيمِ الْأَظْفَارِ، وَنَتْفِ الْإِبْطِ، وَحَلْقِ الْعَانَةِ، أَنْ لَا نَتْرُكَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً "A time limit was set for us for trimming the moustache, clipping the nails, plucking the underarm hair and shaving the pubic hair: not to leave them for more than forty nights." (Muslim, no. 258) The four schools consider these acts sunna, for men and women alike.

The aim is cleanliness: any method is permitted (razor, epilation, cream, wax, laser). The texts mention shaving for the pubic area and plucking for the underarms, which is best for those who can. It is disliked to go beyond forty days without doing it. 2. Head hair: do not shave, but it may be shortened The texts ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَنْ تَحْلِقَ الْمَرْأَةُ رَأْسَهَا "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade a woman to shave her head." (at-Tirmidhī, no. 914; an-Nasāʾī, no. 5049; at-Tirmidhī notes a discrepancy among the transmitters of this hadith) Regarding leaving the state of iḥrām, the Prophet ﷺ said: لَيْسَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ حَلْقٌ، إِنَّمَا عَلَى النِّسَاءِ التَّقْصِيرُ "Women are not to shave their heads; they only have to shorten their hair." (Abū Dāwūd, no. 1984) He also cursed women who imitate men and men who imitate women (al-Bukhārī, no. 5885).

Shaving the head: the four schools Ḥanafīs: forbidden, even with the husband's consent, because it imitates men; they apply the same rule to a cut that makes the hair look like a man's (ad-Durr al-mukhtār, with Ibn ʿĀbidīn's Radd al-muḥtār). Mālikīs: forbidden, because it is a disfigurement (muthla) of what makes a woman's beauty (an-Nafrāwī, al-Fawākih ad-dawānī). Shāfiʿīs: disliked (makrūh) without a reason (ar-Ramlī, Nihāyat al-muḥtāj; an-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ). Ḥanbalīs: disliked without a reason; forbidden as a gesture of mourning, like scratching the cheeks or tearing one's clothes (al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf al-qināʿ).

All schools permit shaving the head for a medical reason (wound, scalp disease, treatment). Shortening or cutting the hair Abū Salama reported: وَكَانَ أَزْوَاجُ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ يَأْخُذْنَ مِنْ رُءُوسِهِنَّ حَتَّى تَكُونَ كَالْوَفْرَةِ "The wives of the Prophet ﷺ used to cut their hair until it came down to the level of the ears." (Muslim, no. 320) Most scholars permit a woman to shorten her hair, provided she does not imitate men, and taking her husband's view into account if she is married. Ḥanbalīs dislike cutting without a reason; Imam Aḥmad, asked about a woman who could no longer look after her hair, replied that if there was a need, he hoped there was no harm in it.

Qazaʿ, shaving part of the head and leaving the rest, is disliked (al-Bukhārī, no. 5921; Muslim, no. 2120). During ḥajj and ʿumra A woman never shaves her head: she cuts the length of a fingertip from the ends of her hair. The schools differ on the minimum amount: a quarter of the hair for Ḥanafīs, all the hair for Mālikīs and Ḥanbalīs, three hairs for Shāfiʿīs. 3. Eyebrows and the face The text ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الْوَاشِمَاتِ وَالْمُسْتَوْشِمَاتِ، وَالنَّامِصَاتِ وَالْمُتَنَمِّصَاتِ، وَالْمُتَفَلِّجَاتِ لِلْحُسْنِ، الْمُغَيِّرَاتِ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ "Allah has cursed the women who tattoo and those who have themselves tattooed, those who pluck eyebrows and those who have them plucked, and those who make gaps between their teeth for beauty, altering the creation of Allah." (al-Bukhārī, no. 4886; Muslim, no. 2125) Beard and moustache on a woman If a woman grows beard or moustache hair, she may remove it, and this does not fall under the prohibition: Ḥanafīs: recommended (Radd al-muḥtār).

Mālikīs: obligatory according to the school's adopted view, since keeping it is a disfigurement (al-Fawākih ad-dawānī). Shāfiʿīs: recommended (an-Nawawī, Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim). Ḥanbalīs: permitted. The eyebrows Ḥanafīs: plucking the eyebrows for beautification is forbidden. Ibn ʿĀbidīn adds that the curse concerns a woman who beautifies herself for strangers, and that removing hair that would repel the husband is not clearly forbidden. Mālikīs: many apply the prohibition to the eyebrows. An-Nafrāwī, however, reports as the adopted view of the school that a married woman may remove hair from her body and face, and understands the curse as concerning a woman forbidden to adorn herself, such as one mourning her husband (al-Fawākih ad-dawānī).

Shāfiʿīs: an-Nawawī judges plucking the eyebrows forbidden. Later Shāfiʿīs, such as Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, permit it to a married woman with her husband's consent, since the reason for the prohibition is deception (Tuḥfat al-muḥtāj). Ḥanbalīs: the prohibition concerns plucking (pulling out the hair). Some Ḥanbalīs permit shaving or evening out fine facial hair with the husband's consent. The most cautious position is not to touch the eyebrows. Ordinary fine facial hair Most scholars include it in the prohibition; others, including the adopted Mālikī view, do not include it and permit its removal, especially for a married woman. 4.

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