 Is it haram for women to wear make-up and kohl?
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah. May the peace and blessings of Allah shower upon our Beloved Messenger, his family, companions, and those who follow them.
Dear Sister,
Wearing kohl is one of the sunnas of the Prophet, peace be upon him. It is allowed for both males and females. Unless you will bring undue attention to yourself, it is permissible for you to wear kohl.
Makeup is different. In Surat al-Nur, Allah says, "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons or their sisters' sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers, turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss". (Qur'an 24:31).
Scholars have interpreted the directive to not display beauty and ornaments except what ordinarily appears in terms of ordinary adornment and extra adornment. Ordinary adornments like kohl, henna, or a ring are permissible to wear in public. Extra adornment, like perfume, lipstick, dazzling eye colors, and the like are not permissible to wear in public. In short, any type of adornment which makes a woman look "made-up" and attracts amorous attention is not permissible, as this would defeat the whole purpose of hijab.
And Allah knows best.
Umm Salah
I am posting this in referance to my last blog ( http://muslimspace.com/the_niqabinator/blog/20821 ) It seems that there is some misconceptions about the use of kohl to a point where people think that it is just to beautify yourself and found in makeup aisles at your local pharmacy. Here is some more info that InshaAllah can help.
Kohl is a mixture of soot and other ingredients used predominantly by Middle Eastern , North African, Sub-Saharan African and Asian women, and to a lesser extent men, to darken the eyelids and as mascara for the eyelashes. Kohl {from Arabic كحل kuhl) is also sometimes spelled kol, kehal (in the Arab world), or kohal, and is known as surma or kajal in South Asia.
Kohl has been worn traditionally as far back as the Bronze Age(3500 BC onward). Kohl was originally used as protection against eye ailments. Darkening around the eyelids also provided relief from the glare of the sun. Mothers would also apply kohl to their infants' eyes soon after birth. Some did this to "strengthen the child's eyes," and others believed it could prevent the child from being cursed by an "evil eye".[1]
Is kohl legal in the U.S.?
No. Kohl is a color additive as that term is defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), and there is no regulation permitting its use in a cosmetic or in any other FDA-regulated product. Color additives (other than coal-tar hair dyes) that are not permitted by regulation are considered unsafe under the law. (For more information on color additives and the law, see the FD&C Act, sections 201(t) and 721 as well as FDA's Color Additives Web site.
FDA has an Import Alert in effect for cosmetics containing kohl, not only because it is an unsafe color additive, but also because of labeling violations. For example, some samples have been labeled with the false statement, "FDA Approved." Such products are subject to detention and refusal of admission at U.S. ports of entry.
NOTE: Some manufacturers may label eye cosmetics with the term "kohl" simply to indicate the shade, not because the product actually contains kohl. If the product is properly labeled, consumers can check the ingredient declaration to determine whether it contains only color additives that are approved for cosmetic use in the area of the eye. If no color additives are declared, it would be wise to stay on the safe side and assume that the product is, in fact, kohl.
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