Question #338:
My wife used to work as a make-up artist but she left the job after learning about the dangers of Tabarruj (Public display of beauty).
Is it permissible for my wife to teach other Muslim sisters how to perform make-up so that they can beautify themselves in front of their husbands.
I also want to know what kind of make-up is considered harām. For e.g., some women they colour their eyelids blue, green, some even paint it to make it look like the skin of a tiger. Some make the corner of their eyes sharp to look like a cat.
Are these kind of make-up permissible?
Answer:
It is permissible for the women to beautify herself for her husband, likewise the man for his wife, however it is a must that we refrain from imitating the kuffār, so a muslim lady refrains from that which is known to be from the trends of the kuffār women.
Also we have been prohibited from imitating the animals, so we do not raise our voices like the sounds of the donkey, nor do we splatter our elbows to the ground when making sujūd. So we take from this the impermissibility of the women to have make-up which makes her face look like that of a cat! And what beauty lies in looking like a cat !? Likewise face-paints for some of the children on fun days, which makes them look like a tiger, elephant, cats, zebra… all this is from the trends of the kuffār.
My advice to my brothers and sisters is that they do not go in o extremes in the chapter of beautifying oneself.
I heard our Shaykh Al-ʿAllāmah Yaḥyā bin ʿAlī al-Ḥajūrī say: “The most disfigured people in their looks are those, who go overboard in their beautification.”
Answered by: Abū Hārūn Muḥammad ʿAbdin-Nūr