My name is Ali and I am a 30 year old brother in Canada. I have a tattoo of the sphynx on my shoulder that I got at a young age. There is no vulgarities or any distastefulness to it. It was done professionally and is simply a symbol of my heritage (Egyptian).
I consider myself a "new age" muslim. I do not drink, eat pork, and I follow the 5 pillars of Islam however with my parents being relief workers I have seen many cultures in my life and adapted parts of those cultures into myself. My question is simple,
What is the position if any, in the Holy Quran regarding tattoo's? I am considering getting Allah written in arabic under my existing tattoo, but I could not get a clear answer from my father or any other muslim brothers and sisters I have spoke too.
Thank you in advance for any advise you may be able to give. Any quotations to back peoples opinion on this is a must. There are too many people out there who swing the words of Allah to fit their argument.
No they are not. Let us look at what Prophet Muhammad peace be upon commanded:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Yazid Al-Ansari: "The Prophet forbade robbery (taking away what belongs to others without their permission), and also forbade mutilation (or maiming) of bodies. (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Oppressions, Volume 3, Book 43, Number 654)"
The following several narrations of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him were sent to me by Omar; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him:
Narrated Abu Huraira: "Allah's Apostle said, 'The evil eye is a fact,' and he forbade tattooing. (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Dress, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 827)"
Narrated 'Aun bin Abu Juhaifa: "My father bought a slave who practiced the profession of cupping. (My father broke the slave's instruments of cupping). I asked my father why he had done so. He replied, 'The Prophet forbade the acceptance of the price of a dog or blood, and also forbade the profession of tattooing, getting tattooed and receiving or giving Riba, (usury), and cursed the picture-makers.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Sales and Trade, Volume 3, Book 34, Number 299)"
Narrated 'Abdullah: "Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah. Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet has cursed? And that is in Allah's Book. i.e. His Saying: 'And what the Apostle gives you take it and what he forbids you abstain (from it).' (59.7) (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Dress, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 815)"
As you can see, any type of body mutilation or maiming even if it were a small tattoo is clearly prohibited in Islam.
In Islam, we follow the laws of the Noble Quran, and the Sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. If a situation or case is not addressed in neither the Noble Quran, or the Sayings of our beloved Prophet, then we follow the local verdicts of our Religious Authorities, where they would decide based upon the cultural and social situation and causes.
Allah Almighty said in the Noble Quran:
"O ye who believe! Obey God, and obey the Apostle, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to God and His Apostle, if ye do believe in God and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination. (The Noble Quran, 4:59)"
"When there comes to them some matter touching (Public) safety or fear, they divulge it. If they had only referred it to the Apostle, or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have Tested it from them (direct). Were it not for the Grace and Mercy of God unto you, all but a few of you would have fallen into the clutches of Satan. (The Noble Quran, 4:83)"
So according to the Noble Verses above, it is a must for us to follow the commands of our beloved Prophet peace be upon him, thus in this case, mutilation or maiming of any type to the human body and tattooing are prohibited.
YOu can also read the following i can honestly say you can trust this link as it is from a scholar who knows a lot about islam
"Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah."
I see. However, this is directed to women. I can see from the other quotations that it is more general than this. However, it also links it with removing face hair. I, like millions of muslims, shave daily for work. Also, would the above quotations not also forbid peircings? Yet I see many muslim sisters with their ears peirced. Yes, peircings are not perminant. However in todays world with laser technology, tattoo's are no longer perminant either.
I thank you for your reply. It has given me a lot to think about. If anybody has anything else to bring to the table on this subject it is greatly appreciated.
Another question I have related to this. If a muslim in Egypt was to see my tattoo, would this be a general insult to them? (The Allah tattoo) I have not been back home since I was 10 years old, so I was too young to notice Middle Eastern opinion on tattoos. Not religious opinion but cultural opinion to be more specific.
you mean to say tatoos existed during the prophet's time
yes, according to the link i gave you it did, but under differenct circumstances ofcourse and not the same as we have today but the result is the same and that is...''unnecessary interference, alteration and mutilation of Allah’s creation''
Salam
Bro, u can't get tattoos and wat's worse is the name of Allah on ur body...How u gonna go to the toilet wid Allah's name on ur body.
???
Wasalam
Salam brother. I fail to see how this is related to a toilet. Could you please explain further? If Allah is always with us, and inside us, how is this different?
In today's world, with todays technology. Peircings, and tattoo's are no longer a perminant thing. Using the same justification, one could say that a sister putting make-up on or having her ears peirced is a sin as well. However, millions of sisters in the world who are good muslims do occassionally use make-up, henna, or have their ears or nose peirced.
Salam Bro
By da way, I'm not a bro..The reason I said da statement was coz Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has forbidden to read Qur’an or do ZIKR of Allah in the toilet...I will find da evidence inshallah...
Wasalam
My appologies Sister. My thinking on your point is this; If the tattoo is on my back, it would be covered by clothing. If it was not, I would be alone since I would be naked. Allah should always be in our hearts, and I think that your point is valid in the sense of insulting Allah's name. However it is intention that matters in the end. It is not my intention to insult Allah's name. Nor my intention to insult any other person.
Brother first of All I would like to correct your view concerning that Allah is "everywhere and in us" This is a false claim. Allah is above the seven Heavens and not "everywhere". How can we say that Allah is everywhere!!! this would mean that Allah is even present in the most vile of places, A'udhubillah.
Another thing, in the Hadeeth in mentioned women specifically , because in those times, it was amongst the common practices of the women to do tattooing, however as we see in the other hadeeth, Rasulullah has said that tattooing is forbidden, regardless of men and women.
You mentioned piercings. This is one thing which was not forbidden. Because we see in many hadeeth that the Sahaabah women used to wear earrings.
As for the shaving of the beard, then yes that is not allowed, it's Haram, Rasululllah said " Trim your moustaches and grow your beards"
Theres a thread somewhere in this forum talking about growing of the beards, maybe you can refer to that Insha'allah
Yes I see your point on this and thank you for your reply. By everywhere and within us I did not mean in a physical sense, but in a "watching eye" sense. Allah see's everything, so is essentially the eyes and ears to everything, including the evil within the world. If Allah is to judge, Allah must be there in some sense or another.
Regarding peircings; What about nose studs? Many pakistani muslim sisters have nose rings or stuts out of culture, yet the scar they leave is as perminant as any tattoo is, in todays world.
As well, many muslim brothers shave their beard in North America. This may be haram, and even though it is almost impossible to difinitively say that shaving your beard is not as bad as a sin as adultry, it is at least much more common place in the muslim society of North America in todays world. I hope you see my point in this statement.
I think a better way to ask my question would be , "In todays world, is a tattoo considered as much of a sin as drinking, adultry, and robbery? Or is it more a "minor sin"."
Yes I see your point on this and thank you for your reply. By everywhere and within us I did not mean in a physical sense, but in a "watching eye" sense. Allah see's everything, so is essentially the eyes and ears to everything, including the evil within the world. If Allah is to judge, Allah must be there in some sense or another
You're welcome bro I'm sorry that I misunderstood what you said earlier, I had taken your meaning to be that Allah is with us in a physical sense, which is most definitely wrong, but yes he is with us with His hearing and Sight.
Regarding peircings; What about nose studs? Many pakistani muslim sisters have nose rings or stuts out of culture, yet the scar they leave is as perminant as any tattoo is, in todays world.
The ruling on nose piercings, according to sheikh ibn Uthaimeen and Ibn Baaz and some other Ulama, is the same as ear piercings. This being that it's a very small mark and brings no harm to the person who does it, and hardly any pain.
As well, many muslim brothers shave their beard in North America. This may be haram, and even though it is almost impossible to difinitively say that shaving your beard is not as bad as a sin as adultry, it is at least much more common place in the muslim society of North America in todays world. I hope you see my point in this statement.
Not only in North America, but all over the world Akhee.....maybe around 80% of the Muslims today shave their beard.....sadly. But just because something is being done more commonly than something else, it does not make it's sin less. All we know is that Rasulullah said " He is not from me who does not follow my Sunnah " And keeping the beard is from the Sunnah. There is also a saying by Ibn Umar (r.a.) but it's about Bid'ah, but I'll just quote his sayings here since I think this thing about the beard falls under an almost similar context. He said " And every Bid'ah leads astray, Even though the people around you see it as a good thing " So Akhee, even though many people may do something......it doesn't make it correct does it?
I think a better way to ask my question would be , "In todays world, is a tattoo considered as much of a sin as drinking, adultry, and robbery? Or is it more a "minor sin"."
Just because the times are different now than in the Prophet Muhammads time, peace be upon him, It doesn't mean that the rulings of islam have changed, or that certain things are no longer major sins etc. Once the Qur'an and the Hadeeth has stated something, that means it has to be applied to Muslims of all times until Judgement Day. In the Hadeeth Rasulullah said that the person who does Tattoo's is cursed is that not a heavy thing?
In Islam, the definition of a major sin, is that sin which invokes Allahs wrath, curse, anger or the like. It's not for us to say well this sin is more major than that sin etc etc.........Because all of them are major sins.
Just because people around you are doing something, it doesn't make it right.
I think a better way to ask my question would be , "In todays world, is a tattoo considered as much of a sin as drinking, adultry, and robbery? Or is it more a "minor sin"."[/QUOTE]
i dot understand this part..
All excellent points my friend, and I agree with you. Just because the vast majority is doing it, does not make it right. Nor have the rules governing Islam changed in any way.
However to play the devil's advocate (only ment as a saying), perhaps one could look at the rules in context. The rules have not changed, but when put in the context of todays world in relation to new technologies, perhaps the rules are not being broken just no longer apply due to situational differences.
A completely made up situation to try and explain this point: If a man said a person cannot cross the ocean because your boat would be doomed, this rule may no longer apply. Why? We can fly across the ocean now, and there is no boat involved.
I am in the medical industry, and I can safely say that a nose peircing is actually more harmful and potencially dangerous to ones health in todays world compared to a tattoo. This of course is completely dependant on the situation.
Using a peircing gun is extremely hazardous to skin tissue as apposed to a hollow needle approach which is far less in practice now adays. The chances of infection are very high as well in any peircing. A tattoo however, if done professionally in a place governed by standards, is almost impossible to get any infection from. Of course there is the danger of the needle being unsanitary, but that same danger existing with any peircing as well.
As well, in regards to the pain factor; In my youth I had both a tattoo done as well as a body peircing in the nose. I have since removed the nose peircing because it was made of gold and for cultural, religious, and maturity reasons, no longer suited my life style. This being said, from my personal experience with both, the peircing sure hurt a lot more Tattooing in the days of the prophet (pbuh) were extremely painful since it was done manually with very unrefined tools. I can definately see the pain factor in those times. However the tattoo industry has since then done remarkable improvements to the tools and approaches they use. Whereas peircing has to a degree been unchanged.
Please keep in mind I am simply responding in this fashion to further this debate as it is both informative and interesting to me. I mean no offense by these words to any person, or Islam.
I thank you all for your insight into this and for the record, I am not planning on getting any further tattoos due to my consultation with several Imam's over the past few days and the beautiful insight this forum has given me to further back my decision.
Another point I would like to hear feedback on is completely unrelated to Religion, but simply culture. This is a question any of the brothers and sisters live in the Middle East who use these forums, or have lived in the Middle East recently (in particular Egypt).
Will my tattoo of the sphynx pose any cultural problem or insult to those in the Middle East? I frequently scuba dive, but I have not scuba dived off of the Red Sea since I got my tattoo in my youth. It is on my shoulder and I would not wish to bring insult or a sticky situation upon myself should I infact move back to Egypt.
You're right to say that with the laser technology available, tattoos need not be permanent. With that I slightly agree. Other that the hadith already given on why tattoos are forbidden, there is another reason relating to death.
When a muslim's body is buried, is should be free of any adornments, just like it is when we are born. Should you have a tattoo, how would you know you'd get a chance to have it removed before death came to you? It cannot be washed away when the body is given ghussal. So in that sense it will be permanent.
That aside, your body belongs to Allah and every part you tamper with, will testify to the pain you inflicted upon it on the Day of Judgement. It is no different from self-harm and purely for vanity, not necessecity.
I thank you all for your insight into this and for the record, I am not planning on getting any further tattoos due to my consultation with several Imam's over the past few days and the beautiful insight this forum has given me to further back my decision.
I'm glad to hear that.
Will my tattoo of the sphynx pose any cultural problem or insult to those in the Middle East? I frequently scuba dive, but I have not scuba dived off of the Red Sea since I got my tattoo in my youth. It is on my shoulder and I would not wish to bring insult or a sticky situation upon myself should I infact move back to Egypt.
In all honesty brother, I would advise you to have the tattoo removed. Not because of insulting people, but to please Allah. The prophet forbade hanging pictures of living beings as decor, so it is definitely haraam to have one on your body. In the meantime, you can buy a masking camaflauge for scars, tattoos. It's waterproof and you can blend it to the colour of your skin. So there's no reason you can't scuba dive before you've had the chance to have it removed for good.
[PIE]Narrated 'Abdullah: "Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah. Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet has cursed? And that is in Allah's Book. i.e. His Saying: 'And what the Apostle gives you take it and what he forbids you abstain (from it).' (59.7) (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Dress, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 815)" [/PIE]
oki, basically bro, u got all da evidence u need.. tattoos are FORBIDDEN in ISLAM.. so i wudnt bother gettin 1 if i woz u.. i wud get 1 but obviousli im a muslim so i cant..
I find the "tattoos are haram b/c one shouldn't mutilate the body permanently/unneccessarily" argument a bit weak. Muslims alter the body in ways that cannot be undone after death- like permanent hair/skin/nail dye (e.g. henna), surgical procedures, and piercings (they do not close postmortem). If we wish to say that tattoos are haram as a direct application of explicit ahdith, (i.e. saying that tattoos are haram b/c the Prophet (saws) says so) that is one thing. But creating rationalizations to support it is problematic, as those who see problems with your reasoning may reject your conclusions because the method is flawed.
"Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die."
September 1, 1939 - W.H. Auden
I have a tattoo of a butterfly on the inside of my left wrist. I got it 2 years before I converted to Islam and I didn't know it would be haram for me to have it when I was getting it. Should I get it removed or should I leave it?
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