Q: I have recently converted to Islam. Please advice if tattoos are allowed as I have 2 tattoos which were done long before I married and converted. Is it haraam if I do not get it removed?
A: Tattoos are not allowed in Islam.
If removal of the tattoo will not lead to serious injury or development of wounds* then it is necessary to remove the tattoos. Otherwise, always keep the tattoos covered.
May Allah Ta’aala accept you and bless you, Aameen.
Moulana Yusuf Laher
https://islamqa.org/hanafi/askmufti/82018
* I suppose the above fatwa will include: and if you can afford to remove it.
Assalmualikum
I have a friend who did a tattoo of a scorpion and snake out of stupidity on his arm and hand when he was young. Now he is repenting on what he did. He wants to remove the tattoo but does not have the means or enough money. What should he do?
In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.
Answer
There are two ways to look at the aforementioned question. Firstly, he or she has the money to remove the tattoo and the second situation is they do not. Starting with the former, the advice given by my respected teachers is that removing tattoos from the body is painful and expensive, thus, it will be preferable to donate the money to charity then use it for laser treatment to remove the tattoo. With regards to the second situation as you do not have the money to pay for the removal of the tattoo it is not obligatory for you to remove it.
In both situations you should cover the tattoo from other people as tattooing is considered a sin in Islam.
https://islamqa.org/hanafi/daruliftaa-birmingham/19600