Trimming Overgrown Eyebrows

· 6 Shawwal 1446 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

An elderly person has overgrown eyebrows but it is not blocking his vision, is it permissible to trim it?

Answer

To do any such alterations on one’s body which will bring about a change in the creation of Allah Ta’ala is fundamentally impermissible in Shariah. Therefore, a person is not allowed to trim or shave his eyebrows without a valid reason.

However, if one’s eyebrows are overgrown and seem abnormal and unsightly, he is allowed to trim and shorten them (not pluck them) since it will then be regarded as removing faults and defects from one’s body, with the proviso that he does not cut them to such an extent that he resembles an effeminate (a man who intentionally imitates women in his appearance, clothing, ways etc.).

In the enquired instance, where his eyebrows are overgrown and seem abnormal and unsightly, he is allowed to adjust them by trimming them (not plucking or shaping them for beauty and adornment), according to the established manly norm.

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

ولا بأس بأخذ الحاجبين وشعر وجهه ما لم يشبه المخنث تتارخانية … شامي ٦/٤١٨

وكذا في الهندية ٥/٣٥٨

جواب: ( بھنوؤں کے بال بڑھ جائیں تو ان کو کاٹنا تو جائز ہے مگر موچنے سے اکھیڑ نا درست نہیں۔

آپ کے مسائل اور انکا حل ۸/۳۴۷

و کذافی فتاوی دار العلوم زکریا ۳۱۷-۶/۳۱۸ ط زم زم

Approved by
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.
Questions about this ruling, answered only from the archive with sources.

Where scholars differ, it’s safer to take the more cautious view.

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People also ask

Is plucking or threading the eyebrows permissible?

“If a few strands of hair of the eyebrows are extremely long, causing obstruction to vision or creating discomfort to the eyes (due to protruding into the eyes) and require some trimming, there is no harm in doing so.”

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