Fatima Barkatulla – Is it Permissible for Muslim Women to Wear Makeup

			Is it permitted for sisters to wear makeup and lipstick in public?
		

			I see many Muslim hours covered from head to toe with the scarf, but not the face veil with makeup
and lipstick, on TV or in public.
		

			Okay, so look, Allah Subhana Allah told us in the Quran, didn't he? Well, are you Dina Xena tahona
that to tell the believing women not to show that adornments not to show their beauty, right. And
beauty is a comprehensive word, right? It can mean parts of your body, it can be in the shape of
your body. It could mean you know your jewelry. You know, in the time of the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, there were women who used to wear anklets, you know, that made a noise, like, you
know, even know, in some countries, you know, we have these anklets. And if you're walking, you can
hear kind of bells ringing, little bells ringing. And, you know, the women were told not to shake
		

			their feet in such a way that when they're passing by men, or when they're in public, that people
know all of the beautification that they're wearing right to kind of draw attention to themselves.
We also know that we've been forbidden from wearing perfume in public, right? Because perfume is
there to entice people, right? I mean, it's a very alluring thing. And so when you're passing by
somebody, and you know, they smell your perfume, definitely makes them look twice, right.
		

			So, you can see from that, that we have been told, as believing women that in the public space,
don't bring all of your beautification, don't bring your adornments into the public space, right?
		

			Keep those for the home, keep those for the private space. Keep that keep those four women are the
women when you're with other women, and when you're with your macarons, etc. Okay, so really, I
would say, sisters, we should avoid wearing makeup in public, right? Should Avoid especially very
visible makeup in public. You know, lipstick? If you think about it.
		

			The whole psychology behind lipstick is it's supposed to make your lips look alluring and juicy,
right and attractive, you know, to be quite blunt about it. Right? And, you know, psychologists they
say that it's connected to ripe fruit. You know, when you see a ripe fruit, it's usually red. It's
usually gleaming, right? And that's why women, we usually put, you know, makeup on our cheeks, and
our lips, right? There's nothing wrong with makeup, you know, I enjoy makeup myself. But it's not
something that we want to bring into the public space. Okay, because it does draw attention. And it
is against the spirit of that verse. In fact, it's against that verse, where Allah subhanaw taala
		

			tells us, don't show your beauty, don't show your adornments in public. So yeah, it is a negative
trend that you've identified there. And we should avoid it. We should not go down that path and not
be enticed into that path. And we should encourage our own daughters, right, because those are the
ones we've got influence on.
		

			To not go down that path. But then we shouldn't create Hello spaces where they can express that side
of themselves. You know, women like to beautify themselves, I understand that. But we've got to do
it in the right way in the right context. Okay, and we've got to help brothers. You know, brothers
sometimes say that they find it so hard to lower their gaze is now because sisters, like you said
they're wearing so much makeup. It's obviously
		

			to draw attention to themselves, you know,
		

			all because they have some kind of insecurity in public. So let's get away from that. Let's not
become overly obsessed with our parents and our looks in public, you know, let's enjoy makeup and
these things in private spaces within women's only spaces and in front of our Muharram and, you
know, obey Allah subhanaw taala in that regard.