Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
- It is permissible for a Muslim woman wear makeup in a moderate way in the presence of her husband, mahrams or women-only gatherings.
- A woman should be keen not to be excessive in wearing makeup or spending too much money on it.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, Former president of the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) and member of the Fiqh Council of North America, states:
Wearing makeup in general is part of beautification, which is forbidden to be shown to non-mahrams.
Therefore, a woman cannot wear makeup outside her home. But in general, a Muslim woman should be modest when she goes in public.
As for wearing makeup in her house or to beautify herself for her husband, a woman should be moderate and should not take extremes in anything. If she maintains this level of moderation, there will not be any harm.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.