5 Major Hadith Proofs Why Breast Implants Are Halal in Islam
C.J Ahmed-03.05.2023
Breast implants are extremely popular surgeries especially among ladies and it involves enhancing the size of the breast using a gel filled sack been inserted in to each breast or through other cosmetic procedures. This is usually done for aesthetic reasons to make ones breast look more beautiful and appealing. Kim Kardashian is one famous celebrity who has done breast implants and it is not haram for a Muslim to undergo such surgical procedures even if it involves enhancing the beauty because Islam does not prohibit such surgeries and it is the opinions of some scholars who have banned it.
Before proving why breast implants are halal, let me quote one of the many fatwas as examples on how misunderstood breast implants are among Muslims and due to blindly following these wrong fatwas with out checking the evidence from the original sources of Islam, namely, the Quran and the authentic hadiths, how life has become difficult for the Muslim ummah.
Sheikh Salih al Uthaymin said the following with regards o such procedures,
“With regard to the beautification that you mentioned, beautification is of two types. The first type is done to remove faults and the second type is done to increase beauty. The first type – removing faults – is permissible; if a person’s nose is bent, it is permissible for him to have surgery to straighten it, because this is removing a fault. The nose is not normal, rather it is bent, so he wants to straighten it. The same applies to a man who has a squint; this is undoubtedly a fault, so if he wants to have surgery to correct the fault, it is permissible and there is no reason why he should not, because this is removing a fault. If a man’s nose is cut off due to an accident, can he have a prosthetic nose installed? An incident of this type occurred at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The nose of one of the Sahaabah was cut off in battle and the man had a nose of silver made, but the silver tarnished and developed an unpleasant smell, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave him permission to have a nose made of gold, so he did that. Hence we say: is it for beautification or to remove a fault? Removing a fault is permissible. The same applies if the lip is cleft (harelip); it is permissible to join the two sides because this is removing a fault.” (al-Liqa’ al-Shahri (50/8))
The above fatwas is erroneous due to severa reasons, one is that the hadiths based on the fatwa is only the opinion of a companion and not theprophet (sal) himself and the second error is that the sam hadith is used to give blanket fatwas on all cosmetic procedurs deaming them has haram. Sheikh Uthaymin as a hman being has made a mistake.
5 Hadith Discussions on Why Breast Implants Are Halal in Islam
The misunderstanding that cosmetic surgery is haram stems from the following hadiths,
The above hadith is the opinion of Ibn Masud (rali) and cannot be attributed to the prophet (sal). There are other variations as well.
[al-Hashr 59:7]?”
She said, “Of course.” He said, “He forbade that.” She said, “I think your wife does it.” He said, “Go and look.” So she went and looked and she did not see what she was looking for. He said, “If she had been like that, she would not be with us.”(Bukhari)
In all of these hadiths it is narrated by Abdullah Ibn Masud and he is attributing it to the prophet (sal) without narrating a narration directly stating that the prophet (sal) said or cursed making gaps on the teeth for women. There are other narrations in other books of hadiths which have weaknesses and let us focus on thee hadiths. The word used in these hadiths is “al-mutafallijaat” which means to make gaps between the teeth a a way to beautfy oneself and has nothing to do with filing the teeth. There is one authentic hadith indicating filing the teeth and below is that hadith,
Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal say: He was asked : How retaliation of a tooth is taken ? He said: It is broken with a file. (Abu Dawud –Graded Sahih by Albani)
In this hadith, Ahmed ibn Hanbal gave his opinion that reataliation for breaking a tooth is to break it by filing it. If filing teeth is changing the creation, then breaking the teeth is also changing the creation but some might argue that under valid reasons such as justice it is allowed to break the teeth using a file.
5)AnsweringThose Who Argue That it is Forbidden to Change Allah’s Creation
What needs to be understood is using one hadith to give umbrella fatwas and prohibiting everything from cosmetic surgery to breast implants is crazy because none of these are changing the creation because Islam does not specifically forbid them. Changing beauty is subjective and if making changes to your body is forbidden based on one hadith, then cutting the hair is also changing the cration of Allah (swt) but cutting the hair is allowed.
Narrated Muawiya: ”I cut short the hair of Allah's Messenger (sal) with a long blade” (Sahih al Bukhari)
Narrated Ibn `Umar:
Allah's Messenger (sal) said, "To shave the pubic hair. to clip the nails and to cut the moustaches short, are characteristics of the Fitra." (Bukhari)
Narrated `Abdullah:
The Prophet (sal) and some of his companions got their heads shaved and some others got their hair cut short. (Bukhari)
All of these hadiths proves that cutting the hair is allowed in Islam. Now, some might argue that cutting the hair is different from making gaps in the teeth but there is one hadith which is not narrated by the prophet (sal) but by Abdullah ibn Masud aho also said that even plucking the eyebrows is changing Allah (swt)’s creation.
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 (sal) 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)” (Bukhari and Muslim)
If these people are going by the opinion of Abdullah Ibn Masud (rali) of the prohibition of women plucking eyebrows, then the sunnah of cutting the hair is also haram because you are changing Allah’s creation. First of all, Those who argue that changing the creation of Allah (swt) is haram must prove from the true sources of Islam, namely the Quran and the authentic Hadiths that its is forbidden and must clearly define and articulate what changing creation means from the sources of Islam without taking the opinions of the Sahabah or blindly following the wrong fatwas of scholars.
Conclusion
I hope that my loving reader will be convinced from the above proofs that Islam does not prohibit any kind of cosmetic surgeries including breast implants and to all my Muslims brothers and Sisters, Islam is an easy religion and Islam is not a harsh religion as propagated by some conservative scholars who either blind followers of madhhabs or sects. Breast implants are completely halal in Islam.
Breast implants are extremely popular surgeries especially among ladies and it involves enhancing the size of the breast using a gel filled sack been inserted in to each breast or through other cosmetic procedures. This is usually done for aesthetic reasons to make ones breast look more beautiful and appealing. Kim Kardashian is one famous celebrity who has done breast implants and it is not haram for a Muslim to undergo such surgical procedures even if it involves enhancing the beauty because Islam does not prohibit such surgeries and it is the opinions of some scholars who have banned it.
Before proving why breast implants are halal, let me quote one of the many fatwas as examples on how misunderstood breast implants are among Muslims and due to blindly following these wrong fatwas with out checking the evidence from the original sources of Islam, namely, the Quran and the authentic hadiths, how life has become difficult for the Muslim ummah.
Sheikh Salih al Uthaymin said the following with regards o such procedures,
“With regard to the beautification that you mentioned, beautification is of two types. The first type is done to remove faults and the second type is done to increase beauty. The first type – removing faults – is permissible; if a person’s nose is bent, it is permissible for him to have surgery to straighten it, because this is removing a fault. The nose is not normal, rather it is bent, so he wants to straighten it. The same applies to a man who has a squint; this is undoubtedly a fault, so if he wants to have surgery to correct the fault, it is permissible and there is no reason why he should not, because this is removing a fault. If a man’s nose is cut off due to an accident, can he have a prosthetic nose installed? An incident of this type occurred at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The nose of one of the Sahaabah was cut off in battle and the man had a nose of silver made, but the silver tarnished and developed an unpleasant smell, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave him permission to have a nose made of gold, so he did that. Hence we say: is it for beautification or to remove a fault? Removing a fault is permissible. The same applies if the lip is cleft (harelip); it is permissible to join the two sides because this is removing a fault.” (al-Liqa’ al-Shahri (50/8))
The above fatwas is erroneous due to severa reasons, one is that the hadiths based on the fatwa is only the opinion of a companion and not theprophet (sal) himself and the second error is that the sam hadith is used to give blanket fatwas on all cosmetic procedurs deaming them has haram. Sheikh Uthaymin as a hman being has made a mistake.
5 Hadith Discussions on Why Breast Implants Are Halal in Islam
The misunderstanding that cosmetic surgery is haram stems from the following hadiths,
- Narrated Ibn Masud:
The above hadith is the opinion of Ibn Masud (rali) and cannot be attributed to the prophet (sal). There are other variations as well.
- Abdullah reported that Allah had cursed those women who tattooed and who have themselves tattooed, those who pluck hair from their faces and those who make spaces between their teeth for beautification changing what God has created. This news reached a woman of the tribe of Asad who was called Umm Ya'qub and she used to recite the Holy Qur'an. She came to him and said:
- It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah said: “Allaah has cursed the women who do tattoos and those who ask for tattoos to be done, those who ask for their eyebrows to be plucked, and the women ask for their teeth to be filed for the purpose of beautification, changing the creation of Allaah.” A woman from the tribe of Bani Asad whose name was Umm Ya’qoob heard of that and she came and said, “I have heard that you have cursed So and so and So and so.” He said, “Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed and who are mentioned in the Book of Allaah?’ She said, “I have read what is between the two covers [of the Qur’aan], and I did not find anything in it like what you have said.” He said, “If you have read it, have you not read that Allaah says,
[al-Hashr 59:7]?”
She said, “Of course.” He said, “He forbade that.” She said, “I think your wife does it.” He said, “Go and look.” So she went and looked and she did not see what she was looking for. He said, “If she had been like that, she would not be with us.”(Bukhari)
In all of these hadiths it is narrated by Abdullah Ibn Masud and he is attributing it to the prophet (sal) without narrating a narration directly stating that the prophet (sal) said or cursed making gaps on the teeth for women. There are other narrations in other books of hadiths which have weaknesses and let us focus on thee hadiths. The word used in these hadiths is “al-mutafallijaat” which means to make gaps between the teeth a a way to beautfy oneself and has nothing to do with filing the teeth. There is one authentic hadith indicating filing the teeth and below is that hadith,
- Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal say: He was asked : How retaliation of a tooth is taken ? He said: It is broken with a file. (Abu Dawud –Graded Sahih by Albani)
In this hadith, Ahmed ibn Hanbal gave his opinion that reataliation for breaking a tooth is to break it by filing it. If filing teeth is changing the creation, then breaking the teeth is also changing the creation but some might argue that under valid reasons such as justice it is allowed to break the teeth using a file.
5)AnsweringThose Who Argue That it is Forbidden to Change Allah’s Creation
What needs to be understood is using one hadith to give umbrella fatwas and prohibiting everything from cosmetic surgery to breast implants is crazy because none of these are changing the creation because Islam does not specifically forbid them. Changing beauty is subjective and if making changes to your body is forbidden based on one hadith, then cutting the hair is also changing the cration of Allah (swt) but cutting the hair is allowed.
Narrated Muawiya: ”I cut short the hair of Allah's Messenger (sal) with a long blade” (Sahih al Bukhari)
Narrated Ibn `Umar:
Allah's Messenger (sal) said, "To shave the pubic hair. to clip the nails and to cut the moustaches short, are characteristics of the Fitra." (Bukhari)
Narrated `Abdullah:
The Prophet (sal) and some of his companions got their heads shaved and some others got their hair cut short. (Bukhari)
All of these hadiths proves that cutting the hair is allowed in Islam. Now, some might argue that cutting the hair is different from making gaps in the teeth but there is one hadith which is not narrated by the prophet (sal) but by Abdullah ibn Masud aho also said that even plucking the eyebrows is changing Allah (swt)’s creation.
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 (sal) 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)” (Bukhari and Muslim)
If these people are going by the opinion of Abdullah Ibn Masud (rali) of the prohibition of women plucking eyebrows, then the sunnah of cutting the hair is also haram because you are changing Allah’s creation. First of all, Those who argue that changing the creation of Allah (swt) is haram must prove from the true sources of Islam, namely the Quran and the authentic Hadiths that its is forbidden and must clearly define and articulate what changing creation means from the sources of Islam without taking the opinions of the Sahabah or blindly following the wrong fatwas of scholars.
Conclusion
I hope that my loving reader will be convinced from the above proofs that Islam does not prohibit any kind of cosmetic surgeries including breast implants and to all my Muslims brothers and Sisters, Islam is an easy religion and Islam is not a harsh religion as propagated by some conservative scholars who either blind followers of madhhabs or sects. Breast implants are completely halal in Islam.