4 Hadiths Why Having a Tattoo is Halal in Islam
C.J Ahmed-21.05.2023
Having a tattoo is a fad in countries belonging to the western world but among many Muslims, having a tattoo is considered a sin. Usually tattoos are considered as mark or designs which are made in the skin that is permanent. There are also non-permanent tattoos such as henna which is encouraged in Islam. Having a tattoo is not necessarily haram in Islam.
Some of the hadiths which prohibit tattoos are as follows,
Narrated Ibn `Umar:
Allah's Messenger (sal) said, "Allah has cursed such a lady as lengthens hair artificially or gets it lengthened, and also a lady who tattoos or gets herself tattooed.”(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Juhaifa:
The Prophet (sal) forbade the use of the price of blood and the price of a dog, the one who takes (eats) usury the one who gives usury, the woman who practises tattooing and the woman who gets herself tattooed.”(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
A woman who used to practise tattooing was brought to `Umar. `Umar got up and said, "I beseech you by Allah, which of you heard the Prophet (sal) saying something about tattooing?" l got up and said, "0 chief of the Believers! l heard something." He said, "What did you hear?" I said, "I heard the Prophet (addressing the ladies), saying, 'Do not practise tattooing and do not get yourselves tattooed.”(Bukhari)
In these hadiths the prohibition seems to be directedonly on women and not men and the wisdom behind tattooing being prohibited is that was due to as a superstitious protection against evil eye.
Abu Huraira told that God’s messenger said, “The influence of the evil eye is true,” and forbade tattooing. The narrator of this hadith in Mihkat said “It would seem from this tradition that tattooing was used as a protection agains; the evil eye” Bukhari transmitted it.and mentioned in Mishkat al-Masabih 4432-GradedSahih by Albani.
Another hdith said tht the tattooing for women ws forbidden on the gums,
Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
That the Prophet (sal) said: "Allah has cursed the woman who artificially lengthens and the woman who seeks to have her hair artificially lengthened, and the woman who tattoos and the woman who seeks tattooed." Nafi' (one of the narrators) said: "Tattooing was on the gums."( This Hadith is Hasan Sahih as Graded by Imam Tirmidhi- Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1759)
Hadiths Which allows tattooing Such As Henna For Women
From the hadiths prohibiting tattooing, it is clear that the prohibition ws only to women and not men and one narrator mentioned that the tattooing was prohibited on the gums of women and not on the body. Bow, the other side of what may Muslims are not looking is that women were actually also encouraged to put henna tattoo in their body.
- Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
Some of the hadiths which prohibit tattoos are as follows,
Narrated Ibn `Umar:
Allah's Messenger (sal) said, "Allah has cursed such a lady as lengthens hair artificially or gets it lengthened, and also a lady who tattoos or gets herself tattooed.”(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Juhaifa:
The Prophet (sal) forbade the use of the price of blood and the price of a dog, the one who takes (eats) usury the one who gives usury, the woman who practises tattooing and the woman who gets herself tattooed.”(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
A woman who used to practise tattooing was brought to `Umar. `Umar got up and said, "I beseech you by Allah, which of you heard the Prophet (sal) saying something about tattooing?" l got up and said, "0 chief of the Believers! l heard something." He said, "What did you hear?" I said, "I heard the Prophet (addressing the ladies), saying, 'Do not practise tattooing and do not get yourselves tattooed.”(Bukhari)
In these hadiths the prohibition seems to be directedonly on women and not men and the wisdom behind tattooing being prohibited is that was due to as a superstitious protection against evil eye.
Abu Huraira told that God’s messenger said, “The influence of the evil eye is true,” and forbade tattooing. The narrator of this hadith in Mihkat said “It would seem from this tradition that tattooing was used as a protection agains; the evil eye” Bukhari transmitted it.and mentioned in Mishkat al-Masabih 4432-GradedSahih by Albani.
Another hdith said tht the tattooing for women ws forbidden on the gums,
Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
That the Prophet (sal) said: "Allah has cursed the woman who artificially lengthens and the woman who seeks to have her hair artificially lengthened, and the woman who tattoos and the woman who seeks tattooed." Nafi' (one of the narrators) said: "Tattooing was on the gums."( This Hadith is Hasan Sahih as Graded by Imam Tirmidhi- Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1759)
Some scholars try to draw a line from this hadith stating that temporary tattoos is halal and permanent tattoos are haram. There is no distinction of such in the authentic hadiths and what we should understand is that the prophet(sal) forbade one thing for a reason and allowed it to someone else for another reason. Th below hadiths explains this even further.
There is a hadith reported in both Bukhari and Muslim in which the prophet Muhammad (sal) ordered his companions after the battle of Al-Ahzab saying, “No one of you should pray Asr until you reach the village of Bani-Quraiza (A Jewish tribe). The hadith is as follows,
2.Narrated Ibn Umar (rali):
“On the day of Al-Ahzab (i.e. Clans) the Prophet said, "None of you Muslims) should offer the 'Asr prayer but at Banu Quraiza's place." The 'Asr prayer became due for some of them on the way. Some of those said, "We will not offer it till we reach it, the place of Banu Quraiza," while some others said, "No, we will pray at this spot, for the Prophet did not mean that for us." Later on it was mentioned to the Prophet and he did not berate any of the two groups.”
(Bukhari)
3.Aisha (rali) narrated a similar narration stating:
”While they were on their way, the time of Asr came. Some companions said we should not pray until we reach Bani-Quraiza. Others said we should pray Asr now because the Prophet (S.A.W.) did not mean for us to leave the Asr prayer, but he wanted us to be in a hurry. So some of the companions prayed ASR, while others continued on until they reached Bani-Quraiza after sunset. When they went back to the Prophet, they mentioned to him the story; He accepted the action of all of them."
(Bukhari and Muslim)
This clearly shows that the prophet (sal) accepted both the actions of two groups of the companions because both of them prayed Asr prayer according to the sunnah of the prophet (sal). Similarly drinking or eating while standing and sitting are both in the Sunna. the correct thing to do is to follow the sunnah of prophet(sal) by reconciling all the sahih hadiths and coming to a correct conclusion.
When the prophet (sal) was given two options, he would always choose the easiest one out of the two and the following haith explains this,
Aisha (rali) narrated,
“Whenever Allah's Messenger (sal) was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful to do so, but if it was sinful to do so, he would not approach it. Allah's Messenger (sal) never took revenge (over anybody) for his own sake but (he did) only when Allah's Legal Bindings were outraged in which case he would take revenge for Allah's Sake.” (Bukhari)
Definitely the easiest option is to get tattooed. Tre are haiths where the prophet (sal) forbade drinking while standing and he himself drank while standing. There is reason for this and based on these hadiths it is clear that having tattoes is halal in Islam.
Conclusion
Contrary to popular belief, the hadiths only forbid tattoing for women and in their gums and that is only one part of the story and the other part is that henna tattooes were allowed for women. Tattooing is not haram for men or women.