Nail polish has long been considered inconsistent with wudu because the physical layer it creates over the nails prevents the penetration of water to the nails, which is a requirement for wudu. Therefore, a woman may pray while she has nail polish on but she has to take it off every time she needs to renew her wudu, which may mean taking it off and putting back on several times a day.
As much as women tried to beg for a way to put on nail polish and still pray, they couldn't find Islamic scholars to give them a break (that I know of.)
Yet, today I see more and more Muslim women who pray painting both their fingernails and toenails.
Who gave them a provision to do that? No one—many of them did it on their own.
This is my take on the matter: I could be wrong, but I pray that I will be rewarded for making an effort to help people enjoy life and enjoy their religion at the same time, and not see it as an arbitrary set of rules that make no sense.
Contemplating God as the Creator of the Universe creates a perception of God that is not as hard-headed as the "scholars" who make up rules on his behalf. I prefer to view God and His messenger differently.
I would imagine that the Prophet (PBUH) would be more flexible than these scholars. After all, if you contemplate "what would Muhammad do" based on what we know of him, we cannot imagine him preventing men and women from enjoying the beauties of life, just to apply a rigid rule that does not really have any practical benefits.
The Prophet was known to welcome objections and arguments. As far as I know, no one ever came to him asking for a provision and was denied it. If that was the case for the people who were around him at the time, why wouldn't it be the case for us today? Aren't we part of his Ummah too?
The Prophet's friends (yes they were called his friends, not his followers) didn't see him as a dictator, who dictates rigid rules. They saw him as a reasonable person with whom they could argue.
There are new things that come up everyday. Based on what we know about the Prophet, wouldn't he make accommodations for these new things? Or would he prefer that time stand still? New things came up during his lifetime and he accommodated them. Why would he expect time to stand still after his death?
Wudu, from the perspective of Maqased (purposes of Islamic law) is more of a ritual than anything else. It is meant for us to feel clean before prayer. Does making wudu without nail polish make you feel cleaner than when you have it on?
We wouldn't look at issues of science and medicine in such arbitrary rules without inspecting their practical purposes. Is religion at a lower level than science and medicine to be approached with different standards?
Nail polish is not a necessity, but why deprive ourselves from it?
So why is it important for some women to put on nail polish? This is a question that many clerics would ask. They would say that nail polish is not a necessity, so provisions are not in order.
The answer simply is that nail polish makes women's nails look prettier, and women have an instinctive desire to beautify themselves. Having beautiful things on you and around you makes you happier and for that matter closer to God. Neither God nor His Prophet would desire to deprive men or women of simple beauty—not based on my perception of them.
Henna and Kohl, although artificial beauty, were considered permission in traditional Islamic Law. The reason being that they were fashions that happened to be prevalent at the time of the Prophet. But times change and fashions change. Muftis cannot expect time to freeze. They also need to accept fashion as a social custom that will continually change. An old fashion isn't more conservative than a new fashion, because that old fashion used to be new at some point in time.
Nail polish today is perhaps equivalent to henna those days. While henna is a dye and nail polish is a physical layer, it is still a prevalent fashion today that the Prophet would likely have accommodated.
Is it worth the risk?
Some of them would say, since it is not a necessity, then there is no need to risk performing Islamic rituals in the wrong way, and perhaps not have any of your prayers counted in the eyes of God (yeah God would do that).
Perhaps their thinking is that God is somewhere in the sky and there's no way to know what his intentions are. We will never know what is acceptable and unacceptable by him until we meet him after we die. If it turns out that making wudu over nail polish was unacceptable, then we are in trouble. It is as if he is a person who is hiding and there is no way to communicate with him to know what he wants. There is no way to improve life and religion by experimentation and contemplation of life and the universe. Examining the Quran and the Hadith is the only way to know if we can make provisions regarding ibadat (Islamic rituals.)
God is near, God is here, and God is now. He is "Greater" than to be confined to a far away time or place.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
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51 comments:
Good post, exactly what I want to say… Infact I have just one simple question for all those muslims who oppose nail-polish:
Why did the Prophet allow men to do wudu without removing their socks??
You feel water should touch every place that we do the wudu(face, head, mouth, hands, feet) but in Sharia it is taught that the Prophet allowed men to wear even leather socks (khuffayn) and perform wudu.
Any answers? It does seem foolish to imagine that a simple nail polish wud break ur salat but wearing socks on the feet does not! Why the double-standard?
Also, if it is soo important that water must touch ever part of your hand, how is it that both the Quran and hadiths inform us to use dry sand if water is not available. (sura 5:6)
So what does this mean? That God almighty only wants us to be CLEAN one way or another wen we are praying to him. But blindly putting rules and fatwas saying this is right and that is wrong does not make sense. There is absolutely no reason a nail polish should spoil your prayer if you are washed and clean.
Islam is not a set of rules, but Allah’s blessing for people. Therefore anything written has to make sense.
Therefore God has shown to support that CLEAN does not mean water has to touch parts of the body. Here are cases that clearly prove this point:
- In the case of lack of water. Tayamom is accepted. Which is using Sand to clean the body. But does that mean if there's no water, one would put sand in the mouth, the nose and the hair to clean? Ofcourse not. Islam is practical. It will not make rules that have no sense.
- When a person FRACTURES an arm and has a cast on. It is sufficient to rub water on the cast not on the skin. The assumption here that the arm was clean when the cast was put on. Would you say that the person’s salat is wasted and that GOD will not accept becoz the patient did not wash with water?
- Islam allows to rub water even on some specialized boots that was worn during the time of the prophet. Again the foot is not washed becoz it is assumed that the feet were already cleaned earlier.
Thus the same has to apply in the case of women's finger nails. If the hands were already clean when applying the polish, there is absolutely no reason for her to be worried about anything when performing wudu the next time.
Also less conservative muslim women in even countries like Saudi Arabia are totally comfortable today making their preparations for prayer without removing the nail polish. It is only the men-folk and their imams that seem to be so concerned.
Guess the real reason why this nail polish thing has become so important among muslims? Becoz it is easily visible. People are afraid of wat other’s might think about them if they see nail polish on their hands. Men are worried about what others might think about their wives. These muslims may hardly prays 5 times (the most important requirement for every muslim), but small useless issues like wearing nail polish are given top priority! Lol, coz nobody would know if he/she has prayed 5 salats, but nail-polish everybody sees…!
Hope they remember that God tells us not to worship Him just to show off in front of others.....
Infact I know of some muslim women who look forward to those ‘5 days of the month’ (menstruation time) so that they could go about applying make-up/nail polish without thinking too hard . Well , dont u think its wierd that Allah would make his religion so strict that one actually looks forward not to pray ? He is the Most Beneficient , Most Merciful and the Most Understanding…I am sure He wants every muslim to look forward for prayer.
I’d like to conclude with the Sura 17:36:
"You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.”
Important point.
Another thing that gets me (as a Muslim female) is the ghusl. After every sexual encounter we must perform Ghusl, and our hair must be wet from the root to the tip.
Easy for my husband with his shaved head. Not so easy for me with my waist length curls.
Sometimes I avoid the act because I just can't manage my hair in that kind of system where it is drenched maybe twice a day.
Then you have to dry etc etc...
Its a pain.
Thank you, Harris, for your comments. I hope there can be more people like you who are willing to view things in a realistic way and think outside the box.
However, here is how some dogmatists will respond to your comments about wiping over socks and casts and comparing that to nail polish. They will say that wiping over socks or casts is a necessity that calls for a relaxation of the rules due to special circumstances. Nail polish, however, is not a necessity and can be lived without.
In fact, they might say that Rukhsa, in order to qualify as such, must arise out of undue hardship, not only of need.
My answer to that is nail polish is an example of the inexpensive beauties of life that we have the right to as long as it does not cause harm.
Beauty is not essential to life, but it is essential for enhancing your quality of life, and inhibiting beauty hinders prosperity, happiness and our overall well-being.
Beauty is an important part of life, culture, civilization and even spirituality and should be promoted not hampered.
Imam Al Shatibi affirms that leniency is inherently embodied in, and prescribed by, the law and that dismissing the legal norm of permissibility, together with such notions as afw and rukhsa, as both worldly and impious indulgence, amount to violating the most fundamental principles of the law.
Anonymous,
There is actually a provision for women who have long hair to exclude it from ghusl, and we only know about it because a woman was brave enough to ask the Prophet for an easier measure. Ask and it shall be given you. As far as we know, no one ever asked the prophet for a provision and was denied it.
We also know about it because it happened that the Hadith was narrated until it reached us. Who knows what other similar provisions were given that we don't know about because no one narrated it until it was documented in Hadith books. Islamic history is not sacred; we should not assume that everything we needed to know from the Prophet was narrated.
I think we can assume that if the prophet were here, he would make provisions for all the things that make people's lives inconvenient and people abide by them because they think this is what the prophet would have wanted.
Muhammad was and is a prophet of mercy and Islam is a religion of leniency not that of heavy burdens and repression.
Lina, what is the provision for women doing ghusl who have long hair? And what is considered 'long' hair?
Anonymous, there is a Hadith which narrates that as long as you have braided hair, you can just run your wet fingers through your scalp while doing ghusl and you don't have to wet your whole hair. But what if you don't have long hair or if it's not braided? Most people would tell you that you have to stick to the description of the Hadith. What they wouldn't tell you is to think of what Muhammad (SAW) would say if you were there to ask him.
Based on what we know about him, he never let anyone who asked for a provision down.
as salaam wa lakum , my sister in Islam. i pray are well.
i want to make it clear to the readers, if you were sick would you go to a doctor or a bank tell. you will go to the doctor not the bank teller, because the doctor has the education and profession to help you. so they same thing about Islam if you want to know something about Islam you go to a scholar. If you just want to go to every person who knows somethings about Islam then what you are doing is not right. Allah says go to those who. we have to be careful when we want to gain knowledge of our deen.
When Allah gave an order during the time of the companies, no one had a second thought , they would run to fulfill that order.
i myself have stop wearing nailpoilsh for the past 18 years , alhumdullah. why ,
1.it is a waste of time, we can take that time to read a book to our children or help our older parents.
2. why not spent that money on a good cause. like helping others, which also makes one happy.
3. yes it is alright to look nice in front of mahrams, but what about going out. you hands look nice in front of non mahrams.
4. because the place of wudo is not washed.
may Allah guide us all.
Gulmakai,
First, the Prophet (SAW) asserted that we are allowed to seek out a fatwa from our own hearts even if people give us other fatwas. This holds especially true for personal issues that have no serious ramifications.
Second, you can't make a fatwa forbidding something because you think it is unnecessary or that there are other better things you can do. It is just like saying, "Why do you need to paint flowers anyway? Read a book or join a charity. That would be better for you."
Third, you can't make a fatwa based on your personal preference. Just because you don't care much about nail polish doesn't mean you can forbid others to wear it. If you don't like seafood, you can't say to people, "Why do you need to eat seafood anyway? There are other better foods you can eat."
Salam alaykum, it is so unfortunate that am just reading this now but I hope we will all get this.
I wouldn't say your argument is right or wrong but what I would say is that, is it worth it? So many muslims are suffering all around the world but what we care to talk about is nail polish, there ws flood in pakistan rendering so many muslims hopeless without much help frm d outside world cos everyone consider them to be terrorist, muslims are suffering in numbers in palestine -so many hopeless/homeless children in the street - knowing not when d next war will begin - the negotiation between israel and palestine can go wrong again but what we care abt is our nail polish cos we don't av anything else to worry about. There isn't no unity in Islam and the enemies of Islam are using this everyday to attack us but what we argue about is nail polish.....how many time have u all thought about this - A way to united us all, and be strong in the face of our enemies.
Shaitan being the first known enemy has make the not so important an important part of our life and the important , the unnecessary.
I just what us all to remember shaitan promised to Allah that he will lead us all astray with his trick, seduction and making the so beautiful in our eyes that we forget the reality of our existence. I am not saying we should not enjoy our lives but not at the expense of our worship to Allah because that might be the only that will count for us in the hereafter considering how weak we are compare to the people in the time of the prophet (s.a.w).
Before you stick to applying your nail polish always, ask yourself - Is it worth it ?
mort,
The argument that we can't apply nail polish because of the Arab-Israeli conflict or the floods in Pakistan is a diversion.
Can you say eating chocolate is haram because there are people around the world suffering? What else would you like to make haram? Calligraphy? Smelling flowers? Gardening? Decorating your living room?
Catastrophes are going to keep happening. There will never be a time when there are no troubles in the world. Being positive and happy makes you better able to tackle life's problems. Being depressed makes you less effective.
If you don't think it's worth it to apply nail polish, then don't apply it.
You are the one making a big deal out of nail polish—not me. I don't think it's a big deal. I think it is completely harmless, and that's why I put it on.
I LOVE WHAT "LINA" AND "HARRIS" WROTE! :) AMAZING! :)
Salam Lina, very good point you av made, I like ur intellect. It's cool.
Just want to remind you that, you doing something is one thing but having millions doing same is another, especially when you are not even 50% sure. Your message circulate around d world, you can imagine am in Nigeria responding to this, got the 1st link to your blog through my Blackberry phone.
Please, be very sure about the message you across to others, because if you make a mistake of passing a wrong message, you will be misleading a whole lot of people across the globe. May Allah(swt) guides us right.
Wa salam alaykum.
hi lina..u make soo much sense..i love putting on nail polish..n looking beautiful for myself and my husband..but for the past 3 yrs i stopped coz the so called religous ppl were of the opinion tht yr wuzu is void..so i stopped..each time i would look at somebody else's feet or hand painted with nail colour it would make me feel jealous n ugly..coz i felt my feet looked sick..even i used to wait for tht time of the mth to come before i could put it on..but just recently i have started putting it on again..i cant kill my desires only because of some man made fatwa..i pray to god..n MA have been v regular since i was 18..
but then if u think abt it..wuzu is to cleanse yr hands..n the dirt gets accumulated inside the nails not on top..so even if we do have nail polish on top how does tht prevent from cleansing yr nails..
n isnt henna put for adornment by women on hands n feet..dont men see the henna..so y nail polish..
to all the scholars..please let us women live in peace..dont try to cage us or our desires..if calamities are coming on muslims..they r God sent..if muslims r suffering in palestine tell the Arab muslim countries ruled by men to unite n fight for them..the muslim men please take some action n help the muslims who r being tormented..n stop worrying abt nail polish..n stop punishing us women for yr egos..
n whst happening to muslims..is only because of our muslim rulers..they have caused the problems..
u know whts happening is afghanistna to muslim women..their nose n ears r being cut if they r disobedient to their husbands..does islam allow tht..they hit women in public if they talk in a loud voice..is tht right..n yet they r gays themselves n they molest small boys..but thts ok..coz they r men n can do wht they want..
wake up ppl..n use yr own mind..Allah is all loving all meriful..pray to him 5 times..give zakat..do good deeds..worry abt wht actually the book tells u to do..instead of making assumptions n presuming wht might be wrong..
There is at least one sunni scholar (Javed Ahmed Ghamid of Pakistan) and one shia scholar (Ayatollah Fadlallah of Lebanon), who are willing to allow concession on wudu-and-nail polish issue. The links are below:
http://www.studying-islam.org/querytext.aspx?id=523
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/04/lebanon-ayatollah-says-nail-polish-permitted-under-islam.html
However, until the more influential scholars side with nail polish, the issue will remain controversial.
I would like to side with Lina. I want my wudhu to be valid without having to remove nail varnish. But thats just what i want. And telling myself its ok and my wudhu will be valid isnt going to make it so. This is what Lina and Harris are doing. If you want to take this stance, fine but please do not share this stance with others and encourage others to do the same as you. I will trust a hundred scholars who are learned in islam than a woman who wishes to keep her varnish on during wudhu for convenience sake.
To the last Anonymous,
Yes, I wish to keep my varnish on during wudu for convenience sake. What is your problem with convenience? Inconvenience should not be sought for its own sake. The Quran sates in the ayah about wudu that Allah does not want inconvenience for us. The Prophet on numerous occasions stated and demonstrated that he prefers convenience.
Good points Lina.
I would like to add that God says He is as his servants see Him. So if we see Him as Forgiving, Ar Rahman, He will be like that for us.
And if we see Him as a mean, strict, intolerant, ritualistic God who is more worried about whether nailpolish spoils wudu than about how we treat others and how we are as human beings then there is no hope for Islam and Muslims.
We forget the spirit of Islam and go into useless details, and you know thats where the devil is :)
Excuse me Malkawi,,,,,,
I beg to differ here on 2 o 3 points,,,,, U said in 1 of ur posts,,, that if the prophet (PBUH) was here in our times,, he would not have made ppl unhappy and would have allowed things according to the time prevailing at this instance,,,,
WOuld u kindly tell me that didnt Almighty ALLAH and His Prophet(PBUH) knew that there would be airplanes in the future,,,, so why Allah and his Prophet(PBUH) ordered that when u r travelling (Safar) the farz namaz is cut down to half.
So please let things be as it is,, and keep ur oinion to ur self,,,, If u have any authentic information with proofs do feel free to let me know,,,
i'll sedn u some proofs as well.
TC.
Umar.
You mean to say we can mould Islam the way we feel like or we can make excuses like the Quran sates in the ayah about wudu that Allah does not want inconvenience for us.
The Prophet on numerous occasions stated and demonstrated that he prefers convenience.
Ager convinience ke baat hoty toh puranay zamanay mai HAJJ log padal bhe nah kertay,, un ko bhe inconvinience hoty,, toh Allah Tallah aur NAbi (PBUH) HAJJ keh baray mai bhe kehtay keh yeh mut kero kehin is mai logon ke inconvinience nah ho !!!!!
Talk sum sence plz....
FOR ALL OF U WHO R HERE ,,, ITS FOR UR INFORMATION,,, ASK ALL THESE QUESTIONS FROM PPL WHO CONVERTED TO ISLAM (CONVERTEES) ,,,,, GO AND ASK THEM,,,, THEY WOULD BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO TELL U !!!
tHEY DONT QUESTIONS THINGS,,, THEY JUST PRACTICE ISLAM,,,, sHARAB IS HARAM SO IT SHARAM,,, THEY HAVE TO KEEP THEMSELVES COVERED, SO THEY KEEP THEMKSELVES COVERED,
YEH KAM SIRF UN LOGON KEH HAIN JO MUSLIM PARENTS KEH GHAR PAIDA HUWAY HON,,,,
GO ASK SOME PROPER AALIM !!!!!!
This is something that has been and is being practiced in my home as well, but I happened to ask this question once that where is it narrated (Quran or Hadith), I mean is there any direct ruling on it(Nail Polish)? No one answered about the direct ruling on it but the extracts and meanings were the answers. There is something I must point out which is in my mind though that things that are forbidden are forbidden and the ones allowed are allowed {Halal or Haram}, what about things that are nor in list of Halal neither in Haram? According to what I knew while sitting in Majalis of scholars is that if there is no ruling on a matter/thing then it is up to the personal willingness of one who does it or not and the biggest point here is if God has not forbidden it, how can even a scholar rule it to be forbidden? These are the questions to all those who oppose wearing nail paint. Please comment with specific references [no illiterate stuff please..] because I found none until now that forbids the act and it is important for all of us to know. As if we are in process of Hajj and one is wearing nail paint how can we accept or not accept whether Hajj has been performed accurately or not? This is really a serious to know topic. And to those who say that there is bloodshed everywhere and we must not discuss topics other than wars.. To gain knowledge is not forbidden in any situation it is totally HALAL.. and don't worry it will not leave any ill effects.
How convinient is applying nail polish for u Lina? changing it every time u wanto? the one dat goes with ur dress? or mood? or trend? or choice?
but u wudnt care to take it off for the sake of wazu?
Anonymous,
Changing the color of nail polish to match my dress or mood creates beauty. God is beautiful and loves beauty.
On the other hand, removing my nail polish for wudu creates hardship with no practical value.
God--in my mind--does not like hardship with no practical value.
Salaam to all, Wow I am astonished at how many comments have been posted on this point. I came looking for an answer but am left in the same position I was before I looked. I do however agree with you Lina.
Islam is a religion that is easy to follow and Allah Tallah has not made religion so difficult that it becomes a hardship or inconvenience. I agree with what you said about the prophet slw. Ask and you will not be refused. As I have thought on many occasions what the Prohpet slw would answer, or even what God thinks.
I agree that he would not want to cause hardship on us even though the use of nail polish is something that is trivial but akin to using henna or eye-liner. They are classed as make-up. You cannot remove henna once applied and eye-liner does not completely wash out of your eyes when you do your wudu.
People should definately make informed choices on 'trivial' matter such as this but also think whether the essence of islam and being a muslim is still retained by wearing nail varnish during wudu? I think yes, but agree with making wudu before applying it.
Brilliant point about the plaiting of the hair, wearing of leather socks for wudu and when performing gusl for those with long hair. These are just fantastic examples of 'inconveniences' where provision has been made to make life and religion no hardship on us.
Even prayer can be cut down when travelling. I would ask, is prayer not more important than nail polish? if yes then surely nail varnish would be permitted.
I too have heard arab women wearing nail varnish while in saudi! Apparently they have a special way of cleansing the nails first?!? What is this method and does it make a difference than a simple wudu?
Allah Hafiz.
Great Points! I agree with you. Also, I may be wrong (who knows what God really thinks) but in my heart it's hard to believe that God will reject my prayer because of that. I don't feel as if he will be that nit-picky. It's kind of like taking a shower but you missed a strand of hair or part of an ear and thinking "oh shit now I have to take another shower all over again man". It sounds ridiculous to me. Plus you also make good points about the intention of wudu.
I know this is random but I had a seperate question I wanted to ask. What do you think about this? I was praying while wearing a short sleeved shirt and after the prayer (mind you people were still in the room) a girl came up to me saying I'm not allowed to pray like that. I feel like the point is to be modest and that my arms showing will not turn on any man, it's not like having your thighs or breasts exposed. Plus we are obviously behind the men. From the online research I've done there is hadith that says the Prophet (pbuh) said nothing should be shown of a women except her hands and feet (I think it also said except whatever is apparant). Is there a way to know if a hadith is authentic?
Please don't say "he" or "him" while regarding to ALLAH s.w.t.
And I don't think Lina encourages other women to follow her, no, everybody (and guess what - even women!) has a brain to reflect on things and decide for herself! I was wearing nail-polish before, but stopped it, because the statements of scholars and especially non-scholars made me so unsecure of my wudu being valid.
What I think is: we must be clean - not sterile - like a surgeon attending O.P. I think after taking a whole abdest, or maybe a gusul abdest even, you could apply nail polish and the top of your nails, covered now by the nail polish will stay clean.
By the way - the henna-thing: does anybody believe henna just "dyes" the nail? No. The molecular reaction is creating a top coat as well. So why forbid nail-polish, which is just creating a "thicker" top coat?
Thank you Lina for this post. Just imagine. Everyday - and I said everyday - I was applying my nail polish after fajr and go out, and when I came home removed it again. Everyday the same procedure. And the aceton made me really sick. Me, like most other women, I really feel ugly and unkempt with undone nails. And I want to look good, with my clothes, with my face, my nails, my shoes - and I want to represent Islam in the best way I can. I don't want non-muslims to think that we muslims have no taste, look scruffy, no sense of dressing and living in the 7th/8th century.
And last: Islam never means to burden us with difficulties with no sense. Islam is easy to follow. Islam gains people by it's clearness, rationality and beauty.
Dear Lina,
I am so pleased to read what you have written not only about nail polish, but how important it is to widen our horizon as Muslims and open our minds and hearts and stop focusing on insignificant things. God Bless you and please carry on spreading common sense!!
You say
"We wouldn't look at issues of science and medicine in such arbitrary rules without inspecting their practical purposes. Is religion at a lower level than science and medicine to be approached with different standards?"
Absolutely true, but you would not change your prescription yourself, especially in a matter of life and death. You would seek the advice of a physician or at least a pharmacist.
But so many are quick to play with the prescriptions of Allah without the advice of true scholars. The consequences here are eternal. Reflect on that if you truly believe in a day of recompense.
Rambler,
I am sorry you look at farting as "a matter of life and death" and that the "consequences here are eternal."
And no, I would not seek the advice of a physician or a pharmacist to tell me it's OK to fart.
in islam.. if you dont have any evidence of what is allowed and what is not... we are ordered to use our brainss....you will be judged by your intentions {neeyat} not what you do..
it is important that you read namaaz happily than reading namaz feeling you have been deprived of a simple thing like nail varnish.
i think you would get more sawaab to be happy in namaaz reading.
remember allah does not need our namaaz, we read it for ourselves and to communicate with allah spiritually.
i feel wearing nail varnish does not stop you from connecting to allah spiritualy. wuzu is something we do to show allah we respect and honour the most high and dont stand in namaaz without showing cleanliness.
its got nothing to do with where the water touches,,,
its a purification to show we are respectful before standing in front of our lord..
Lina has the right idea...
Hi,
I recently converted to Islam and I truly love the religion. I am still learning and practicing. Everything I learned that I needed to do for GOD I have done without a second thought. While praying tonight my husband informed me that in the future Ill have to take off my nail polish for wudu and prayer. I was so shocked to find this out. I have a huge case of nail polish it is my obsession! It is not convenient to take it off every time I make wudu and prayer.....I would throw away all my nil polish. I do know that any information you hear needs to be validated. I am looking for some insight on where to find the Hadiths and where it states this. As from what I learned we wash our hands to clean and let water to our skin....does it say anything about nails?
Also, can anybody provide me with information about praying during menstruation? While ready the above post it seemed that women do not pray while menstruating. I did not know this if it is true and would like to ask my follow muslim women before my husband in this topic. Thanks :)
Lina hats off to you! I'm 31, have deepest love to God and Prophet (saw)mashaAllah. Whenever somebody says about this nail polish issue I dont have any answer. I offers prayers and someone points putting this nail polish on no Wudu No Namaz :( when I was in class 4 one of our teacher , teaching us how to namaz. next day she asked who offered prayers yesterday I remember one girl said I had nail polish on ma hands I didnt. I remember those golden words of my very senior teacher she said " God sees your Neeyat not your Nail Polish " and she herself was very simple woman . I dont think she was found of nail Polish of what she was simple like I never ever saw her wearing shocking colored dress or nail polish never saw her wearing a lipstick . She used to wear a black abaya and face covered hijab (veil). I love to apply nail polish , my family knows my opinion since then I never had any regrets and I never felt my prayers went wasted as I have nail polish on. I think its all about my Neyyat and Khuzu Khushu ( concentration and happiness) towards my prayers. I m hurt when some woman around me talks so and she thinks herself graduate on nail polish issue that is forbidden , distracts my thoughts. But, I came here with a question today but going back with an answer from my heart. but I ll follow up with this blogger . I loved to see a woman like Lina . :) God Bless
Hi,
I try being regular in my prayers. However, I work and study as a result haven't got much time to myself. I tend to opt for a manicure once every two weeks to keep my hands looking nice and presentable. My nails grow fairly quickly and if not kept properly look messy and ugly. It makes me feel disgusting when I go to work with unkept hands. I pray with my nail polish and try to use a subtle colour if needed. Last manicure the beautician applied a very bright pink colour and its attracting a lot of attention. So, IA next time either I won't wear one or stick to the more subtle colours. May Allah guide us all to the right path and accept our sincere intentions. Ammeen.
lina; ı want to say that ı really like your opinions and your practical talking. you impressed me. ı'm insecured with wudu with nailpolish. ı think ı will not use it yet. but ı wanted to thank you. may Allah be pleased with you.
can anybody give me the links of some shia aalim....which states that we can put nail paints while offering wudu....
there is a kind of infection in my nail...n i don't want to see its ruined natural color...i don't like henna much on nails...coz it gives a kind of old n mature look...nail paints make me feel better with respect to my situation...can anybody tell me please...
I don't believe the rules of extending braid washing for ghusl or socks-wudu applies to nail polish. When we do hijab, our head is covered, yet we still must run water through our hair and ears. When we are wearing a full sleeve shirt, we still must pull it up to our elbows and wash our arms. If I wear leather gloves, does that mean i don't have to wash my hands? And when passing gas, nothing dirty like feces or urine is leaving our body, yet we must perform wudu again. My point is, it is not just about being clean. Also, socks wudu is valid for 1 day for someone who is not traveling and 3 days for someone who is in safar. So even if we extend the socks rule to the nails, you must change your polish at least once a day unless you are traveling somewhere in which case it must be 3 times a day.
Henna does not create any layer after it is washed off - the pigment seeps under the skin between the keratin layers, it does not produce an impervious layer like nail polish.
Yes, we are told to make islam easy, but also we can't just take shortcuts all the time. Putting something vain like nail polish above the status of a proper wudu - its a personal choice, I just don't like when people want to "re-interpret" the rules so they feel better about themselves, even though the prophet would probably dislike it.
Here is a hadith from Bukhari about doing wudu, interpret it as you wish:
161. It is related that 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr said, "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stayed behind us on a journey; we travelled, and he caught up with us when thr time for 'Asr was overdue and we were doing wudu', merely wiping over our feet [not washing very well]. He called out in a loud voice two or three times, 'Woe to the heels on account of the Fire!'"
I meant every 3 days.
Do you know why people think that Muslims are so backward? Because many Muslims become absolutely obsessed about the minutia. The details. Tell me - have any one of you, those who are against nail polish, studied how there are thousands of unreliable hadiths? Have you studied how hadiths were transmitted? Before giving a knee-jerk response, please consider the questions. The fact is that not all hadith are sound and that in itself should tell you that we cannot rely on hadith alone to make decisions. We must also use our logic.
We should also keep in mind that the hadith are NOT the direct word of God. Allah's only word is the Quran and we turn to the hadiths for guidance on how to live. We turn to the hadiths that are sound, reasonable, and apply to the world today - hadiths that are sure to be from our Prophet SAW. But, the fact that there is NO clear consensus with nail polish/wudu is testament to how these things must be left for reason. The men who transmitted the hadiths are FALLIBLE - as evidenced by MANY contradictory testimonies. You must remember that, on some level, you are listening to mens' interpretations of what happened. Yes, you are also listening to scholars' interpretation of things. You tell me - are the scholars doing what they are supposed to do? If so, why are the Muslims so divided? Are they really connecting with the Ummah? Or are they too busy calling things haram and halal before inspiring people towards Islam? Did they do anything to establish the khalifat? No. These scholars are HUMANS with their own biases, judgments, and baggage.
Most Muslims of today do not use their reason whatsoever. Is it any surprise that people view us as stuck in a time period of thousands of years ago? The world is moving forward due to using logic, reason, and curiosity while the Muslims are stuck in the dark ages with their literal and concrete understanding of Islam. Islam is dynamic and changing, just like the world. When we try to mold Islam into how we think it should be - rigid - then we fail. This is Allah's lesson to the Muslims today. We need to change our perspective of our Prophet SAW and our religion. Islam is for all times, but times are evolving, changing. The only thing that remains constant with this is the spiritual underpinnings of the concrete rules of the time. If we understand the abstract meaning behind the hadiths, we will derive the lesson.
Those who think so strongly about the issue of nail polish should consider that MANY of your fellow brothers and sisters feel differently. Can you really have the arrogance to think that all are wrong? Thus, you cannot have the arogance to think that one cannot use his or her reason to make a judgment on this matter. People have tried to confine Allah and His Messenger SAW to a box of unchanging, rigid ideals when that is not true. Examine the history of the Prophet's SAW life and you will see how he was a flexible individual who wanted to draw those closer to Islam. Leave the matter of nail polish and salat between the person and his or her Lord.
Also, to the person who said:
Here is a hadith from Bukhari about doing wudu, interpret it as you wish:
161. It is related that 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr said, "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stayed behind us on a journey; we travelled, and he caught up with us when thr time for 'Asr was overdue and we were doing wudu', merely wiping over our feet [not washing very well]. He called out in a loud voice two or three times, 'Woe to the heels on account of the Fire!'"
Did you consider he was chastising them for being lazy and rushing the prayer ("not washing very well") as opposed to the literal issue of wearing shoes or socks?
Every word that you have said is your opinion and is not based upon any proofs (as far as i can see). The scholars study for years before they achieve the status of being a scholar- yet you are telling us to ignore their advice and take yours. So, next time when I am sick, instead of going to a doctor (who also spend a considerable time studying to become a doctor), should I just ask the advice of any Tom, Dick and Harry on how to get better?! I think not. I am a woman and yes, i also want to wear nail varnish to look pretty, but i remind myself that the life of this world is short and the next life is forever. Which life do i wish to enjoy more???
It's people who have made this religion so difficult...not God. He wants things for us to be smooth, and easy, not difficult and annoying! Connect with God in your heart, through good..not people telling you all the time "this is haraam that is haraam" ..God gave us all a brain: to use with logic...
As salaamu alaikum .....Lina and Anonymous you make valid points...I too like to wear polish...Allah knows best
My understanding was that if you are pure while you put on the nail polish (similar with wudu over socks), you can wash over them during wudu for prayers. Yes, the water doesn't reach behind the polish, but the nail is already pure.
If you remove the polish and want to put a new color though, you should perform wudu again to purify the nails.
I am no expert but this makes sense to me.
I usually don't wear nail polish anyway because doctors have warned that nail polish doesn't allow skin to breathe which can cause problems and all nail polish is toxic.
So in a way, nail polish damages our health and God wouldn't want us to do anything that damages our health.
So my conviction is that it is okay to wear for a couple of days once in a while as long as wudu was done first.
Im still stumped. I never used to pray without any nailpolish on since i think my feet look horrible cuz my nails are discoloured and weak.my husband is obsessed with how my feet look n its the first thing he notices hen he comes home from work. So i told myself its important to look good for my husband.until recently someone told me ur wudu isnt complete wuth nail polish on,so uve stopped.my husbandS very dusappointed,i hate the wy my feet look but atleast i yhink im one step closer ti giving up one worldly pleasure for a better hereafter?all yr round we do wt we will,go after our crving n desire, one small thing wouldnt kill me? But i do HATE the way my feet look.too bad i guess.
I usually clean myself before wearing nail polish. So I feel secured when taking wudu with nail polish on and I feel clean when praying to God. I also think that nail is not a skin as it grows out and you have to cut it and so is hair. It is the part of the body that has not sense of touch (you dont feel it if someone touch it). So I feel nails and hair are parts to protect out skin and they grow out and we cut and remove so it is not quite the skin, so I think to have the polish on, and take wudu while it is on. as long as you clean it before applying the polish. At the end of the day I feel clean which parying to God.
Thank you Lina! Kudos to you for pointing out something our scholars have not been able to, no offense to the scholars but our religion is not impractical, applying nail polish after wudoo and removing before the next wudoo is almost impossible, which is why many muslim women just stop applying it. Everyone who doesn't agree with lina, please do not judge on Allah's behalf, there's no fitna in applying nail polish, sometimes we take things too seriously, Allah's the most forgiving! He knows the best!
My cousin who lives in dubai has asked several imams and scholars about the issue. They gave her 2 answers: you have 2 perform wudu before aplying the nailpolish so that your nails are clean underneath and if your nailpolish doesn't touch your skin so that when performing wudu the water can touch your skin you can perform wudu with the polish on. I hope these answers might help
Salaam.Thumbs up to Lina,May Allah swt continue to increase ur Iman.I live in Nigeria and I have actually been searching for answers myself on the issue of Nail Polish and wudu.The Prophet(saw) encouraged us to 'seek knowledge from cradle to grave' and this issue of nail polish is somewhat of utmost importance to women,I'm a young woman,I love to feel beautiful with myself,the water for wudu according to the Hadith should touch the 'skin',the word 'nail' wasn't used there.Allah swt wants us to communicate with Him,He is not human,doesn't feel pleasure or pain,so I think our nail polish would not be of any reasonable significance to hinder our prayers,its just one of the beauties of the world which Allah wants us women to enjoy.We seek refuge in Allah from non-beneficial knowledge.ameen
Thank you Lina for opening this topic for discussion. I really appreciate your intellect and the the posts by you, Harris and other thoughtful people. I wish there were more voices like yours being heard so that the those who distort Islam through dogmatic literal interpretations don't get monopoly over deciding what is right and wrong in our blessed religion
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