Women’s Facial Hair and Eyebrows
Women's Facial Hair and Eyebrows
For women, it is permissible to remove hair that is considered unusual on the face, such as a beard, moustache, or hair on the forehead. It is also permissible to remove hair from the wrists, calves, and other parts of the body, excluding the head. However, it is preferable not to pluck these hairs, as doing so causes unnecessary pain to the body. It is better to remove such hair using a powder or by any other method that does not cause pain.
"( والنامصة إلخ ) ذكره في الاختيار أيضاً، وفي المغرب: النمص نتف الشعر ومنه المنماص المنقاش اهـ ولعله محمول على ما إذا فعلته لتتزين للأجانب، وإلا فلو كان في وجهها شعر ينفر زوجها عنها بسببه ففي تحريم إزالته بعد؛ لأن الزينة للنساء مطلوبة للتحسين، إلا أن يحمل على ما لا ضرورة إليه؛ لما في نتفه بالمنماص من الإيذاء. وفي تبيين المحارم: إزالة الشعر من الوجه حرام إلا إذا نبت للمرأة لحية أو شوارب فلا تحرم إزالته بل تستحب
حاشية رد المحتار على الدر المختار (6/ 373)
“(And the woman who removes facial hair, etc.) This has also been mentioned in Al-Ikhtiyar. In Al-Mugharrib it is stated: ‘An-Nams means plucking hair, and Al-Minmas refers to the tweezers used for this purpose.’
Perhaps this is understood to refer to a situation in which she does it in order to beautify herself for non-mahram men. Otherwise, if a woman has hair on her face that causes her husband to feel repelled by her, then there is no strong basis for declaring its removal unlawful, because beautification is something required for women for the purpose of improving their appearance. However, this may be restricted to what is not necessary, because plucking the hair with tweezers causes pain.
In Tabyin al-Mahārim it is stated: ‘Removing hair from the face is unlawful, except when a woman develops a beard or moustache; in that case, removing it is not unlawful; rather, it is recommended.’”
Hashiyat Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar (6/373)