Muslimah - Perfume (bakhoor, perfume & all scents)

There are many ahaadeeth which forbid women to wear perfume when they go out of their houses. We will quote here some of those which have saheeh isnaads: Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari said: the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Any woman who puts on perfume then passes by people so that they can smell her fragrance, is an adulteress.”

Zaynab al-Thaqafiyyah reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “If any one of you (women) goes out to the mosque, let her not touch any perfume.”

Abu Hurayrah said: the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Any woman who has scented herself with bakhoor (incense), let her not attend ‘Ishaa’ prayers with us.”

Moosa ibn Yassaar said that a woman passed by Abu Hurayrah and her scent was overpowering. He said, “O female slave of al-Jabbaar, are you going to the mosque?” She said, “Yes,” He said, “And have you put on perfume because of that?” She said, “Yes.” He said, “Go back and wash yourself, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: ‘If a woman comes out to the mosque and her fragrance is overpowering, Allaah will not accept any prayer from her until she goes home and washes herself.’”

These ahaadeeth are general in implication. Just as the prohibition covers perfume applied to the body, it also covers perfume applied to the clothes, especially in the third hadeeth, where bakhoor (incense) is mentioned, because incense is used specifically to perfume the clothes.

The reason for this prohibition is quite clear, which is that women’s fragrance may cause undue provocation of desires. The scholars also included other things under this heading of things to be avoided by women who want to go to the mosque, such as beautiful clothes, jewellery that can be seen, excessive adornments and mingling with men.

Ibn Daqeeq al-‘Eed said: This indicates that it is forbidden for a woman who wants to go to the mosque to wear perfume, because this causes provocation of men’s desires. This was reported by al-Manaawi in Fayd al-Qadeer, in the commentary on the first hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah quoted above.

Wearing perfume is permissible for women if they are at home or among other women. If it is done in order to please her husband, then it is mustahabb(recommended), because it is part of being a good wife. But if a woman puts on perfume and goes out and non-mahram men smell it, then it becomes haraam and she is a sinner if she does that, because that involves causing fitnah (temptation) to men.

By the way, we recently read that biologists have discovered a sexual gland in the nose, i.e., there is a direct connection between the sense of smell and the provocation of desire. If this is true, then it is one of the signs that prove even to the kuffaar how precise are the rulings of this sharee’ah which came to preserve chastity and to block the ways that lead to immorality.

May Allah guide us and all our Muslim Sisters and give us the right Imaan and strenght to avoid all that is haram and hated by both Allah and our Prophet (PBUH) - Ameen.