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Is a mother sinful who goes out perfumed despite her daughter's advice?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman leaving her home perfumed can fall into one of three categories:

1. If fitna (temptation/discord) is certain to occur when she passes by men: This is considered one of the major sins (kabā'ir al-dhunūb). 2. If she predominately believes fitna will occur: This is haram (forbidden) but not a major sin. 3. If there is merely a fear of fitna, but she predominantly believes it will not occur (e.g., she is going to her car or to a women's gathering): This is makruh (disliked) but not haram.

Imam Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami adduced several hadiths to support this, among them the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Any woman who perfumes herself and passes by a gathering of people so that they may smell her fragrance is a zaniyah (adulteress), and every eye is a zaniyah."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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