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What is the ruling on men using oily perfume (makhlat) that contains saffron, and what is the ruling on men perfuming themselves with pure saffron?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Saffron is a plant with many uses, such as a spice, dye, and perfume. For men, anointing oneself with saffron takes two forms:

First: Applying saffron to the body such that its color and scent become apparent. This is forbidden because it involves imitating women, and there is a prohibition against it, as saffron is the perfume of women.

Second: Extracting only the scent of saffron and mixing it with other oils. This is permissible because the prohibition of saffron was due to its color, not its scent, and the scent of perfume is the essence of perfume for men.

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

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