Back to search

Is a woman styling her hair for her husband at home in a "bun" or "ponytail" or similar styles forbidden in Islamic law, based on what is stated in the booklet "Rulings Important to Believing Women" by Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah has permitted a woman to adorn herself for her husband as she wishes, provided certain conditions are met. These include: that the adornment does not involve imitating men or disbelieving women, due to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men," and his saying: "Whoever imitates a people is one of them." Another condition is that there should be no specific prohibition regarding the form of adornment, such as coiling the hair and making it resemble the slanting humps of camels, due to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying in the hadith narrated by Muslim: "And women who are clothed yet naked, inclining [to evil] and inclined [towards it], their heads like the slanting humps of camels. They will not enter Paradise, nor will they find its scent."

Accordingly, there is no harm in the "bun" hairstyle as long as it is not specific to disbelieving women or a symbol of prostitutes, or in the form of a slanting camel hump. As for the "ponytail," there is no harm in it if it does not resemble disbelieving women. The criterion for prohibition is the intention to imitate specific people in what is exclusive to them.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy