Is a person rewarded for holding his breath when a woman displaying her adornments (mutabarrijah) passes by, in order to avoid inhaling her perfume, for fear of being recorded as an adulterer (zanīyah)?
Holding one's breath to avoid smelling a perfumed woman is difficult, embarrassing, and harmful, and Islam came to remove harm. The perfumed women may be more than one, and the hadith says: "Any woman who perfumes herself and passes by a group of people so that they may smell her fragrance is an adulteress." Holding one's breath does not remove the sin from her if she perfumes herself and goes out intending for her scent to be smelled, and there is nothing to guide one to this behavior. The correct behavior is to advise her with wisdom and good admonition, if possible.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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