Are piercings haram, including for men?

A girl’s first earrings, a nose stud chosen for a wedding, a second piercing in the ear, a young man’s earring: Muslims ask about all of these. Piercings are permissible in Islam. The women of Medina wore earrings in pierced ears in the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime, the classical jurists permitted ear piercing and likened the nose ring to it, and men’s earrings were judged by custom (ʿurf), which is the measure the jurists themselves used.

Are piercings haram in Islam?

Adornment is among the gifts Allah lists in the Quran. Describing the sea, He says to all His servants:

وَتَسۡتَخۡرِجُواْ مِنۡهُ حِلۡيَةٗ تَلۡبَسُونَهَا

“And you bring forth from it ornaments to wear.”

Quran 16:14

Earrings were part of the ordinary dress of the women around the Prophet ﷺ. On the day of Eid, after the prayer, he went to the women with Bilāl and urged them to give charity. Ibn ʿAbbās watched what followed:

«فَجَعَلَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ تُلْقِي الْقُرْطَ وَالْخَاتَمَ»

“And the women began throwing in their earrings and rings.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 98

Bilāl gathered the jewelry in the hem of his garment. Those earrings hung in pierced ears, and the Prophet ﷺ received them as charity without a word against the piercing. In the long hadith of Umm Zarʿ, a woman praised her husband because “he weighed down my ears with jewelry,” and the Prophet ﷺ told Aisha, “I am to you as Abu Zarʿ was to Umm Zarʿ” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5189).

What did the scholars say about ear and nose piercing?

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350) devoted a chapter of Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, his book on the rulings of newborns, to piercing the ears. He reported that Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal permitted it for girls, and he reasoned that people pierced their daughters’ ears in the Prophet’s ﷺ time and he let the practice stand. The Hanafi school likewise permitted piercing girls’ ears for earrings.

Ibn ʿĀbidīn (d. 1836), the great Hanafi jurist of Damascus, addressed the nose ring in Radd al-Muḥtār. Where women wear it as adornment, as in some lands, he held that it takes the ruling of the earring. Nose rings have adorned Muslim women for centuries: the nath of brides in India and Pakistan, the gold rings of Bedouin women in Arabia, the studs of Iran and Central Asia.

Does piercing change the creation of Allah?

Some object that piercing alters the body, citing the verse in which Satan vows to command people to “change the creation of Allah” (Quran 4:119). The jurists who permitted ear piercing knew this verse well, and they did not count a piercing for adornment as the change it condemns. The early commentators read the verse chiefly as corrupting the religion and moral nature Allah gave each person, as explained in Are tattoos haram? Haircuts, trimmed nails, circumcision, and pierced ears all alter the body, and the tradition has always judged such changes by their purpose and effect.

Can Muslim men wear earrings?

The classical jurists disliked or forbade earrings for men. Their reason was the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men (Sahih al-Bukhari 5885), and in their societies earrings belonged to women. That is a recognized opinion, and many men follow it.

The jurists measured imitation by what each society reserves for one sex, which is a matter of custom. Where men commonly wear an earring or stud as men’s adornment, it no longer marks a man as imitating women, and the reason for the old ruling falls away. The stronger view is that a man may wear earrings where his society accepts them for men, with the same humility asked of all adornment. Rings, chains, and bracelets for men are discussed in Can Muslim men wear necklaces, bracelets, and earrings?, and the special rule on gold in Can Muslim men wear gold?

Are body piercings haram?

Eyebrow, lip, tongue, navel, and cartilage piercings are not mentioned in the Quran or the hadith, so they fall under the general permission of adornment, with one firm limit: the body must be protected from harm. The Prophet ﷺ said:

«لاَ ضَرَرَ وَلاَ ضِرَارَ»

“No harm, and no harming.”

Sunan Ibn Majah 2341

Al-Albani graded this hadith sahih through its supporting chains.

• Choose a licensed piercer who uses sterile, single-use needles, and follow the aftercare instructions.
• Weigh the risk of each site. Tongue and cartilage piercings carry more risk of infection and damage than earlobes.
• Use safe metals. Surgical steel, titanium, and gold for women are common choices.
• Wudu and prayer remain valid with piercings; see How to make wudu.

A closing word

The Quran answers those who would forbid adornment:

قُلۡ مَنۡ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَخۡرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِۦ وَٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ مِنَ ٱلرِّزۡقِ

“Say: who has forbidden the adornment Allah brought forth for His servants, and the good things of His provision?”

Quran 7:32

Wear your earrings with gratitude, and let the beauty you wear outwardly remind you to keep the heart beautiful too.