Nails & Piercings - For Muslims?

Bismillah.

In the Qur'an (5:6) Allah (swt) instructs us to perform wudu. It reads: “O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your hands to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles.” 

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ

The Arabic word for "your hands" is أَيْدِيكُم and the hands include the fingernails. According to Hanafi Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence based on the Hanafi school of thought), for wudu to be valid the water must touch all portions of the required body part. This means when we wash over our hands, for the purpose of wudu, the water has to touch the full surface area of each hand which includes the nail beds. 

If there is anything on the body that acts as a barrier preventing water from touching the required parts then that body part or limb hasn't been washed. If any part is left improperly washed this can invalidate wudu. 

Nail Polish

The issue with nail polish is that it creates a barrier that prevents water from thoroughly reaching the bed of the nails.

Someone has asked about halal nail polish. As it pertains to wudu and prayer, I don't trust any nail polish labeled halal. I simply don't think the risk of having invalid wudu is worth it. If a woman really wants to wear polish she should consider wearing it when having her menses or she can simply color her nails with henna, jagua or any natural dye that doesn't create a barrier.

One of the first things we will be questioned about is our prayers. And valid wudu is a pre-requisite to our 5 daily prayers. Anything that could possibly jeopardize the validity of our prayers simply isn't worth it.

Press-On Nails

If the press-on nails create a barrier that prevents water from thoroughly reaching the bed of the natural nails then the press-on nails should be removed for wudhu and ghusl.

Lengthy Natural Nails

☆☆☆Sunan an-Nasa'i - hadith 14☆☆☆

Anas bin Malik said: "A time limit was set for us, by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), regarding trimming the mustache, pruning the nails and shaving the netherhair; we were not to leave that for more than forty days," on one occasion he said: "Forty nights.” [Grade: Sahih]

أَخْبَرَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا جَعْفَرٌ، - هُوَ ابْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ - عَنْ أَبِي عِمْرَانَ الْجَوْنِيِّ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ وَقَّتَ لَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي قَصِّ الشَّارِبِ وَتَقْلِيمِ الأَظْفَارِ وَحَلْقِ الْعَانَةِ وَنَتْفِ الإِبْطِ أَنْ لاَ نَتْرُكَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا ‏.‏ وَقَالَ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً ‏.‏

The hadith above speaks towards grooming ourselves and maintaining the superfluous growths of the body. Generally speaking, we are not to allow them to go unkept nor unmaintained for more than 40 days. And, of course, they should be kept clean.

The Arabic word تَقْلِيمُ refers to the action of pruning or trimming. The words 'pruning' and 'trimming' are not synonymous with 'cut completely off'. To prune and trim means:

- to lessen or shave down

- to maintain or keep at a certain length

- to take care of or to shape

Think of pruning a shrub outside to keep it from growing out-of-control or looking unkept. This is one way to understand the above hadith.

Is it haraam to have lengthy natural nails?

The word haraam means strictly forbidden so engaging in a haraam action would be sinful. Islam makes it very clear what is considered haraam. We have to be very careful not to label an action as haraam that Allah has not labeled as haraam. When an action is haraam (strictly forbidden) we will have clear sound evidence regarding the category of that action. And that evidence will be from the Qur'an and/or authentic ahadith and/or fiqh.

Having lengthy natural nails is not Islamically categorized as haraam. Per certain schools of thought, lengthy natural nails may fall under the category of ‘makrooh’. A makrooh action is something that may be frowned upon/disliked. It is important to understand that makrooh (frowned upon/disliked) is not synonymous with haraam (strictly forbidden).

Does having lengthy natural nails invalidate wudhu?

Lengthy natural nails do not invalidate wudhu nor ghusl as long as there is nothing added to them that would create an impermeable barrier to water. 

How or Why are my natural nails lengthy?

I have a separate blog posts addressing questions and comments I've received about my nails. You can find it here.

Piercings

The document linked below covers the topic of Piercings. If you have questions please take time to read it.

https://www.amjaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2013-1-piercing.pdf

Why Certain Attached Items Are Not Removed from the Deceased Body

Items are to be removed from the body UNLESS (1) it is not possible to do so or (2) if the removal of certain items will lead to bleeding or cause damage/harm to the deceased. Thus, not removing certain items is not a decision made out of harshness but moreso a decision based on protecting and not harming the deceased.

Items such as clothing and jewelry [which are on the body but not actually attached to it] are often easily removed and usually won't cause damage nor harm to the deceased. Items that are actually attached to the body [such as IVs, acrylic nails, dental attachments, glued-on and/or sewnin hair extensions, etc.] can be more of a challenge as removing them may cause harm/damage, bleeding or even accidental disfigurement of the deceased [which we should completely avoid]. If there is the possibility of the deceased being hurt during the process of removing certain items then it may be decided to partially remove them [meaning pieces/portions of the attached items might have to remain attached] or it may be deemed safer to not remove them at all.

There are differences of opinion on this, which is allowed and understandable. So, some groups of caretakers might remove all attached items or try their best to do so. Other groups might not - especially if removing attached items will lead to harm or damage to the body. A teacher I had explained that she did not remove certain types of items to prevent hurting the deceased. And this understanding and opinion is partially based upon the interpretation of the following hadith:

☆☆☆ Sunan Abi Dawood - hadith 3207 and Sunan Ibn Majah - hadith 1616 ☆☆☆

‘Aishah (ra) reported that the Prophet (saws) said: “Breaking the bone of a deceased person is same as breaking that of the living.” [Grade: Hassan]

Resources

Here are other resources if you'd like to read more on this topic:

Resource 1 (Tafsir): https://quran.com/al-maidah/6

*Please click on Tafsir and select Ibn Kathir.

Resource 2 (Hadith): Some Companions of the Prophet narrated: The Prophet (ﷺ) saw a person offering prayer, and on the back of his foot a small part equal to the space of a dirham remained unwashed; the water did not reach it. The Prophet (ﷺ) commanded him to repeat the ablution and prayer. [Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 1, Hadith 175]

Resource 3 (Hanafi Fiqh Manual): https://www.kalamullah.com/mukhrasar-al-qudri.html 

*To start, please read the section titled Taharah (purification).

Resource 4 (Fatwa):

Fatawa Al-Lajnah Ad-Da’imah (5/218): 

“If the colour is impermeable, then wudu is not valid unless it is removed before doing wudu . If it is not impermeable, then wudu is valid, as is the case with henna.” 

Resource 5 (IslamQ&A):

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/103738/is-wudu-valid-with-nail-polish-on