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IMPERMISSIBLE BEAUTIFICATION IN ISLAM
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EPISODE 5⃣: FILING THE TEETH
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7️⃣ FILING THE TEETH
It was narrated by al-Bukhaari (5943) and Muslim (2125) from Ibn Mas‘ood (رحمه الله) who said:
May Allāh curse…, and those who file teeth for the purpose of beautification, changing the creation of Allāh.
The basic principle concerning that is the report An-Nawawi (رحمه الله) said in Sharh Muslim:
What is meant by “those who file teeth” is those who file the four front teeth; that is done for old women and those who are approaching old age, to make them appear younger and to make the teeth look more beautiful, because this small gap between the teeth is for younger girls; when a woman gets old her teeth become bigger, so they file the teeth to make them appear more beautiful and to make people think that they are young. This action is haraam both for the one who does it and the one who has it done to her, because of these hadeeths and because it is changing the creation of Allāh, (ﷻ); and that is also because it is a kind of deceit.
With regard to the phrase “those who file teeth for the purpose of beautification”, what is meant is that they do that for the sake of looking beautiful. This indicates that what is haraam is that which is done for the purpose of beautification. But if a woman needs that to treat a problem or fault in the tooth and so on, then there is nothing wrong with that.
Changing the creation of Allāh means not accepting the creation of Allāh with regard to the length or shape of the teeth or the gaps between them. Hence the one who changes the creation of Allāh in general is cursed, and the one who changes it with regard to his teeth in particular is cursed.
(Sharh Muslim (14/106, 107)).
As indicated by the hadeeth, what is haraam is that which is done for the purpose of beautification.
The words of al-Nawawi point to the difference between treating the teeth in order to remove a fault in them and not being pleased with the creation of Allāh and tinkering with it for the purpose of beautification. The former is permissible and the latter is haraam.
