Woman Cutting Hair

Q: Is it permissible for a Muslim woman to cut her hair?

A: CUTTING OR TRIMMING THE HAIR OF A WOMAN

The first rule in this regard is the shaving of the female hair, which is totally prohibited. The word used in the hadith is halq, which means to shave. Proof for this is the hadith narrated by Tirmizhi, Nasaa-ee and Bazzar: "Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) prohibited a woman from shaving her hair." (Adhwaa-ul Bayaan) Ulema are unanimous that shaving for a woman is haraam and a major sin. (Fat-hul Baari)
The second rule pertains to the cutting or trimming of the hair for a female, which is the object of your question. The Shariah has allowed a woman to cut or trim her hair on only one occasion, and that is when she has to release herself from Ihraam. The Jurists of Islam are unanimous that on this occasion she will clip the end portion of her hair locks. Some have stipulated that she should clip the amount of a finger tip from each lock. (Raddul-Muhtaar; Adhwaa-ul Bayaan)
Besides the occasion of Hajj a Muslim female is not allowed to cut her hair for any reason barring serious illness or disease, in which case even shaving will be permissible. Under normal circumstances she is not permitted to trim the hair. We furnish several proofs for this ruling.

1. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) cursed men who imitate women and he cursed women who imitate men. (Bukhari, The Book in Dressing). On the strength of this hadith Commentators of Hadith state that it is haraam for a member of one sex to imitate the dress, style, fashion, and behaviour of the opposite sex. (Umdatul Qaari of Allama Aini) Women who cut their hair short will obviously resemble men, especially those men who sport long hair. It is sunnah for a man to keep hair till the shoulders. Women who cut their hair shorter than this will be guilty of imitating the hair-style of men, an act that Islam has forbidden.

2. It appears in another hadith that The Messenger of Allah forbid a free woman from a jummah hair-style, and he forbid a slave woman from keeping plaited hair. (Majma'uz Zawaaa-id) Jummah means hair that falls onto the shoulders.(Faizul-Qadeer; Adhwaa-ul Bayaan) If a woman is prohibited from keeping hair till her shoulders, it necessarily follows that her hair has to be longer than that. The reverse is blatanly false, for then it will mean the woman has to keep her hair above the shoulders, and none of the Ulema of Islam ever took such a view as regards the length of the woman's hair. It is unreasonable and illogical to infer from this hadith that since a female is prohibited from keeping haIr till the shoulders, her hair has to be above the shoulders or shorter than this, for then it conflicts with proof number one, wherein it was emphasized that she is not allowed to resemble the male hair-style. We explained earlier that the jummah hair style is sunnah for men, not for women. The purport of the above hadith is that the female hair should be longer than her shoulders, from which we can safely conclude that she may not shorten her hair.


3. Shariah has also prohibited Muslims from imitating the fashions and styles of non-Muslims. We cite a few examples from Quran and Hadith for this prohibition.
Almighty Allah states in Surah Hashr, verse 19: "And do not be like those who have forgotten Allah, and they are the transgressors." In Surah Jaathiya, verse 18: "Then We established you on a Shariah regarding matters (of Deen), so follow it, and do not follow the desires of those who have no knowledge." In Surah Hud, verse 113: "And do not incline towards those who have done injustice, lest the Hell-fire touches you...."
It comes in the hadith compilation of Imam Abu Dawood that The Messenger of Allah said: "He who imitates a nation is one of them"
He also said: "He is not among us who practices on the trends/styles/fashions of those foreign to Islam." Another hadith states: "Do not adopt the imitation of the Jews and the Christians." (Ahmed and Tirmizhi)
These citations are a few among many which conclusively prohibit Muslims from emulating the fashions and styles that are peculiar and specific to the West (Yahood and Nasaara). It is an established fact that the short hairstyle adopted by woman nowadays is a trend that was initiated and promoted by the Western kuffar. Muslim women of former times never knew what it was to trim and shorten the hair. This is a fitnah of modern eras.
It must be born in mind that we are are not speaking of mere trimming and cutting of the female hair; the matter is deeper than that. The idea of shortening female hair is actually a whole new and foreign concept espoused by the West and promoted by their agents, and it involves a great number of different styles and trends related to female hair. There is, therefore, no doubt that when a Muslim women cuts her hair, her motive is none other than imitating a particular hairstyle that was developed by non-believers. In the light of the aforementioned quotations, such an act is haraam.

It comes in the hadith that the angels make the following tasbeeh: "Glory be to That Being who has adorned men with beards and beautified women with locks of hair." One hadith states that the angels make istighfaar for women who have long, flowing locks. (Narrated by Haakim, from Ayesha (radhiyallahu anha)