Hello, my name is Sam, and I have these two big lumps on my forehead, and I do not know what it is, but I am scared to get it checked out in case that it is haram and against my religion; what do you think I should do? Please reply. I have one more thing to add, which is that as I grew up, I started to notice that my skin color is not the same everywhere, like my face is light, but my neck is really dark, and so are some other parts of my body, and I want to try to buy some products so that I can at least have one shade of color instead of lots of different shades, but I am not trying to change my skin color; I just want my body to be the same color as my face. Please answer quickly.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship ]except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no religious impediment to having these lumps on your forehead checked, and this is not against the religion, nor is it haraam; rather, it is considered seeking medical treatment, which is permitted by Allaah, The Exalted. There is no religious impediment either to undergo surgery to have these lumps removed, and it does not fall under the category of the prohibited changing of the creation of Allaah.

We have previously underlined the permissibility of undergoing cosmetic surgeries for the purpose of removing deformities in many fataawa. This also applies to the discoloration of your skin. If it amounts to deformation, then there is no religious impediment to using these products that remove the discoloration. Please refer to fatwa 86463 about the religious ruling on cosmetic surgery and the difference between those done to remove a deformity and those done for beautification purposes and to change the creation of Allaah and increase beauty.

We would like to highlight that there is no harm in using these products if they are temporary and removable, like those resembling henna and the other known cosmetics, the use of which has been declared lawful by scholars provided that they are ritually pure and are not harmful to one's health.

Allaah knows best.