Surgery to reduce size of nose Fatwa No: 83177
- Fatwa Date:20-8-2001
A while back, my parents started to mock "make fun of" the size of my nose. At first I took it as a form of teasing, but it eventually progressed and as a result I became very stressful and paranoid about my nose. I started to routinely touch my nose over and over again and this still takes place even today from time to time. Some days I feel very depressed and feel like surgically altering my nose. Is this permissible in anyway?
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Cosmetic surgery is of two kinds: First, to remove a defect which is caused by an accident or the like, or a defect which is by birth such as an extra finger or the like. Removing this kind of defect is permissible in Shariah for the Hadith that the Prophet permitted for a person whose nose was cut to replace it by a nose of gold.
Second, surgery is not carried out to remove a defect, but to attain beauty and to increase one's attractiveness. Surgery for this reason is prohibited. The Prophet said: "Abdullah (bin Masood) said, "Allah curses those ladies who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those ladies who remove the hair from their faces and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth in order to look more beautiful whereby they change Allah's creation." [Reported by Imam Bukhari] In addition, it is a kind of Satanic handiwork since it is not for necessity as Allah Says of Satan (interpretation of meaning): {…and indeed I (Satan) will order them to change the nature created by Allâh. …….}[4:119]. If the nose is bigger than usual in such a manner that disfigures the structure, and if removing that defect does not have any side effects then performing cosmetic surgery is permissible. Allah knows best.