Men Using Cream Containing Silk Protein

12-2-2023 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu'alaykum, Is silk protein in cream permissible for men to apply?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Dear brother, you did not inform us of the reality of this material extracted from silk? Did it remain silk, or did it transform into something other than silk? What we can say in short, if it is assumed that it is silk and was added to other creams, then we do not see anything wrong with a man using the mentioned cream. There is no prevention of using it for the reason that it contains a little amount of silk because it is easily absorbed into the cream and does not affect it.

The jurists stipulated that a small amount of silk is permissible for a man, such as if the garment is torn and patched with a silk patch, or silk is placed in the opening [of garment] for entering the head, and the lining of the pocket. Furthermore, they stipulated that it is permissible to sew with it, and buttons made from silk are permissible because all this is a small amount.

The scholars of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, said in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’: “If he wears garments and, in every garment, there is a forgivable amount of silk...and if all the silk is gathered together, it would become a garment, it is not disliked.” [End of quote]

The evidence for the permissibility of a little silk is the Hadith narrated by 'Umar who said: “The Prophet forbade the wearing of silk except for the space of two or three or four fingers.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Allah knows best.