Works of Abul Baraa Muhamad Amreeki

Q&A What is the Ruling on Using ‘ Breathable Nail Polish’

All the praises is for Allah the Lord of the Worlds and peace and blessings be upon His Chosen Messenger Muhammad and upon his family and his companions all of them.

   By the Student of Knowledge, Shaykh Abdurrahman Murad هداه الله 

Question:

What is the ruling on using ‘breathable nail polish’?

Answer:

Practically, in almost every city, this question is persistently asked…can we wear nail-polish?
I think it is important to step back a bit and realize that wearing nail-polish, especially those colors that stand out and attract attention must best be avoided…the Prophet, may Allah praise him, said:
“من لبس ثوبَ شُهرةٍ في الدُّنيا ألبسه اللهُ ثوبَ مَذلَّةٍ يومَ القيامةِ ثمَّ ألهب فيه نارًا”
Meaning: “Whoever wears a garment for pretentious show will be given a garment of ‘humiliation’ on the Day of Resurrection, and it shall be lit on Fire.”
Usually, these bright, attractive colors are worn for the sake of pretentious show…to boast and show off. Furthermore, it would bring negative attention to the sister wearing them. Just picture this…while at uni or on the bus, a complete stranger compliments a sister saying, ‘Your nails look cute…’ It just sounds wrong! A’oodthubillah.
Another reason nail-polish should be avoided is that it prevents water from reaching the nail…as it is known, water must reach all of the areas of wudhu and nail polish acts as a barrier that prevents water from reaching. In the authentic narration it states that a man performed wudhu and did not wash an area on his foot that was the size of a fingernail and the Prophet, may Allah praise him, said: “Go and perform your Wudhu properly!”

To add on to this, there is a cosmetics company that has released “breathable nail enamel”. It may occur to some that this will not prevent water from reaching the nail…but in reality there is still some doubt regarding whether it does prevent water or not, from what I have read online, it looks like a ‘blanket’ OK ruling cannot be given…so sisters hold back from using this and simply wiping over!