Ruling on women parting their hair and wearing it in a bun

There is nothing wrong
with a woman styling her hair and adorning it for the wedding night, rather
that is something that is good and desirable. And there is nothing wrong
with helping her to do that, on condition that this does not involve
imitating the kaafir women or immoral women. What is meant by imitating them
is styling the hair in manners that are known to be unique to the kaafir
woman, or is known to be a style of a certain kaafir or immoral woman. That
is because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood,
4031; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer.
We have already mentioned the definition of the kind of imitation that is
forbidden in the answer to question no. 32533. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about adopting hairstyles from
fashion models – is that included in the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Whoever imitates a people is one of
them”? He replied: “The same applies to hair: it is not permissible for a
woman to style her hair in the manner of kaafir and immoral women, because
whoever imitates a people is one of them. 

I would like to take this opportunity to advise the Muslim
woman and those who are in charge of them to avoid these (fashion) magazines
and these styles which encourage imitation of the ways of the kuffaar and
liking the indecent clothes that they wear, that have nothing whatsoever to
do with the modesty of Islam, and these fashions regarding hair styles. The
Muslims should be distinct from others as dictated by Islamic sharee’ah and
the Islamic attitude, so that the Muslim ummah may regain its pride and
honour.  

From Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, p. 12,
question no. 188 

With regard to wearing
the hair up, or making it into a bun on top of the head, or parting it at
the side, some scholars disallow this, lest it be an imitation of the kaafir
women. Some of them included the bun in the condemnation narrated from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “There are two
types of the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen: people with whips like
the tails of cattle with which they strike the people, and women who are
clothed yet naked, astray and leading others astray, with their heads like
the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will not enter Paradise nor
even smell its fragrance, although it fragrance may be detected from such
and such a distance.”  Narrated by Muslim, 2128. 

If we look at the parting of the hair on one side, for
example, this may have been a fashion that was unique to kaafir and immoral
women at one time, then it stopped being unique to them and spread to the
Muslim women, and no one would think that the one who does it is a kaafir or
an immoral woman. In that case the ruling on imitating the kuffaar no longer
applies, so it is not haraam. 

Al-Haafiz said in al-Fath (1/307), when discussing the
mayaasir al-arjawaan, which is a kind of small cushion which a
horse-rider places beneath him, which was something that the Persians used
to do: If we say that this is forbidden because it is an imitation of the
Persians, then the prohibition is for a religious reason, but that was one
of their unique features at that time, when they were kaafirs, but because
it is no longer one of their unique features, the reason for disallowing it
no longer applies, so it is no longer makrooh. And Allaah knows best. 

He also said, refuting those who regarded wearing the
taylasaan (pallium, a large rectangular cloak as worn by the ancient
Greeks) as a kind of imitation of the kuffaar, because it is the clothing of
the Jews as mentioned in the hadeeth about the Dajjaal: It is appropriate to
quote the hadeeth about the Jews at the time when the taylasaan is one of
their unique features, but this does not apply at the present time, so now
it is included among that which is permissible. 

Fath al-Baari, 10/274. 

We have also quoted other material form him which supports
this view, in the answer given above. And Allaah knows best. 

This is the fatwa of the
scholars with regard to women wearing the hair in a bun and parting the hair
on the side. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (17/126): 

What is the ruling on a woman parting the hair on the side,
and making only one braid, and making it into a bun, with the intention of
making herself beautiful for her husband or to look good because it suits
her? 

With regard to parting the hair on the side, this involves
imitating the kaafir women, and it is proven that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said it is haraam to
imitate the kuffaar. 

With regard to gathering the hair into and letting it hang
down the back, either braided or not braided, there is nothing wrong with
that so long as it is covered (hijab). But making it into a bun (on top of
the head) is not permitted, because that is an imitation of kaafir women and
it is haraam to imitate them. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) warned against that when he said: “There are two types
of the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen: people with whips like the
tails of cattle with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed
yet naked, astray and leading others astray, with their heads like the humps
of camels, leaning to one side. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell
its fragrance, although it fragrance may be detected from such and such a
distance.”  Narrated by Ahmad and Muslim. 

Shaykh Fawzaan was asked: What is the ruling on parting the
hair on the side and not in the middle? He replied: It is not permissible
for a woman to part her hair on the side. Shaykh Muhammad Ibraaheem (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said: “With regard to what some Muslim women do
nowadays, parting the hair on the side and gathering it on top of the head,
or doing the parting like European women, this is not permissible, because
it involves imitating the kaafir women. From Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh
Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem, 1/47. 

Al-Muntaqa, 3/321 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on a woman
gathering her hair on top of her head? 

If the hair is gathered on top of the head, this is regarded
by the scholars as being included in the prohibition or warning that was
narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
in his hadeeth: “There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not
yet seen: …  and women who are clothed yet naked, astray and leading others
astray, with their heads like the humps of camels, leaning to one side.” So
if the hair is on top of the head, it is not allowed. But if it is at the
nape of the neck, for example, then there is nothing wrong with it, unless
the woman is going out to the marketplace, in which case this is a kind of
tabarruj because it can be noticed through the abayah, so this comes under
the heading of tabarruj and is a means of fitnah, so it is not allowed.

From Fataawa al-Mar’ah, Jam’ al-Musnad, p. 218.