Islamic viewpoint on nail polish

It is a burning question among the people whether the ablution and bath (Ghusl-e-Janabat) of woman who uses nail polish are accurate in the light of Shariah or not? Ulama”s unanimous verdict in this issue is that t hey are both erroneous until she removes it. Fashionable class totally rejects this verdict and consider it a “fatwa of so-called Mullahs”! In this respect some questions also raised as under:-

(1) If a woman uses nail polish after performing ablution, the ablution of her nails becomes safe under the nail polish. In case of renewal her ablution if she does not wash her nails again whether it is complete on not?

(2)Men who dye-hair or women use “mehndi” whether their ‘voozo’ and ghusal’ are also accurate or not? Because it makes also a mask on the hair like nail polish.

It is then necessary to explain this issue in the light of Quran and Sunnah so that misunderstandings should be removed about it.

Fundamental cause of inaccuracy of ablution and bath after using nails polish is that it makes such a surface on the nails that water cannot pass through it and they remain dry.

So the part which is obliged to wash in’voozo and ghusal’ left dry. There are four obligations in the ablution proved by the Quran. Almighty Allah Says ‘O ye who believe! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub your heads and (wash) your feet up the ankles.(Almaedah:660 So in case of using nail polish, the second obligation i.e. to wash hands up to the elbows cannot be performed utterly due to covering of the nails. Same situation is in ‘ghusl-e-janabat’

Because it is necessary to wash the whole body that even a single hair should not be left dry otherwise ‘ghusal’ will be accurate, And it is quite impossible after using nail polish. As regards the safety of ablution under the nail polish, so it is unfounded because when the ‘voozo’ befalls, it befalls completely not partly. Reason is that the ‘nijasat’ (filthy) divided into two categories as mention in the authentic books of fiqah’hukmi and ‘Haqiq’(factual and infallible)(Hidaya, Kabiri, Shami) Nijasat-e-Haqiqi’ is visible like urine, excrement etc, and ‘Nijasat-i-Hukmi’ is not real but considered as unclean. For example, In ‘ghusle jnabat’ “nijasat attaches on a specific part of the body but is necessary to wash the whole body because the rest part of it unclean under the ‘nijasat-e-Hukmi! Same situation is in ablution. Although nails are quits clean under the nails polish but are unclean under the above mentioned ‘nijasat, so washable.

As regards t he hair-dye and’mehnndi’ they are quite different from the nail polish. Because it makes permanent surface on the nails which can be scrapped by knife etc, but it is quite impossible in ‘khizab and mehndi’ so they make no difference in ablution and bath.

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) also used ‘khizab ‘(hair-dye) as mentioned in the ahadith. It narrated by hazrat Abu hurarah (God be pleased with him) that the Holy prophet (PBUH) used’khizab’. (Shamile Tirmazi) Hazrat Anas also reported that he had seen the hair-dye of Rasul-Allah (PBUH) . So a question arises here whether the ablution and bath of the Holy Prophet(PBUH) was also accurate or not?

Another aspect of this issue is that the nail polish is used according to the color of dress. When dress is changed, the nail polish is also changed. The previous polishes removed by removing lotion. When it is removed for color-matching why it should not be removed for cleanliness and purity