Quora Answer: Is It Right for a Woman to Wear Perfume during ‘Iyd?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Is it right for a woman to wear perfume on the ‘Iyd?” 

There are opinions, based on a hadits by Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Sakhr ad-Dawsi az-Zahrani al-Azdi (r.a.), that imply women should not wear perfume.  This is a simplistic, and literal interpretation.  A hadits does not automatically become a fatwa, a legal opinion; or a hukm, a legal ruling.  There is a process whereby we arrive at this. 

Firstly, we have to consider the intent of the act before addressing permissibility.  This is the foundational principle of the matter, since it the intent matters.  The impermissibility of wearing perfume pertains to the intent to beguile.  As such, it is not only the perfume, but the dress and the behaviour as well.  This may be found in the exegesis of the verse on believing women being Told not to stamp their feet, and lower their gaze.  This is metaphorical more than literal, since it encompasses our behaviour in totality. 

Secondly, we have to understand that there cannot be a blanket ruling against women using perfumes on the basis that women would beguile men.  We are not responsible for the inadequacy of others beyond reason, and no person may blame another for their inadequacy.  If women are responsible for the misbehaviour of men, that would imply an inadequacy in Divine Justice, and a contradiction in the Qur’an, which cannot be. 

As such, women may use perfume.  In the interest of others, I would opine that women, and men, should wear deodorant to hide their body odour.  No one needs to suffer olfactorily simply because some people take every prophetic narration literally, without understanding.  Especially for events such as ‘Iyd, where people meet each other, in often crowded circumstances, it should be wajib, compulsory, to have mercy on others and wear perfume.