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Cosmetic Surgery In Imami Jurisprudence

Cosmetic Surgery In Imami Jurisprudence
Transcript of short lessons delivered by Ustadh Rafi’pur
Syed Ali Imran

Part 1

This is the first of five short lessons delivered by Ustadh Rafi’pur – a teacher of kharij – in the city of Mashad, in Madrassah Ayatullah Khui, on the topic of cosmetic surgery. The lessons are from 18th – 22nd June, 2022.

*****

One of the most popular surgeries around the world, including Iran, is cosmetic surgery. Many people, depending on their age and societal expectations, decide to undergo this surgery to alter some part of their body. In fact, some people decide to do this surgery multiple times during their lifetime.

Shi’i jurists do not have any issue with reconstructive plastic surgery when done in the case of necessity, from the perspective of treating injuries or other physical ailments. However, there exists a discussion on the topic of plastic surgery performed for purely aesthetic reasons. Is such a surgery allowed or not? If it is allowed, does such a procedure not go against this verse of the Quran:

وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَـَٔامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ ءَاذَانَ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ وَلَـَٔامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ وَلِيًّا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُّبِينًا

“I will certainly mislead them and delude them with empty hopes. Also, I will order them and they will slit the ears of cattle and alter Allah’s creation.” And whoever takes Satan as a guardian instead of Allah has certainly suffered a tremendous loss. (4:119).

If Allah (swt) chose for us to look a certain way, but we grow up and think we can make ourselves look better than the way Allah (swt) created us, does this not go against the aforementioned verse? Satan confesses he will mislead us and will delude us into changing Allah’s creation. Is performing cosmetic surgery not an instance of changing Allah’s creation?

This is the topic we wish to discuss briefly over the next few lessons. Before giving an overview of some of the particular topics we will try and address over the course of these lessons, let us look at some of the literature written on this subject:

a) A book titled, Jarrahi Zibayi az Manzar-i Fiqh wa Huquq, by Khanum Marjan Kazemi

b) An article written around 14 years ago titled, Jarrahi Zibayi az Manzar-i Fiqh wa Huquq-i Pezeshki, by Ayyub Amarji and Mahmud ‘Abbasi1

c) An article titled, ‘Amal-i Zibayi wa Jarrahi Plastic dar Sahat-i Fiqh, by Khanum Tayyibeh and Husayn Saberi2

d) An article titled, Jarrahi Zibayi az Manzar-i Fiqh, by Khanum Zohreh Safati3 and Marjan Kazemi4.

e) Transcripts on this topic from Ayatullah Shupayi’s lessons, which he was delivering in Mashhad before the coronavirus pandemic; I have these transcripts with me5.

Other than these works, I did not come across anything else of significance.

Historically speaking, bodily surgical procedures are not a new phenomenon. In fact, some forms of surgical procedures on limbs and body parts can be traced back to India around 600 BA. One of the earliest references to such surgeries is a form of nose surgery, but it is important to note most of these procedures were being done on people who had been injured, many times at war, and they were not being done merely for cosmetic purposes.

The Ahl al-Sunnah have a report in their hadith literature that says a person had lost a part of his nose in one of the battles, and the person attached a piece of silver to his nose to cover it. However, after some time the silver attained a bad odour and the Prophet (S) tells him to attach a piece of gold instead. Even if this report is correct, it is still in the context of treating an injury.

The topic of our discussion is specifically cosmetic surgery done purely for aesthetic reasons and has become popular in the last few decades. It is also a widespread phenomenon in Iran and has become a profitable business for surgeons.

In our lessons, I will address this topic based on two contemporary, yet distinct approaches to jurisprudence. We will see that when one follows the traditional approach of Najaf which relies heavily on procedural principles, how easy it is to conclude the permissibility of cosmetic surgery, however, if you follow the more contemporary approach to Fiqh which is based on expediency, maqasid, and Quran-centrism, a jurist will run into some hurdles – though I am not saying they will arrive at prohibition necessarily. This is what we will try to explore in our lessons and look at the issue from both approaches.

A few more related questions we will try to briefly address – if time permits – are:

i) If the surgeon causes harm to the patient, are they responsible for it or not? If they are responsible for it, to what extent?

ii) What if a surgeon performs the surgery, but the patient is not completely satisfied with the result? Do they still owe the surgeon compensation, and if so, how much? Is the surgeon charging for the procedure or are they charging for the final result?

iii) A few pertinent issues that can arise after the procedure for the patient are matters likes wudu’ and ghusl. How do they deal with them? What if pig skin is used – as it often is – in these procedures, what are the implications of that for the patient afterwards? Is that skin considered part of the human body and treated as pure, or is it treated as impure?

iv) What if a part of the skin and limb of another human is used for the procedure, does that person have to know and be satisfied with the patient who will be using those parts?

On a side note, in some of the literature referenced earlier, some authors went into the history of circumcision as that is also a surgical procedure. They have explored not only its history but also the narrations on the topic. However, we will not be going into it as we do not believe it is relevant to our discussion.

We will end our first lesson by outlining a few scenarios for cosmetic surgery done for beautification:

i) Beautification is done by adding something to the body, but this additional thing can be removed if need be. Some of those things added to the body can be removed easily, while others may be removed with a little more difficulty. For example, a wig or hair extensions that are attached to the scalp. We have a few narrations on this subject and this practice was called wasilah as some women during the time of the Prophet (S) would use hair from other women and attach it to their heads to hide bald spots.

ii) Beautification by removing something from the body. For example, if someone has hair on a certain part of their body and wants it removed; laser hair removal would be an instance of that.

iii) Beautification by things that remain on the body, such as tattoos.

iv) Beautification by surgically reconstructing a body part. This is the scenario that we are concerned with, but we will also cite the few narrations that are relevant to the first scenario in our lessons, as some aspects of those reports can be meaningful for us in our discussions.

It is interesting to note that the majority of Ahl al-Sunnah jurists consider this fourth scenario prohibited, while most Shi’i jurists considered this permissible. God-willing, in the next lesson we will begin to look at the evidence for and against this procedure.

Part 2

This is the second of five short lessons delivered by Ustadh Rafi’pur – a teacher of kharij – in the city of Mashad, in Madrassah Ayatullah Khui, on the topic of cosmetic surgery.

*****

In the first lesson, we said our subject of discussion is cosmetic surgery, not surgical procedures to correct injuries or other deficiencies. We divided cosmetic procedures into four scenarios:

i) Beautification done by adding something to the body.

ii) Beautification by removing something from the body.

iii) Beautification by things that remain on the body.

iv) Beautification by surgically reconstructing a body part.

The majority of the Ahl al-Sunnah generally consider the fourth scenario prohibited, while the Shi’a jurists generally consider it permissible. In our last lesson, we will also mention a few religious verdicts by jurists who considered it prohibited, such as Ayatullah Alawi Gurgani (d. 2022).

As for the first scenario, that is also not problematic in and of itself. For example, if a woman attaches nail extensions, it is permissible, although there are some secondary discussions on the status of the person’s wudu’ and ghusl.

There is also a Prophetic tradition in al-Bukhari and al-Muslim, as well as in some Shi’i books where the Prophet (S) cursed a woman who fixes hair extensions to another woman (wasilah), and the woman who has them fixed for her (mustawsilah). This narration has been used to argue for the impermissibility for the first scenario, but most jurists will say this narration is very weak and cannot be used as evidence.

We say, it is not fair to just ignore this report because it does exist in Shi’i literature too and if our approach to accepting reports is wuthuq (attaining conviction), then we would have to look at the different chains of transmitters and see whether we have any external contextual indicators that would push to accept this report. We say, it is possible to attain wuthuq in this narration, however, we can critique the intended meaning of this report. Shaykh Saduq in Ma‘ani al-Akhbar cites a report where an alternative meaning for a wasila and mustawsilah:

حَدَّثَنَا الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ هِشَامٍ الْمُكَتِّبُ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ زِيَادٍ الْكَرْخِيِّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع يَقُولُ‏ لَعَنَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص الْوَاصِلَةَ وَ الْمُسْتَوْصِلَةَ يَعْنِي الزَّانِيَةَ وَ الْقَوَّادَةَ.

Ibrahim b. Ziyad al-Karkhi says, he heard Imam Sadiq (a) say: The Messenger of Allah cursed the wasilah and mustawsilah; meaning a fornicator and a procurer (i.e. pimp).6

This narration is reliable and it takes the report outside of the scope of our discussion on beautification or cosmetics.

As for the second scenario, when we look at verse 4:119, it is very clear that it is not inclusive of scenario two, such as hair removal. In fact, hair removal is a well-established practice and existed in the time of the Prophet (S) and Imams (a), and the infallibles themselves would practice it.

Part 3

This is the third of five short lessons delivered by Ustadh Rafi’pur – a teacher of kharij – in the city of Mashad, in Madrassah Ayatullah Khui, on the topic of cosmetic surgery.

*****

We are exploring the topic of cosmetic surgery and have said our discussion does not concern surgeries done for medical reasons. One type of surgery that can be understood as medical is certain surgical procedures where a body part is reconstructed due to certain difficulties that a person faces in society as a result of the body part.

For example, certain women get breast augmentation for very abnormally large breasts, as this causes them physical pain, or makes day-to-day life activities very difficult for them in society. These surgeries are not being done because the person wants to aesthetically look different, but rather to alleviate a difficulty. Another example is if someone gets a rhinoplasty because the current shape of their nose causes them some difficulty breathing; these surgical procedures are not included in our discussion either as society considers them to have a medical objective behind them, rather than a mere cosmetic objective.

In the previous lesson we cited a narration where the Prophet (S) cursed the wasilah and mustawsilah. One of the points we want to mention about this narration is that many jurists do not believe simply because an infallible cursed an act or the doer of a certain act, that the curse signifies prohibition of that act. Secondly, the report in Ma‘ani al-Akhbar explains the meaning of these two terms and in that case, even the severe curse of the Prophet (S) perhaps makes sense.

Thirdly, there is a narration that contradicts the narration on wasilah and mustawsilah recorded in Tahdhib al-Ahkam:

أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ مِهْرَانَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الْقَرَامِلِ قَالَ وَ مَا الْقَرَامِلُ قُلْتُ صُوفٌ تَجْعَلُهُ النِّسَاءُ فِي رُءُوسِهِنَّ قَالَ إِنْ كَانَ صُوفاً فَلَا بَأْسَ وَ إِنْ كَانَ شَعْراً فَلَا خَيْرَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْوَاصِلَةِ وَ الْمُوصَلَةِ.

‘Abdullah b. al-Hasan says, I asked him (a) about what qaramil is? He (a) said: It is a piece of wool which women put on their heads. If it is made of wool, then that there is no problem in using it, but if it is made of human hair, then there is no good in it for the wasilah and musilah.7

The phrase “there is no good in it” does not signify anything more than kiraha (that it is a detested act); it does not prove hurmah (prohibition). However, this chain of transmitters is weak because we do not know who ‘Abdullah b. al-Hasan is.

The third scenario had to do with beautifying the body with things that remain on there, such as tattoos. The Ahl al-Sunnah have reports about someone who puts tattoos on another person (washima) and the one who receives the tattoos (mustawshima) and generally consider it a prohibited act. Some Ahl al-Sunnah have used a narration referring to a qashira and maqshura, who have been cursed by the Prophet (S). This was a process of removing a part of the skin or some fat from the face to make it appear more beautiful.

However, we cannot use these reports as they do not give us conviction and we do not have anything concrete in our literature that prohibits these acts.

Another argument that can be used against the third scenario is verse 4:119. As mentioned earlier, we will address this verse later.

We will now begin discussing the fourth scenario, which is the main topic of our lessons. This is when a person wants to beautify themselves, by surgically reconstructing a body part and they have no medical ailment or problem. In the first lesson I said we will address this topic based on two schools of thought:

1) The school of Najaf which relies heavily on procedural principles, investigates the chains of transmitters, and also do not allow the intellect to interfere too much into the process of ijtihad; and

2) The school of Ayatullah Borujerdi and its subsequent expansion by some of the contemporary jurists, where we will begin looking at some of the theological assumptions about humans, and then look at the evidence through that light.

The First Approach

The default assumption about any act is exemption (bara‘ah) which entails permissibility, as opposed to the view of the Akhbaris who took the default assumption to be precaution. In other words, it is upon a jurist to bring evidence for the prohibition of this act. Despite that, proponents of permissibility can also cite certain evidence for their case and do not just have to rely on their default assumption.

Some scholars also cited the following verses for permissibility:

يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ قَدْ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًا يُوَٰرِى سَوْءَٰتِكُمْ وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ ٱلتَّقْوَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ

O children of Adam! We have provided for you clothing to cover your nakedness and as an adornment. However, the best clothing is righteousness. This is one of Allah’s bounties, so perhaps you will be mindful. (7:26).

يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُوا۟ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ

O Children of Adam! Dress properly whenever you are at worship. Eat and drink, but do not waste. Surely He does not like the wasteful. (7:31).

In all honesty, I am not sure what these verses have to do with the topic of cosmetic surgery. At the very least, according to the first approach, these verses would be irrelevant, however, when we use the second approach, some verses of the Quran will become relevant.

In terms of narrations, some types of reports that can be used are as follows:

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ يَحْيَى عَنْ جَدِّهِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ رَاشِدٍ عَنْ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ع‏ إِنَ‏ اللَّهَ‏ جَمِيلٌ‏ يُحِبُ‏ الْجَمَالَ‏ وَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَرَى أَثَرَ النِّعْمَةِ عَلَى عَبْدِه‏

Imam ‘Ali (a) says: Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. He loves to see the impact of His (swt) blessings on His servant.8

This specific report is recorded in both Ahl al-Sunnah and Shi’i hadith works. Unfortunately, in Shi’i works the chain of transmitters is weak as Qasim b. Yahya and his grandfather do not have explicit tawthiq. However, Sayyid Shubayri Zanjani believes Qasim b. Yahya and his grandfather can be authenticated as he transmits a ziyarat of Imam al-Husayn (a) recorded in al-Faqih of Shaykh al-Saduq’s, which Shaykh labels as “the most authentic of ziyarat”:

وَ قَدْ أَخْرَجْتُ فِي كِتَابِ الزِّيَارَاتِ وَ فِي كِتَابِ مَقْتَلِ الْحُسَيْنِ ع أَنْوَاعاً مِنَ الزِّيَارَاتِ وَ اخْتَرْتُ هَذِهِ لِهَذَا الْكِتَابِ لِأَنَّهَا أَصَحُّ الزِّيَارَاتِ عِنْدِي مِنْ طَرِيقِ الرِّوَايَةِ وَ فِيهَا بَلَاغٌ وَ كِفَايَةٌ.

In Kitab al-Ziyarat and Kitab Maqtal al-Husayn (a) I have recorded a variety of Ziyarat, however for this particular book, I have recorded this specific Ziyarat because it is the most authentic of ziyarat according to me from the perspective of its transmission, and it is very eloquent and sufficient.9

Even if we accept this narration as authentic, we say this report does not say anything about the permissibility of beautifying something Allah (swt) has already created in a certain way. This report says Allah (swt) wants to see the effects of His blessings on His servants, which would include things like wearing good clothes, using perfume, combing your hair etc.

Secondly, the beauty that Allah (swt) loves and the beauty that we love, are they the same? One of the most subjective human experiences is the perception of beauty, so if we are to use this narration as evidence for the permissibility of cosmetic surgery, how can we ascertain that the result of that surgery is also beautiful for Allah (swt)?

We will look into this further in the next lesson – God-willing.

Part 4 & 5

This is the fourth and fifth short lesson delivered by Ustadh Rafi’pur – a teacher of kharij – in the city of Mashad, in Madrassah Ayatullah Khui, on the topic of cosmetic surgery.

*****

We were discussing the narration, “Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.” The chain of transmission of this report is weak due to Qasim b. Yahya, but we said there is another way to strengthen it based on what Shaykh Saduq says in his al-Faqih.

Regardless, we said this narration cannot be used for the permissibility of cosmetic surgery, nor do we have any narrations that prove the prohibition of it. The most important piece of evidence used by those who prohibit cosmetic surgery is the following verse:

وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَـَٔامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ ءَاذَانَ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ وَلَـَٔامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ وَلِيًّا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُّبِينًا

“I will certainly mislead them and delude them with empty hopes. Also, I will order them and they will slit the ears of cattle and alter Allah’s creation.” And whoever takes Satan as a guardian instead of Allah has certainly suffered a tremendous loss. (4:119).

This verse has been used in at least three discussions:

1) Sex change; as we know Imam Khumayni allowed this procedure, but Sayyid Khu’i and most of his students, as well as the majority of Sunni scholars do not allow sex change. Those who prohibit sex change rely on this verse as one of their main arguments.

2) Shaving the beard; ironically, Sayyid Khu’i says this verse cannot be used to prove the prohibition of shaving the beard but does use it for sex change. Perhaps this was because he did not consider shaving the beard as an “alteration” in Allah’s creation.

3) Cosmetic surgery; this is our discussion.

When you look at the works of tafsir, you will find a difference of opinion amongst scholars on the meaning of this verse. Shaykh Tusi in his al-Tibyan and Tabrisi in his Majma‘ al-Bayan give two possible meanings:

i) Alteration in the creation of Allah means to change something that Allah created in a certain way ontologically. In the past, scholars would give examples of castration and consider it prohibited.

If we take this meaning of the verse, then cosmetic surgery could be considered problematic.

ii) Alteration in the creation of Allah means to bring a change in Allah’s religion. This meaning exists in one narration in Tafsir al-‘Ayyashi and this difference of opinion has existed amongst the Shi’a.

Some scholars like Shaykh Tusi also cited the following verse to strengthen the second possibility:

فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا ۚ فِطْرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِى فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا ۚ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

So be steadfast in faith in all uprightness —the natural Way of Allah which He has instilled in ˹all˺ people. Let there be no change in this creation of Allah. That is the Straight Way, but most people do not know. (30:3).

These scholars said the creation of Allah is referring to religious inclinations and religious beliefs.

Even though the narration in al-‘Ayyashi is weak, but it seems to have created a certain perception and mindset about this verse for Shi’i scholars. A majority of Shi‘i scholars took this second meaning, while majority of Ahl al-Sunnah scholars took the first meaning.

Sayyid Khu’i in his discussion on shaving the beard critiques the second meaning while discussing this verse. He says if you take the first meaning, it will result in takhsis al-akthar. This is because we know cutting or shortening the hair on our head is allowed, or we know we can cut down trees, or dig the earth for water, break into mountains, and hundreds of other things where we are essentially altering Allah’s creation.

Therefore, the change in the creation of Allah (swt) must be a very specific type of change, which is either ambiguous or we can resort to the narration as a contextual indicator to say creation of Allah (swt) means the religion of Allah (swt).

Unfortunately, that narration is weak and we cannot use it as a contextual indicator here, however the problem of takhsis al-akthar has to be responded to. In the tafsir of Ibn ‘Ashur in his al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir, the argues this change in creation is not a reference to any change, rather it is referring to Satanic and impermissible changes to creation. For example, at times you want to cut down a specific type of tree for some purpose, but this is very different to chopping down all those trees and letting them go extinct. Likewise, making changes to your body which are Satanic or which make you resemble disbelievers, it is these types of changes that the verse is referring to and Satan encourages people to do these changes.

As per this, cosmetic surgery will not be impermissible, but if the surgery is done in a way where a certain Satanic culture is being promoted and created, then that would be problematic.

This is one way to reconcile the view of the Ahl al-Sunnah who totally consider cosmetic surgery impressible, and most of the Shi’a scholars who consider it permissible.

The Second Approach

As for the second approach which is expediency based, they will look at the verses of the Quran that speak of human creation. For example, Allah (swt) says:

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِىٓ أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ

Indeed, We created humans in the best form. (95:4).

خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَصَوَّرَكُمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَرَكُمْ وَإِلَيْهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

He created the heavens and the earth with truth, and He designed you and perfected your designs, and to Him is the destiny. (64:3).

وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلْنَـٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَـٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَفَضَّلْنَـٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًا

Indeed, We have dignified the children of Adam, carried them on land and sea, granted them good and lawful provisions, and privileged them far above many of Our creatures. (17:70).

These verses show Allah (swt) has generally created us beautiful already. Even the verse that says Allah (swt) dignified us, though there is a discussion on whether this verse is speaking of an ontological reality or a legislative, at the very least ontological reality is definitely there. These verses in reality should be a part of our religious culture, where Muslims should know they are created beautiful, instead of being duped by perceptions of beauty created by ungodly people.

Scholars who approach law based on expedience also often look at things from a societal perspective, rather than an individualistic perspective which is what traditional law is based on. In traditional law, a jurist will be asked whether cosmetic surgery is permitted or not and they will say it is permitted. However, when you look at things from a perspective of societal and political expediency, you will not just look at a single individual rather you will take into consideration the overall impact of a certain policy on society.

Scholars may argue that permitting cosmetic surgery without any boundaries will lead to a culture in society that goes against verses of the Quran that speak about how Allah (swt) has created us beautiful in general. This is problematic and policies should be made to limit this procedure to very exceptional circumstances.

If after all this, a person still wants to get cosmetic surgery because they get depressed over a certain part of their body as it is not in accordance with the norms of society, they are mocked for it, or they are embarrassed due to it, etc. and this results in mental health issues, then there is nothing against cosmetic surgery.

This is a brief overview of the jurisprudential discussion on cosmetic surgery. There are numerous particular matters that can be discussed further for those interested, such as, whether a wife need her husband’s permission to do cosmetic surgery. We did not find evidence that say she needs his permission.

- 1. Reference: https://www.noormags.ir/view/fa/articlepage/63885/87 [2]

- 2. Reference: http://fvh.journals.miu.ac.ir/article_1603.html [3]

- 3. She is the wife of the deceased marja‘ Ayatullah Mirza Muhammad Hasan Ahmadi Faqih and a jurist herself who delivers bahth al-kharij in the seminary

- 4. Reference: http://noo.rs/DMReV [4]

- 5. His official website: http://shoopaii.ir/ [5]

- 6. Ma‘ani al-Akhbar, Shaykh Saduq, pg. 250.

- 7. Ma‘ani al-Akhbar, Shaykh Saduq, vol. 6, pg. 361.

- 8. Al-Kafi, vol. 6, pg. 438.

- 9. Vol. 2, pg. 597.

Get PDF [6] Get EPUB [7] Get MOBI [8]

Topic Tags:

- Plastic Surgery [9]

Authors(s):

- Syed Ali Imran [1]

Source URL: https://www.al-islam.org/articles/cosmetic-surgery-imami-jurisprudence-syed-ali-imran

Links
[1] https://www.al-islam.org/person/syed-ali-imran
[2] https://www.noormags.ir/view/fa/articlepage/63885/87
[3] http://fvh.journals.miu.ac.ir/article_1603.html
[4] http://noo.rs/DMReV
[5] http://shoopaii.ir/
[6] https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/140505
[7] https://www.al-islam.org/printepub/book/export/html/140505
[8] https://www.al-islam.org/printmobi/book/export/html/140505
[9] https://www.al-islam.org/tags/plastic-surgery