What does Quran say about tattoos? [Ayats, Hadith and Translation] (2024)

Tattooing is the activity of piercing your skin with a needle filled with colored dye. The colored dye is injected into the skin to create patterns and images. There are many forms of tattooing; however, most of these involve a painful dye-injecting procedure to pierce the specific body part.

What does Islam say about Tattooing?

Islam looks upon changing physical appearances as a sin. The acts of changing physical appearance may range from hair transplant to nose job to even getting your eyebrows done. As per Islam’s teachings, all body altering and transforming acts are forbidden in the religion.

Tattooing is also a form of changing physical appearance, which is why inking bodies with tattoos is considered to be haram in Islam. It is regarded as a sin because it changes how Allah s.w.t. originally created a human being.

“The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed the one who does tattoos, the one who has a tattoo done, the one who consumes riba (usury or interest) and the one who pays it, and he forbade the price of a dog and the earnings of a prostitute, and he cursed the image-makers.”

[Narrated by al-Bukhari, 5032]

” May Allah curse the women who do tattoos and those for whom tattoos are done, those who pluck their eyebrows and those who file their teeth for the purpose of beautification and alter the creation of Allah.”

[al-Bukhaari, al-Libaas, 5587; Muslim, al-Libaas, 5538]

Different Schools of Thoughts on Tattooing

According to the Sunni School of Thought, tattoos are forbidden in Islam because the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) cursed those who tattoo their bodies.

On the other hand, the Shia School of Thought believes nothing is wrong with tattooing bodies. Sayed Ali Sistani, leading spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims, said:

Tattoos are permissible despite being temporary or permanent.

While addressing the Practical Laws of Islam, Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the Twelver Shia Marja and supreme leader of Iran, said that tattooing is not haram.

Tattooing vs. Other Activities

Some Muslims have argued that if changing physical appearance is considered haram in Islam, why aren’t other physical altering activities disgraced equally? Many have compared dying one’s hair, tanning one’s body, or even using braces for teeth, to tattooing one’s body. All of the former activities change the human body’s appearance, so why are they treated differently from tattoos?

What are your thoughts on this? Please share with us in the comment section below.