Is hair transplant allowed in Islam? Is it haram or halal?

Is hair transplant allowed in Islam? This is one of the most common questions Muslim patients ask before deciding on hair restoration surgery.

The Islamic ruling depends on understanding the difference between medical treatment and cosmetic alteration of Allah’s creation.

Hair transplantation involves moving your own hair follicles from one area to another—not adding foreign materials.

Most Islamic scholars consider this a permissible medical procedure for treating hair loss, similar to other reconstructive surgeries.

However, hair extensions using someone else’s hair fall under different rulings that we’ll explore in detail.

How Hair Transplant Works

Hair transplant is performed by transferring hair follicles from one area to another in the head of the same person. Using the FUE technique, follicles are extracted from the back of the head, then small holes of 1 mm are made in the recipient area where these follicles are implanted.

The implanted hair typically falls within the first three months, but the follicles remain and regrow. After six months, the hair cycle completes and natural growth continues. This procedure uses only your own hair, not foreign materials.

Before discussing Islamic rulings on hair transplant, it’s important to understand hair extensions—which are prohibited in Islam and often confused with hair transplantation, despite being completely different concepts.

What Are Hair Extensions?

Hair extensions mean attaching additional hair to a person’s natural hair to make it look longer or change its appearance. This practice was known at the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

A hadith narrates that a woman came to the Prophet (PBUH) and explained that her daughter was getting married, but she had a hair problem and wanted to look more beautiful. She asked whether she could lengthen her daughter’s hair by adding extensions, and he told her it was forbidden.

The Prophet (PBUH) stated that Allah curses the woman who adds hair extensions and the one who asks for them. For this reason, hair extensions are prohibited in Islam (haram).

What Are the Differences Between Hair Extensions and Hair Transplant?

The key differences between hair extensions and hair transplant include:

• Source of hair: Hair extensions use hair from another person or synthetic materials, while hair transplant transfers your own hair follicles from one area of your scalp to another.
• Attachment method: Extensions are tied or attached to existing hair, whereas transplanted follicles are implanted directly into the scalp in bald or thinning areas.
• Growth and permanence: Extensions don’t grow and only create an illusion of thickness. Transplanted hair grows naturally, can be cut and shaved, and becomes a permanent part of your scalp.
• Purpose and intent: Hair extensions aim to make existing hair appear longer and fuller as a cosmetic enhancement. Hair transplant is a medical treatment that restores natural hair growth in areas affected by baldness or hair loss.
• Islamic perspective: Extensions involve using another person’s hair for deception, which is why they’re prohibited. Hair transplant is a therapeutic procedure using your own follicles to treat a medical condition.

Therefore, it’s clear that hair transplant is completely different from hair extensions attachment in terms of meaning and purpose.

Rulings on Hair Transplant Permission

So, is a hair transplant haram or halal? Based on the differences explained above, many scholars classify hair transplantation as a medical treatment to address baldness, not as a cosmetic change to Allah’s creation. Below are well-known scholarly statements and fiqh rulings often cited in this topic.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about taking hair from the back of the head (the donor area) and transplanting it into bald areas.

He replied that it is allowable, because it is done to repair a defect and restore what was lost, not to change Allah’s creation for beautification. He described it as treatment for baldness and a way to correct a fault, and this is mentioned in Fatawa ‘Ulama’ al-Balad al-Haraam (p. 1185).

A similar view is also mentioned in contemporary fiqh discussions. In Dirasat Fiqhiyyah fi Qadaya Tibbiyyah Mu‘asirah $2\mathrm{/}549$2/549, Dr. Muhammad Uthman Shubair states that surgical hair treatment through transplantation—so that hair grows—is permissible because it is not deception, but treatment aimed at restoring the natural form in which a person was created.

Related academic discussion is also attributed to Dr. Mahmoud Sartawi in Ruling of Dissection and Cosmetic Surgery in Islamic Law (Dirasat Magazine, third issue, 1984, p. 149).

The Islamic Fiqh Academy also issued general principles permitting necessary plastic surgery when it serves legitimate needs. Their ruling includes permissions intended to:

• Restore body parts to the normal form in which humans were created (with reference to Surah At-Tin $4$4).
• Restore normal function.
• Conceal congenital defects that cause real harm.
• Conceal defects caused by burns, accidents, or disease.
• Include cases such as hair transplantation for women experiencing hair loss.

From this perspective, hair transplant is typically placed under permitted medical treatment because it uses the person’s own follicles and aims to treat hair loss and conceal a defect, rather than alter creation for mere beautification.

So, Is Hair Transplant Halal?

Based on Islamic rulings, there is no religious constraint on transplanting scalp hair. Hair transplant is considered a medical treatment that removes a defect and restores hair to its original condition.

Since the transplanted hair grows naturally after surgery, it has nothing to do with prohibited hair extensions—it is a therapeutic procedure, which is both permitted and lawful.

Supporting Evidence from Hadith

This ruling is supported by the hadith of three Israelites in Al-Sahihain, where the Prophet (PBUH) mentioned that Allah sent an angel to test three men—a leper, a blind man, and a bald man.

The bald man asked to have good hair and to be cured of his condition because people felt discomfort around him, and he was healed.

(Related by Bukhari in Ahadith Al-Anbea, hadith 3464; and Muslim in Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqaiq, hadith 2964, from Abu Huraira).

This hadith indicates that concealing a defect by restoring hair is permissible. If it were prohibited, the angel would not have done it, and the Prophet (PBUH) would have clarified its prohibition when narrating the story.

Another supporting hadith is narrated in Sunan Abi Dawud: AbdurRahman ibn Tarafah reported that his grandfather Arfajah ibn As’ad had his nose cut off in battle and wore a silver nose, but it caused problems.

The Prophet (PBUH) ordered him to get a gold nose instead. This proves that restorative treatment is permissible, and the same ruling applies to hair transplant.

Conclusion

According to the most prominent Islamic scholars and authentic hadiths, hair transplant is allowed in Islam (halal). Unlike prohibited hair extensions, hair transplant is a medical treatment that restores natural growth and does not involve deception or using another person’s hair.

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