Is it right to have one's body tattooed?
A Brief Description of the Question:
I'm a Muslim and I have a tattoo. I got the tattoo because of peer pressure. Now I think that I should remove it or What should I do? I regret having this tattoo.
The Answer:
People have been having different parts of their bodies tattooed for a very long time. Today, this custom is maintained in some places. While some young people in Europe and the US do it as an 'ornament', some irresponsible young people in our country imitate them, too. The Arabs of Jahiliyya/Ignorance (the time before Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him) would have themselves tattooed to ornament themselves; at the same time, they believed that their joints became stronger with the various shapes and pictures that they had tattooed on their bodies. Today, however, this does not go beyond the desire to imitate.
As is commonly known, tattoo is done this way: The body is wounded with needles or similar tools so that blood comes out. Then, the wound is left to heal after putting suet and other substances on it. Finally, a dark green shape forms under the skin.
According to the hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet prohibited tattooing and having oneself tattooed and stated that the one who does it loses the worthiness for Divine mercy.
What will the one who had himself/herself tattooed without knowing its illegality in Islam do? Here, the decree changes depending on the material that was used while tattooing. If the materials are among the things that are accepted as 'najis' (dirty) by religion, the tattoo is similarly dirty. If they are clean, then the tattoo is also clean. The thing to do here is to remove it if it is possible to be removed with a small operation. If it is not, and if no opportunity to do it is present, the tattoo is left as it is. This is because Allah does not burden his slave with a burden he cannot bear and does not ask of him the things he cannot undertake.
As for whether it cancels ablution and ghusl (overall cleansing) or not, tattoo is actually under the skin. In other words, it is under the outer skin. In ablution and ghusl, however, it is fardh (obligatory) to cleanse the surface of the skin, not the part under it. As tattoo is under the skin, its presence on any part of the body does not cancel ablution and ghusl. Ablution and ghusl become sound and valid by cleaning its surface.
Somebody who committed such a sin without knowing should ask Allah for forgiveness and repent, and may his repentance be accepted, Allah willing.
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