What is the ruling on getting tattoo?

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

In general, getting tattooed is not allowed in Islam. It is one of the deeds which doer is cursed as it is considered a change in Allah’s Creation. The prophet said: “Allah has cursed those women who tattooed themselves, the women who remove their eyebrows, the women who make spaces between their teeth for beautification changing What Allah has created” Related by Muslim.

However, tattoo can be allowed under certain conditions. It can be allowed if it is temporary (can be removed), if it is not revealed to strange men to see it, if it does not picture any creatures, if it is a form of treatment, if it does not prevent water from reaching to the part on which the tattoo is especially for ablution or purity shower, and if it is not made to add beauty. This appears in the fatwa that was issued by Shaikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussain, the General Mufti (Muslim Legal Scholar), in the Palestinian Legal Verdict Council.

Changing the creation by getting tattoo is considered one of Satan’s deeds. Satan promised to tempt people to do it. This appears in the following verse: Allah says: “Allah cursed him. And he (Satan) said: I will take an appointed portion of Your slaves. * Verily, I will mislead them, and surely I will arouse in them false desires; and certainly, I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and in deed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah. And whoever takes Satan as a protector or helper instead of Allah has surely suffered a manifest loss.” An-Nisa’: 118-119