Is it allowed to do rhinoplasty to get my nose smaller?

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

There are different opinions regarding cosmetic surgeries. These opinions depend on the purposes behind doing a surgery. Sometimes a cosmetic surgery is considered to be a necessity. This is when someone has some birth defects and distortion such as broken jaws, distorted ears, having no ear at all, or congenital femoral shortness. Other reasons which legalize cosmetic surgeries are when someone survived an accident but still has some burns or distortion. In these cases, cosmetic surgeries are legalized as they aim at restoring the body shape to its original creation, or they aim at fixing some defects to help body organs work properly. In such cases, cosmetic surgeries help retain people’s dignity as they feel they are normal.

However, if these surgeries are done in order to increase the beauty of a woman such as liposuction or fat injection or any other surgeries, they are not allowed. This is because they are considered a reason to change Allah’s Creation. The prophet said that Allah has cursed those who want to exaggerate in being beautiful and who aim at increasing beauty. He 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

Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani explains that Allah curses those women who do the above-mentioned deeds to increase their beauty, however, if there is a necessity – as we have just explained- they are not amongst those cursed women. (Fath Al-Bari: (17/33)

Therefore, if that surgery (rhinoplasty) is not extremely necessary, but it is needed as people may bully you; you want to reveal that psychological effect; you want to fix a defect, then it is legalized. This is what was issued by The Palestinian Verdict Council, decision No. 1/81. The general mufti allows Muslims to reveal any source of hardship or embarrassment. It is worth reminding that doing surgeries to add and increase beauty is still illegal.