Re: ~Are Tattoos Allowed in Islam?~~
LightBearer- a justified question- this hadith speaks only about women so what about men? However, the scholars (through ijtihad (reasoning) and qiyas (analogy) often refer this ahadith to refer to both men AND women- see http://www.islamic-knowledge.com/Men.htm . The reasoning behind it is disputed over- but a couple of the main lines of argument are that a) it is permanent, b) you are changing the creation of Allah. Nothing about wudu’. Although these arguments are debateable, seeing as hair dying and piercing are allowed (note though, that eyebrow plucking is not) we shouldn’t be quick to assume that just because we cannot see the logic, that we should not accept this hadith. Furthermore, when this applies to women, why should it not apply to men? Just a question, not necessarily making a point in saying that. I think it is explicitly referred to for women in these ahadith though, because it was something practiced more amongst women for adornment- even on the face (please correct me if I am wrong as i am not 100% sure about that)
ear/nose piercings for women:
As far as piercing the ears goes, this was a custom at the time of the Prophet (s) and was not forbidden. As for the NOSE, I cannot pass on any info about this at the moment as I am still looking. If anyone knows something please pass it on.
hair dying:
Changing the color of grey hair by using henna, red dye, yellow dye, and so on:
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said, “The Jews and Christians do not dye, so differ from them.” (Related by “the group.”) Abu Dharr reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “The best thing that one can use to change the color of grey hairs is henna and katm (a reddish dye).” (Related by “the five.”)
There are some narrations that state that dying is disliked, but it is obvious that these narrations conflict with the sunnah and custom. It is related from some of the companions that it is better not to dye, while others say it is better to do it. Some used a yellow dye, while others used henna or katm. Others used saffron, and a group of them used a black dye. Ibn Hajr mentioned in Fath al-Bari that az-Zuhri said, “We used black dye if our face was youthful, but if wrinkles were present and the teeth were gone we would not use it.” Said Jabir, "Abu Quhafah (Abu Bakr’s father) was brought to the Prophet during the conquest of Makkah while his head was “white.” The Prophet, upon whom be peace, said, “Take him to one of his wives and let her change the color of his hair with something, but she should avoid (making his hair) black.” (Related by “the group,” except for al-Bukhari and at-Tirmidhi). This dealt with a certain incident, and cannot be generalized. Furthermore, black would not be proper for someone as old as Abu Quhafah. (Fiqh 1.23a)
—> NOTE that this is for GREY hair- pretty much all of the hadith I have found on this subject so far refer only to colouring grey hair and encourage it. It is difficult to answer this question without referring to the ijtihad and qiyas of scholars whose opinion isn’t always accepted- if anyone is interested though, it is generally disliked for women to colour their hair, unless grey, for the same reason that you are changing the creation of Allah.