Fatwa ID: 06977

Answered by: Alimah Jannatun Nessa

Question:  

Is it halal to wear clear aligners and is it permissible to take clear aligner therapy and is it permissible to sell clear aligners?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Aligner therapy is used to ensure that teeth are straight, which improves the function of a person’s teeth. It is permissible to wear and sell them as long as they are made from non-haram substances.

Hazrat Abdullah RA narrated: Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their facial hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah. Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet (ﷺ) has cursed? And that is in Allah’s Book. i.e. His Saying: ‘And what the Apostle gives you, take it and what he forbids, abstain from it.'(Surah 59, verse 7)

The explanation for “those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful” is that the curse of Allah is upon the one who, for the sake of beauty, goes through extreme or harmful measures to look a certain way. The hadith refers to women who file their teeth to reshape and contour them for the sake of beauty.

Taking clear aligner therapy would not come under the category of modifying Allah’s creation, as it does not involve any permanent alteration to the natural structure of the teeth.

Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.

Written by Alimah Jannatun Nessa

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[Sahih al-Bukhari, 5931]

حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الْوَاشِمَاتِ، وَالْمُسْتَوْشِمَاتِ، وَالْمُتَنَمِّصَاتِ وَالْمُتَفَلِّجَاتِ لِلْحُسْنِ، الْمُغَيِّرَاتِ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، مَالِي لاَ أَلْعَنُ مَنْ لَعَنَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهْوَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ ‏{‏وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ‏}‏‏.‏

Narrated by `Abdullah: Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and such women as change the features created by Allah. Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet (ﷺ) has cursed? And that is in Allah’s Book. i.e. His Saying: ‘And what the Apostle gives you, take it and what he forbids, abstain (from it).’ (59.7)

[Umdatul Qari, volume 22, page 97, Daar al kutub al ilmiyyah]

باب المتفلجات للحسن

أي هذا باب في بيان ذم النساء المتفلجات للحسن، أي : لأجل الحسن، وهي جمع متفلجة قال بعضهم: وهي التي تطلب الفلج او تصنعه، والفلج بالفاء واللام والجيم انفراج ما بين الأسنان. قلت: باب التفعل ليس فيه معنى الطلب، وإنما معناه التكلف والمبالغة فيه. والمعنى هنا المتفلجة هي التي تتكلف بأن تفرق بين الاسنان لأجل الحسن ولا يتيسر ذلك إلا بالمبرد ونحوه ولا يفعل ذلك إلا في الثنايا والرباعيات، ولقد لعن الشارع من صنعت ذلك من النساء لأن فيه تغيير الخلقة الاصلية.