Tatayyub (perfuming oneself)

Tatayyub is perfuming oneself; perfume is what has a pleasant smell, such as musk, camphor and rose. The rule is a sunna. ¹

Perfume is of two kinds: the masculine, whose scent lasts and whose colour does not show, such as flowers, roses and jasmine, and the feminine, whose colour and trace show, such as musk, camphor and saffron. ¹

It is a sunna for men and women, on the hadith «perfume and women have been made dear to me». A man is recommended to perfume himself inside and outside the house with what shows its scent but not its colour; a woman outside her house with what hides its scent, since she is forbidden to be scented outside it. ²

Perfuming for the Friday prayer is recommended by agreement, on the hadith «whoever comes to the Friday prayer should wash, and if he has perfume let him use it». A man is recommended, before going out to the festival prayer, to perfume himself with scent but no colour; a woman goes out unperfumed. ³

The Hanafis allow the fasting person to perfume himself; the Malikis dislike it for a fasting person who is not in seclusion; the Shafiis recommend leaving off smelling sweet flowers by day; the Hanbalis dislike smelling what may draw the breath into the throat. Most jurists permit the one in seclusion to perfume himself. ^{3 4}

Perfuming during the state of consecration is forbidden in body or garment by agreement; before entering it, most jurists recommend it, and Malik disliked it. Aisha reports that she perfumed the Prophet ﷺ before his consecration and saw the shine of the perfume on his head while he was in it. ⁴

The Hanafis in the sounder view do not allow the garb of consecration to be perfumed, and the Malikis require the removal of perfume before consecration. Perfuming after consecration requires a redemption, by analogy with shaving, whose ruling is in the Qur'an and in the hadith of Kab ibn Ujra. The Hanafis distinguish: perfuming a whole limb requires a sheep, less than a limb requires a half sa of wheat in charity. ^{5 6 7}

The Hanafis and Shafiis dislike the pilgrim's smelling of perfume; the Malikis dislike smelling its male and female kinds but not touching it; the Hanbalis forbid deliberate smelling of musk, camphor and rose, with a redemption. Plants are of three kinds: those neither grown for scent nor made into perfume, which may be smelt without redemption; those grown for scent but not made into perfume, with two views; and those grown and made into perfume, such as rose and violet, with redemption. Touching or stains: what clings to the body, such as ground musk, rose water and perfume oils, carries a redemption; what does not, such as whole musk, camphor and ambergris, does not. ^{8 9}

The Shafiis and the more known Hanbali view hold no redemption for the forgetful, on the hadith that God lifts from this community error and forgetting. The Hanafis and Malikis, and a second Hanbali view, require a sheep if a whole limb is perfumed, even by a forgetful adult. ⁹

The Hanafis forbid a woman divorced irrevocably three times to perfume, since she must mourn. The Malikis forbid perfume only to a widow and her like. The Shafiis and Hanbalis in the other view do not forbid it, since the mourning is due only to a widow. ^{9 10}

The entry continues into «tatayyur» on p.5346.