Applying perfume before entering the state of ihram

A question about applying perfume before entering the state of ihram, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that it does no harm even if its trace lasts, and that perfuming the body before ihram is in fact a Sunna, whereas perfuming the garment is merely permitted, and one who takes off a perfumed garment and puts it back on while its scent remains owes a ransom. ¹

The questioner asked: what is the ruling on applying perfume before entering ihram? ¹

The Department answered that applying some perfume before ihram does no harm even if its trace lasts beyond the start of ihram, and that perfuming before ihram is in fact a Sunna for the pilgrim on hajj or umra. ¹ It quoted Nawawi al-Jawi in Nihayat al-Zayn (1/212) that among the Sunna practices of ihram is perfuming the body just before it, whether the pilgrim is male or female, young or old; that the recommended moment is after the ritual bath; that any perfume will do, musk being best, mixed with rosewater or the like; and that continuing to carry the perfume on the body after ihram is unobjectionable, except that a woman who becomes bound to mourning after ihram must remove it; perfuming the garment, however, is permitted but not recommended on the authoritative view, and one who takes off a perfumed garment while its scent remains and then puts it on again owes a ransom. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4516, dated 18 October 2026, in the category of ihram and its prohibitions, as a short fatwa. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.