Is Becoming a Plastic Surgeon Permissible?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Is it permissible to become a plastic surgeon considering the necessity of performing cosmetic surgeries, which are elective and lack medical justification yet are often unavoidable in the profession due to societal demand?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
Becoming a plastic surgeon for purely cosmetic reasons will not be permitted, and one’s earnings will be haram and impermissible. However, if a surgeon’s work comprises many tasks and includes cosmetic surgery, his complete earnings will not be considered haram.
The general ruling with regards to cosmetic surgery is that of impermissibility, for it involves mutilation of one’s body (muthla) and changing the nature created by Allah (taghyir khalq Allah). However, in genuine cases of extreme deformity, there is a dispensation of permissibility, for necessity makes prohibition lawful.
[Ibn Nujaym, Al-Ashbah wa al-Nadh’ir]
Refer to Others
In a case when one has to perform cosmetic surgery, it will be permitted for the Muslim doctor to refer the patient to someone else, saying that one cannot carry out the surgery; hence, you may visit some other specialist. Doctors must be extra careful and vigilant in matters like these because they can find themselves in many situations where it is easy to fall into sin. May Allah Most High guide us to what pleases him and His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace).
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
Related
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I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.
