The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has cursed the one who makes hair extensions and the one who has this done.” Does this include the pieces of cloth or ribbon which young girls put in their hair and which may be made in the shape of a rose or whatever for decoration, or the necklace of white ribbon which some of them wear? I have young daughters, and I am afraid of them falling into sin.
Praise be to Allaah.
This hadeeth was reported by al-Bukhaari, Muslim and others. What it refers to is those who add hair extensions taken from the hair of other people, and the women who ask to have this done. The reason why this is forbidden is that it is false adornment which could be used to deceive or cheat others in matters of marriage and so on. As al-Bukhaari narrates from Mu’aawiyah, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called this falsehood. If we understand the hadeeth and the wisdom behind this prohibition, we will see that it does not include the wearing of ribbons and flower-shaped decorations by young girls. As long as wearing ribbons on the braids or necklaces made of white ribbon are not customs that belong exclusively to the kuffaar, there is nothing wrong with doing these things, because the principle is that everything is allowed unless it is expressly forbidden. But the girls who do these things should cover these decorations in front of people who are not their mahrams (blood relatives whom they are permanently forbidden to marry), if they are at the age where covering themselves is obligatory. But everything that is done exclusively by the kuffaar is haraam, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade us to imitate or resemble them.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/192).
