Praise be to Allah.
The pilgrim in ihraam is not allowed to use any kind of perfume on his body or clothes.
With regard to the body, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, concerning one who died in a state of ihraam: “Wash him with water and lotus leaves, and shroud him in two garments, and do not put perfume on him … for Allaah will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection reciting the Talbiyah.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1265; Muslim, 1206.
The words laa tuhannituhu (translated here as “do not put perfume on him”) refer to hunoot, which is a blend of perfume that is used specifically for the dead, and is not used in other circumstances.
According to a version narrated by Muslim: “Do not put perfume (teeb – the usual word for perfume) on him.” So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade putting hunoot on this dead person, which is a kind of perfume as is mentioned in the report narrated by Muslim, even though putting perfume in the water used to wash the dead and in the shroud is usually mustahabb. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stated the reason for that, which is that he will be raised up on the Day of Resurrection reciting the Talbiyah, i.e., his ihraam is not annulled by his death. This indicates that the pilgrim in ihraam is not allowed to use perfume. The scholars are unanimously agreed on this point.
Ibn Qudaamah said: The scholars are unanimously agreed that the pilgrim in ihraam is not allowed to use perfume. Al-Mughni, 5/140.
With regard to clothing, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not wear anything that has been touched by saffron or wars (memcylon tinctorium, a plant of Yemen used as a liniment and yellow dye).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1838; Muslim, 1177. Ibn Qudaamah said: We do not know of any differing opinion among the scholars concerning this matter. Al-Mughni, 5/142.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked about a man who intended to do Hajj, then another man put perfume on him and he accepted that perfume so as not to offend him, although he knew that perfume is not allowed for the pilgrim in ihraam. What is the ruling in this case?
He replied: It is not permissible for a person to fear offending another when it is the matter of disobeying Allaah or to disobey Allaah for fear of offending another person. What you should do if perfume is offered to you is to say: “It is not permissible for the pilgrim in ihraam to wear perfume.”
This man (the one who gave the perfume to someone else) may be unaware that it is haraam for the pilgrim in ihraam to use perfume, or perhaps he forgot and gave you some…
Based on the fact that you did not do that, and you avoided offending him by doing an act of disobedience to Allaah, you have to repent to Allaah from what you did. The scholars say that you have to do one of three things: either sacrifice a sheep in Makkah and give its meat in charity to the poor, or feed six poor persons, giving each one half a saa’ of food, also in Makkah, or fast for three days, even if you do that in your own country. They also say that it is permissible to slaughter the sheep and feed the poor in Makkah, and it is permissible to do that in the place where this sin was committed.
Al-Fataawa, 22/153-154.
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