Q.| Would it be correct to perform the ablutions of wuḍū and ghusl while wearing false eyelashes?

A.| False eyelashes, whether permanent or temporary, prevent water from reaching the tip of the eyelids, and are thus an obstacle to the proper application of water to an ablutionary body part.^[1] As such, they must be removed prior to performing ablution even if this requires a financial cost or involves some hardship. It would be incorrect to wear false eyelashes and perform the ablution of the wounded unless their removal before the expiration of the time of the canonic prayer at hand would entail an ordinarily unbearable hardship, in which case the ablution of the wounded is permissible, but as soon as removing the false eyelashes becomes possible, the worshiper must remove them to perform a proper ablution for all subsequent canonic prayers. This precept applies to both forms of ablution—wuḍū and ghusl. Moreover, it is important to point out that false eyelashes are a type of adornment (zīnah), and as such women must cover their faces from non-maḥram men when they wear false eyelashes.

[1] An ablutionary body part refers to those parts of the body that must be washed or rubbed in the process of ablution. Ablutionary body parts differ depending on which form of ablution one needs to perform. For the ablution of ghusl, all exterior body parts as well as a part of the interior of the nose and the ears are considered ablutionary body parts. For the ablution of wuḍū, the ablutionary body parts consist of the face, the arms, the upper part of the head, and the top of the feet.