Title: A Further Clarification Regarding the Opinion on Tattoos Question/Comments: Hi, I looked through your site regarding tattoos but did not find a clear answer, so I apologize in advance if this is repetitive question. I was wondering, what does Islam and the Qur'an say about Tattoos on a Muslim's body. Is there a general prohibition or prohibition on specific kinds of tattoo? If somebody already has a tattoo is he/she prohibited of going to Hajj? Thank you very much for your time. Answer: The summary of our opinion regarding getting one's body tattooed, as given in our previous responses , is as follows: One should avoid making pictures of things which are revered (or worshipped) in a community, as such tattoos may, in a way promote, idolatry and polytheism; Tattooing one's body with images other than those that are revered (or worshipped) in a community cannot be termed as prohibited in the Shari`ah . Nevertheless, if the impression is of a permanent nature, it should then be avoided as such can result in a distorting the nature on which God has created us. As far as the question whether a person who already has tattooed his body be allowed to go to Hajj or Umrah is concerned, in my opinion, the answer to this question, in the absence of a clear directive of the Shari`ah cannot be in the negative. In other words, if the Shari`ah has not clearly and explicitly disallowed such a person from going to Hajj , then no scholar has right of disallowing him from visiting the Ka`bah . 11 th June 2000