This chapter gathers a set of strong warnings about altering the body for the sake of vanity: joining false hair, tattooing, and filing gaps between the teeth. The thread running through them is the idea of changing Allah's creation, treating the form He gave as something to be reshaped to chase an illusion of beauty.
Notice how heavy the language is, with the Prophet (peace be upon him) speaking of a curse, and how Ibn Mas'ud anchors it all in the Qur'an itself. There is real compassion in the chapter too, as a mother's wish to beautify her sick daughter is answered with firmness yet care. The spiritual heart of it is gratitude and contentment with how Allah made us; the finer rulings, including any exceptions, rest with the scholars.
Hadith 1642
Asma' (May Allah be pleased with her) said:
وعَنْ أسْمَاءَ رَضِيَ اللَّه عنْهَا: أنَّ امْرأَةً سألتِ النبيَّ ﷺ فَقَالتْ: يا رَسُولَ اللَّه، إنَّ ابْنَتِي أصَابَتْهَا الْحَصْبةُ، فتَمَرَّقَ شَعْرُهَا، وإنِّي زَوَّجْتُها، أفَأَصِلُ فِيهِ؟ فقالَ: لَعَنَ اللَّه الْواصِلةَ والْمَوصولة متفقٌ عليه. وفي روايةٍ: الواصِلَةَ والمُسْتوصِلَةَ. قَوْلَهَا:"فَتَمرَّقَ"هو بالرَّاءِ، ومعناهُ: انْتثر وَسَقَطَ،"والْوَاصِلة": التي تَصِلُ شَعْرهَا، أو شَعْر غَيْرِهَا بشَعْرٍ آخَرَ."والمَوْصُولة": التي يُوصَلُ شَعْرُهَا. "والمُستَوصِلَةُ": التي تَسْأَلُ منْ يَفْعَلُ ذلكَ لَهَا.
A woman came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have a daughter who had an attack of small pox and her hair fell off. Now I want to celebrate her marriage. Can I get her a wig?" Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has cursed the maker and wearer of a wig." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
In plain words
A woman asked about a wig for her daughter whose hair fell out after illness, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said a curse rests on the maker and wearer of false hair. Attaching false hair is strongly condemned.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1642 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 132
Hadith 1643
وعَنْ عائشة رضي اللَّه عنْهَا نَحْوُهُ، متفقٌ عليه.
A similar narration was narrated on the authority of 'Aishah.
In plain words
A similar report comes through 'Aishah, repeating the same warning. It reinforces the prohibition against false hair.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1643 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 133
Hadith 1644
Humaid bin 'Abdur-Rahman (May Allah be pleased wth him) said:
وَعَنْ حميْدِ بن عبْدِ الرَّحْمن أنَّهُ سَمِعَ مُعاويَةَ رضي اللَّه عنْهُ عامَ حجَّ علَى المِنْبَر وَتَنَاول قُصَّةً مِنْ شَعْرٍ كَانَتْ في يَدِ حَرِسيٍّ فَقَالَ: يَا أهْل المَدِينَةِ أيْنَ عُلَمَاؤكُمْ؟، سمِعْتُ النبيَّ صَلّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وسَلَّم يَنْهَى عنْ مِثْلِ هَذِهِ ويقُولُ: "إنًَّمَا هَلَكَتْ بنُو إسْرَائِيل حِينَ اتخذ هذه نِسَاؤُهُمْ" متفقٌ عليه.
I saw Mu'awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) during the Hajj (pilgrimage) standing on the pulpit. He took from the guard a bunch of hair, and said: "O people of Al-Madinah! Where are your scholars? (Why do they do not prohibit you) I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) prohibiting from using this (false hair) and saying, 'The people of Bani Israel were ruined when their women wore such hair."' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
In plain words
Holding up a bunch of false hair during Hajj, Mu'awiyah recalled the Prophet's warning against it and that earlier peoples were ruined when their women used it. The practice is condemned as a path that led others to ruin.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1644 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 134
Hadith 1645
Ibn 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said:
وعن ابن عمر رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعن الواصلة والمستوصلة والواشمة والمستوشمة ((متفق عليه)).
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the maker and wearer of a wig and the tattooer and the one who is tattooed. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
In plain words
A curse is named for those who make or wear false hair and those who tattoo or are tattooed. Altering the body in these ways for vanity is strongly warned against.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1645 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 135
Hadith 1646
Ibn Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said:
وعن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه قال: لعن الله الواشمات والمستوشمات والمتنمصات والمتفلجات بالحسن، المغيرات خلق الله! فقالت له امرأة في ذلك فقال: وما لي لا ألعن من لعنه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو في كتاب الله؟! قال الله تعالى: {وما آتاكم الرسول فخذوه وما نهاكم عنه فانتهوا} ((الحشر:7)).((متفق عليه)). المتفلجة هي: التي تبرد من أسنانها ليتباعد بعضها من بعض قليلا، وتحسنها وهو الوشر. والنامصة: [هي] التي تأخذ من شعر حاجب غيرها، وترققه ليصير حسنا. والمتنمصة: التي تأمر من يفعل بها ذلك.
Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those women who have themselves tattooed, and those women who get their hair removed from their eyebrows and faces (except the beard and the mustache), and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth for beauty, whereby they change Allah's creation. A woman started to argue with him, saying: "What is all this?" He replied: "Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed and who are cursed in Allah's Book? Allah, the Exalted, has said in His Book: "And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad (ﷺ)) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)." (:) [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
In plain words
Ibn Mas'ud relayed the curse on women who tattoo, pluck the brows, and file gaps in their teeth for beauty, because they change Allah's creation, and grounded it in the Qur'an's command to obey the Messenger. Reshaping the body to chase beauty is condemned.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1646 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 136