Feb 6, 2019
Kohl (eyeliner) in Islam
It used to really confuse me that Ali, Husseyn, Hassan, and (in his few modern portraits) Muhammad, were always painted with kind of dark sunken looking eyes that almost seemed to be lined. So I was really surprised to find out just that!
Apparently Muhammad, according to tradition, used to wear kohl, being supposed to have said:
“Verily, the best of the kohl that you use is antimony, for it brightens the eyes and grows the hair.“
Additionally, Imam Ali would dye his beard red with henna. To this day in some regions, Muslim men and women use kohl as eyeliner and mascara (particularly during Ramadan) and dye their hair and beards a distinct red, as pictured below.
