a feminine perfume is one that has evident colour but not evident scent.’ (Shamāil-ul-Muhammadiyyaĥ, pp. 131, Ḥadīš 210)
Commenting on the words of the blessed Ḥadīš ‘a feminine perfume is one that has evident colour but not scent’ the famous commentator Muftī Aḥmad Yār Khān عَـلَيْهِ رَحْـمَةُ الْـمَنَّان has stated, ‘Beware, a woman should not exit her home wearing fragrance, but she can wear perfume for her husband, there is nothing wrong with this.’
(Mirāt, vol. 6, pp. 160)
Question: What is the verdict regarding an Islamic sister who wears perfume outside her home?
Answer: An Islamic sister can wear any type of perfume within the four walls of her home, only amongst her husband and Maḥram relatives. However, she must take care to avoid letting her scent reach her brother in-law or any other non-Maḥram man. Any woman who exits her home wearing a perfume that attracts the attention of non-Maḥram men should be afraid because Sayyidunā Abū Mūsā Ash’arī عَـلَيْهِ رَحْـمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ الۡـقَـوِی reported, ‘Whenever a woman wears perfume and then appears in front of people so that they can smell her perfume, she is an adulteress.’ (Sunan Nasāī, vol. 8, pp.153)
In the blessed era of Amīr-ul-Mu`minīn Sayyidatunā ‘Umar Fārūq-e-A’ẓam رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ, a woman was going somewhere, he رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ smelt her perfume, so he رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ raised his whip to hit her and said, ‘You come out wearing a perfume that men can smell. (Even when it is necessary for you to come out of your home) do not come out wearing perfume.’ (Muṣannaf ‘Abdur Razzāq, vol. 4, pp. 284, Ḥadīš 8137)