Dear Hadi,
I used to be a Tattoo artist and I recently converted to Islam. I still respect and love tattoo art, even though I am no longer directly involved in it. However, I sometimes still like to attend Tattoo Conferences. Recently, somebody told me that tattoos are haram. Do I need to wear long sleeves to cover up my tattoos when I come to the Mosque? What do you suggest?
Dear Tattoos and Long Sleeves,
Thank you very much for your thoughtful question, and considerate approach to your fellow worshipers and their sensitivities.
Regarding the issue of tattoos, let us discuss that a little bit because as a former tattoo artist, you obviously value the beauty that may be involved in them. Also, we live in a society where they are extremely common. Both of these factors may make it somewhat difficult to have the heart to be comfortable with the general consensus among most scholars that tattoos are haram. This issue will be important to many of our Muslim youth, and so we’ll delve into it a bit. Where does this consensus come from, and what is the rationale behind it? The consensus comes from multiple hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH) rejecting the practice. If it were a single hadith, there may be more room for argumentation, but there are actually multiple hadiths in multiple hadith collections.
So, what is the rationale behind the prohibition? It is likely a mix of things, and scholars have stated that the main issue is that it amounts to substantively changing God's creation, which is in general prohibited. That is why artificial hair lengthening, cosmetic surgery without genuine need, etc., are also frowned upon. Also, in the pre-Islamic era, polytheistic women often tattooed pictures of their gods or idols on their bodies.
Of course, we respect and follow the injunctions of the Prophet PBUH, as a matter of faith. However, we also feel compelled to say that in our personal opinion, and God knows best, of all the potentially adverse things people do to themselves and each other, we feel that tattooing ranks relatively low on the list. There are, by the way, a minority of scholars who do not think tattoos, in and of themselves, are haram. One of these is Sheikh Mohammed Al-Hilli who says that tattoos that meet certain conditions (don't stop water from reaching the skin for wudu or ghusl; no names or pictures that are disrespectful or indecent) are permissible. It is important for people to make up their own mind about this, but also important to know that the majority of scholars believe tattoos are prohibited. However, in your particular case, we are less concerned about the halal and haram of it since you got your tattoos before converting to Islam.
With that background, let us get directly to your question as to whether you should wear long sleeves to cover up your tattoos. There are really two answers, and we leave it to you to choose which you are more comfortable with, although we will give a recommendation.
The first answer is that you do not have to wear long sleeves - you got the tattoos prior to converting to Islam and you have nothing to be embarrassed about (assuming the content of the tattoos is ok).The second answer is that while we believe you don't have anything to be embarrassed about, it may be a better choice to cover up the tattoos with long sleeves, simply because it may be more considerate to the sensitivities of your fellow Muslims at the mosque. We do not feel that this is required, but would be an act of grace on your part, and hopefully each time you do that, you feel that you are doing a voluntary good deed to honor the mosque, and hopefully this brings you closer to Allah SWT. This show of respect is similar to a non-Muslim woman who puts on a scarf before she enters a mosque out of respect. Also, as I'm sure you know, often in the corporate world, many people wear long sleeves to cover their tattoos while at work. We think the mosque is certainly as worthy as that, if not more so. One last reason to consider wearing long sleeves has to do with young Muslims - they may not know that your tattoos were prior to your Islam, and may see you with them, and feel that perhaps they also can/should get tattoos.
Once again, whatever your heart feels comfortable with -- we are just giving our best advice, and God knows best.
Lastly, we point out that the scholars have made a distinction between temporary tattoos (such as applied with henna, for example) and permanent tattoos. Temporary tattoos are in general considered permissible as a cosmetic decoration (so long as the content of the tattoo itself is not against Islamic morals). As an artist, you may still want to indulge your aesthetic sense and your talent in this area.
In peace.