Turkey’s top religious body ‘issues fatwa on hair dye’

Meltem Özgenç – ANKARA

Turkey’s top religious body, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), has issued a fatwa on hair dye, stating that dyeing men’s hair black is inappropriate according to Islam.

“Dyeing the hair, beard or mustache is permissible as long as the purpose is not to deceive people. But dyeing a man’s hair black is never permissible, according to Islamic rules. It is considered inappropriate,” the statement read, responding to a question via its official website.

The Diyanet also addressed Islamic rules regarding people who work in places that sell alcoholic beverages.

“It is not permissible to work in places where prohibited products are prepared. However, if the worker in question has exhausted all other options and needs to work there out of necessity, then exceptions are allowed,” the statement added.

Earlier this week, Turkey’s top religious body also deemed the digital currency Bitcoin “inappropriate at this moment in time,” according to Islam.

Responding to a question about buying digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum for investment purposes, the Diyanet noted that digital currencies are not bound by a central authority and therefore lack the guarantee of a state or financial institution.

“At this moment in time, the buying and selling of digital currencies is inappropriate according to Islam, because the said currencies are open to speculation in terms of value and can easily be used to conduct illegal operations such as money laundering. They are also far from state auditing and monitoring procedures,” it stated.