48 | April 2013 www.womanthismonth.com Showcase The sale of halal-certified beauty and personal care products is thriving. Many businesses are slowly learning how to benefit from this lucrative market. According to MuslimVillage.com, the market for halal-certified products and services is now worth over US$5 billion globally. One product to have caused a stir recently is Inglot’s O2M nail polish, and not for the reasons one might imagine. Painting your finger nails is a hotly disputed topic in many Muslim circles. Over the years, many scholars have concluded that prayer can’t be performed while wearing nail polish, as the required ablution (wudu) is not possible when water cannot properly reach every part of the body. Nail polish is seen to preclude this, as the polish acts as a barrier for access to finger nails. The issue has been contentious among many Muslim women. While some stopped wearing nail polish altogether, others have chosen to wear it only during their menstrual period, when they are not required to pray. Still, others continue to wear it, citing that they don’t see it as a big deal. What’s revolutionary about the Inglot nail polish isn’t the polish itself, but rather the dialogue that has surrounded it. Recently, Mustafa Umar, a scholar from Southern California, came out with the results of an experiment conducted by one of his students on whether breathable nail polish allowed water to penetrate. After these findings were published and commonly known by many as ‘the nail polish fatwa’ — sales of Inglot skyrocketed as bottles of O2M nail polish have flown off the shelves. In his experiment, Umar analysed the fiqh (Islamic legal reasoning) behind the nail polish issue and conducted an experiment using a sample of dried nail polish on a coffee filter and a drop of water. His conclusion was specific to the O2M brand, saying that it was sufficient for wudu. Call 16 686-200 (BCC) or 16 686 222 (Seef). Addressing Cultural Concerns inglot
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