When it comes to aspects of the sunnah such as kohl, it is important to be very careful when dealing with alarmist messages regarding it. Recently there have been concerns of the FDA banning kohl due to lead, the Canadian health organization doing the same, and a regurgitation of a 1991 report out about lead within kohl.
The report is available here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1954922&dopt=Abstract
The Canadian health message is available here:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2005/2005_103_e.html
It states:
Health Canada is advising Canadians that some varieties of traditional kohl products have been found to contain lead. Kohl (also known as: kajal, surma, al-kahl/al-kohl) is a traditional eye cosmetic of Middle Eastern, Asian and North African societies that is also at times used medicinally as a natural health product. Several children in Canada exposed to kohl containing lead have been identified with elevated levels of lead in their blood, putting them at risk of serious health problems.
What is Kohl?
Kohl is a blend of minerals, soot from herbs and seeds. Often in hadith literature it is translated as antimony.
Treat your eyes with kohl, for it nourishes eyes and eyelashes. (Abu Dawud, Tib, 14; Tirmidhi, Tib, 9.)
Sunan Abi Dawood (3837) Ibn Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) related the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: The best of your kohl is ithmid (antimony), for it makes the vision clear and makes the hair grow.
As is related by Yazeed al-Farsee in Shamaailut-Tirmidhee, Chapter of Seeing the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) in a Dream, who said, Indeed, I saw the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) in a dream. So he said, Verily, the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) used to say, Indeed, the Shaytaan cannot imitate me, so whoever has seen me in a dream has indeed seen me. Can you describe the person you have seen in the dream? I said. Yes. I will describe him between the spectrum of two men. His body and flesh were moderate, complexion was brown-skinned, inclining towards whiteness, eyes were kohl-smeared, smile was pleasant, figure was beautiful and round-like..
I am a fairly regular user of kohl and as such the issue of lead was a concerning one, and I looked into it. As a disclaimer I am no expert in the health field, but I did perform some research.
This is what I found:
1) Lead is not absorbed through the skin:
http://www.aiha.org/Content/AccessInfo/consumer/
IsLeadaProbleminMyHome.htmAmerican Industrial Hygiene Association
How does lead get into our bodies?
A certain amount of lead is always in our bodies as a result of the “background” presence of lead in food, water, and naturally-occurring sources in the soil. This small amount of lead does not cause harm in either children or adults. In order for lead to cause lead poisoning, it must get into our bodies above background levels. Lead can enter the body in the following ways:
If we or our children eat even small chips of lead-based paints or lead-contaminated soil or dust (either directly or from unwashed food or hands).
If we drink water, tea, or other beverages contaminated with lead.
If we or our children breathe dust particles, causing some of them to get caught in the nose and lungs. If those particles contain lead, the lead can be taken into the blood stream.
It is important for you to know that lead does not enter the body through the skin. The skin forms a natural barrier which can keep the lead out.
The same alarmist study which brought this issue to the forefront states:
Controlled studies by Healy and Aslam (11) have concluded that transcorneal transport does not occur. Lead absorption, in their opinion, is primarily alimentary. When applied to the conjunctival surfaces around the eyes, kohl is an irritant that produces a slight burning feeling and tearing. The subjects, especially children, often wipe their eyes and then fail to wash their hands afterwards. In children, finger sucking is very common, and this is the primary route of ingestion Kohl is applied to the skin, it is not a product intended to be injested or otherwise introduced into the bloodstream.
2) Antimony (which is what some say is the kohl referenced by the Hadith) is highly toxic, more than lead. Antimony poisoning is akin to arsenic poisoning. Most people don’t know about antimony poisoning, but we hear often about lead poisoning because it is the public conciousness and children are often found eating lead within paint chips.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimony
Antimony and many of its compounds are toxic. Clinically, antimony poisoning is very similar to arsenic poisoning. In small doses, antimony causes headache, dizziness, and depression. Larger doses cause violent and frequent vomiting, and will lead to death in a few days.
3) If we accept that Kohl and Surmah was primarly referencing antimony, what the Prophet (Sallalahu’alaiheewassalam) was recommending -was- most likely containing some levels of lead. Antimony often found with lead, in the minerals such as nagyagite.
4) A good amount of kohl in today’s products is is non-metallic in nature and is basically harmless soot from special herbs and seeds.
5) The amount of actual product used is absolutely miniscule. When we consider the amount of product actually used the percentages below start to seem much less significant:
Nine of the twenty-two samples tested contained less than 0.6% lead;
Seven samples had lead levels in excess of 50%.
The remainder ranged from 3.31 to 37.3%.
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I contacted the brand Hashmi Aswad Products to ask about this
The contact responded with:
This is in ref. to your email regarding the report about kohl / kajal and its safety, please note that kohl / kajal are for external use only.
Regarding the accusation made in the report are based on the total quantity in the container, which is an unscientific approach and just hypothetical, whereas scientific studies of any product are always carried out on the basis of per application / dose of a product. (quantity per application / dose).
In case of kohl, it is applied externaly from approx 0.5 mg to max 1 mg. and in case of kajal, it is applied externally up to approx 16 grams (micro gram) in a such a small quantity it is not possible to produce any toxic effect.
It has been further proved through scientific studies that these products are safe for human use and cannot produce any toxic effect. copies of test studies are attached for your ready reference.
The studies are available here for your review:
Cert stick 1.jpg
Cert stick 2.jpg
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Basically this boils down to a few children probably ate something they should not, causing alarm throughout the health systems of various countries.
It is easy to blame traditional things rather than parents on accessibility and supervision. Many things should not be ingested by children, and can cause serious affects. Lead poisoning is a primary concern for development and learning in children, if you wish to be careful to avoid the finger sucking situation discussed in the article, ensure you are using a more cosmetic form of kohl for your children.
Keep your kohl in your medicine cabinet or a bag for personal items such as your razors, medicines, shampoo, etc. You wouldnt want your kids eating those things either.
What the Prophet (Sallalahualaiheewassalam) recommended should not be abandoned so quickly, especially due to modernized standards of health and precautionary safety by the state. Who knows what the many benefits are of kohl and what it protects us from?
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
How many of these syudies get done and later changed? One day it is bad for us, the next okay in moderation and finally harmful?
Jazaaka Allaahu khairan
studies*
Asalaamu alaikum.
I sent my husband out to pick up a few new sticks for me out of fear that our wacky government will ban it and I won’t be able to get anymore, LOL. It is a sunnah I prefer to keep, inshaAllah!
Honestly, I don’t mean for this to sound conspiracy-minded, but I cannot help but to wonder if the well-meaning health workers just thought it was easier to blame immigrant mothers for their children’s health and jump on something they are unfamiliar with as being the culprit. That is certainly easier than getting after the slum lords of the apartments many immigrants live in that contain lead based paint, or old neighborhoods where the paint chips have absorbed into the soil that the kids play in. Those are the two most common ways kids get lead poisoning, but it is alot more work to go after a landlord than an “ignorant” mother.
One of my grandsons suffered from lead poisoning, the full effects of which we will not know for a few more years when he starts school. Our Health Department nurses turned on my step-daughter for this and insisted that she needed to move out of the house they rented. She and her sister took their boys and moved to a much nicer, but considerably more expensive apartment that they cannot afford without the help of both their parents and the fathers of the babies. But before they were able to move, they were both threatened by Child Protective Services as being negligent. And yet not one word was addressed to the landlord of the house, who they had been fighting with for about a year to get to pay for things being repainted. Some other poor children are probably contracting lead poisoning as we speak because the landlord was not forced to do anything about it.
Now, knowing as much as we do about lead poisoning, it is ridiculous to try to blame a small product that is used externally rather than to properly address the real causes.
Off topic but perhaps you would like to comment on this :
http://shorno.net/2007/05/27/does-anyone-read-this-stuff/
Salaam ‘Alaikum
I have to point out / question that it wasn’t all kohl / kajal that they were warning about but two or three specific producers. Someone brought me kohl that has the same exact packaging as the producers that were singled out, but it’s made in Saudi Arabia by a totally different company — and this is a type of kohl that I have seen many times in stores in NJ and wherever.
Maybe I need to have more trust in Muslims, but I personally can’t put it beyond people to produce something made out of burnt iron ore and all the other stuff that’s supposedly being done and then calling it “kohl” as if it is the same as the burnt nuts and seeds. This kind of stuff happens all the time in the Muslim world — why wouldn’t it happen with kohl? Shoot, a few months ago you had people selling arsenic tainted water to fellow Muslims claiming it was ZamZam water.
I would like to say that I felt reassured by the letter from one of the producers that has been singled out, but the fact is that I find the English pretty much incoherent, on top of the technical terms they used. So my opinion hasn’t changed at all. I will just avoid those companies if I need to buy this stuff in the future.
walaikumassalam,
The study while warning of a few producers was done in 1991, the government is involved in blocking *all* traditional kohl imported into the US and Canada.
As far as what they are putting in with it, I would (on my part) assume that Hashmi Aswad, which is in this business, one of the largest producers of kohl, has a website, responds to emails, and has safety studies available would be far less likely to subtitute iron ore than, say, no name brands which use the same packaging as Hashmi Aswad.
The english, of course, was not good, but it is a Pakistan based company.
AllahuAlim.
Jazaka-Llâhu khayran for this article.
I would like add few lines about the scientific basis of Kohl (Surma) apart from its relegious point of view. The history and scientific studies so far done, indicate that the major constituent of Kohl is Galena, i.e., lead sulphide an inorganic form lead which is practically insoluble in aqueous (water) phase. I have gone through a number of such studies where Kohl is applied to both animal (rabbits) and human eyes regularly for about three months, but no difference in blood lead level was noted between pre and post application of Kohl. Confirming that lead present in Kohl can not be absorbed through transcorneal route. So there is no question of lead poisoning with the application of Kohl (Surma). Out of several reference, I would like to quote one reference here under the heading of ” Features of Poisoning”
The sub-headings 5.1.4 Ocular (Inorganic Lead)
Authors, Grainne Cullen, Alison Dines & Stoyko Kolev
” Lead sulphide (from the eye cosmetic surma) has caused minute conjunctival abrasions but no toxic injury to the eye ” – Statement released by the National Poisons Information Services (London Centre), Medical Toxicology Unit, Guy’s & St Thomas Hospital Trust, London – Monograph For UKPID – Lead (UK PID) page # 15 (March 1996).
In my opinion, even the minute conjuntival abrasion is not possible if good quality Kohl (Surma) is used. Further, the dose which is applied into the eyes at one time is also very small and if quantified, it will be in microgram, irrespective of the high content of Galena (Lead sulphide) present in the whole container. I would urge here not to link the missuse Kohl (Surma) with it’s toxicity cause. Even missuse of water can lead to death. Thus based on this we can not stop using or storing water in our house.
Scientifically, I would classify the action and properties of Kohl into three different directions or catigories:
1. Ad
1. Adsorptive – which is surface phenomena. Thus helps in cleaning the eyes from dust as well as other foreign matters invading the eyes.
2. Astringent – which is observed at the site of its application. Since Galena (Lead sulphide and the main constituent of Kohl) has an affinity for sulphur, therefore it combines with sulph-hydryl groups of the membrane and produces a local action due precipitation of proteins in a very low concentration.
3. Anti-infective – this property is due to the coagulation of specific inhibitory action of Galena with vital enzyme system of the cell. this phenomena is known as Oligodynamic Action.
Despite all these facts, however, surprisingly it has been stated by certain school of thoughts due to unknown reasons that Kohl (Surma) is or might be injurious to health due to the absorption of lead from eyes.
I have incorporated enough matter on the subject which can help a common man & women to understand the situation. Kohl (Surma) does not absorb through transcorneal route as it is practically insoluble in aqueous medium of the eye. Further, the alkaline nature of lachrymal restricts it’s dissociation and the positive intra-occular pressure further prevents the absorption or penitration. Thus the so-called Lead Toxicity due to application of Kohl (Surma) is not possible.
I would like to thank you Dr. Z. .A. Mahmood for such a wonderful information about kohl with scientific references that the Use of Kohl is not harmful. Now I will confidently continue using Kohl Aswad for myself and my children.
Sadaf
salam. kohl that our prophet pbuh used was made of lead sulphide according to “The
Encyclopedia of Islam (Bosworth et al., 1986) and in
“Medieval Islamic Civilization – An Encyclopedia (Meri,
2006).
and it is not toxic to the eyes . read more here
http://www.pjps.pk/CD-PJPS-22-1-09/Paper-20.pdf
Assalamualaikum. Please watch this video on kohl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKg3v_Bdn4Y
New scientific evidence show that lead sulphide actually cures eye diseases
Thank you for this information. I had recently tried changing from surma (Hashmi Brand) to home made kajal (soot/ghee) because I was scared of the lead. The home-made kajal didn’t have the same good eye effects that the Hashmi Surma did! And it was much blacker and very messy for me and my children compared to the surma – we are now going back to Hashmi Surma!!!
yay!
dianna