Short answer
No, not for women. In the Hanafi school a woman may pierce her ears, and also her nose where a nose ring is a normal women's adornment, as it is in much of the Muslim world. Piercings for men are not allowed. Some Shafi'i scholars were stricter, though the later Shafi'i view also allows ear piercing for girls.
Piercing a girl's or woman's ears for earrings is permitted. Ibn Abidin held that nose piercing takes the same ruling wherever women adorn themselves with nose rings. Piercing for men is not allowed, as it is imitation of women.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Some Shafi'i scholars, including al-Ghazali, did not allow piercing even for girls; the later Shafi'i position allows ear piercing for girls as adornment.
Explanation
When the Prophet ﷺ urged the women to give charity on the day of Eid, they began throwing their earrings and rings into Bilal's cloth. He saw their earrings and did not object, which shows that piercing the ears for jewellery was accepted. The Hanafi books say there is no harm in piercing a girl's ears, since people did it in the Prophet's time without objection.
The nose. Ibn Abidin reasoned that wherever women wear nose rings as adornment, the nose takes the same ruling as the ears. That is the case across South Asia, the Gulf and beyond, so most Hanafi muftis allow a nose stud or ring for women.
Other piercings. Septum, eyebrow, lip, tongue and belly piercings, or stretching the ears with gauges, are not normal women's adornment in Muslim cultures and are tied to fashions of rebellion. Scholars advise against them. Men may not pierce at all: see are earrings haram for guys.
Purity. In ghusl, water must reach the inside of open piercing holes, so move or remove tight jewellery. In wudu, move a tight ring so water reaches the skin under it. See how to perform ghusl.
Remember that jewellery is part of the adornment a woman covers in front of non-mahram men, as explained on the hijab page.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-A'raaf 7:32
قُلْ مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِۦ وَٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ مِنَ ٱلرِّزْقِ ۚ قُلْ هِىَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا خَالِصَةًۭ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ ٱلْءَايَٰتِ لِقَوْمٍۢ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٣٢﴾
Say, "Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?" Say, "They are for those who believe during the worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection." Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know.
Lawful adornment is allowed to believers.
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:31
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ أَخَوَٰتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ أَوِ ٱلطِّفْلِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَوْرَٰتِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٣١﴾
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
Women's jewellery is adornment to be kept from non-mahram men.
Sahih al-Bukhari 98
Sahih... فجعلت المرأة تلقي القرط والخاتم ...
"The women began throwing in their earrings and rings."
Women wore earrings in the Prophet's presence without objection.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on adornment, rings and jewellery. No harm in piercing a girl's ears.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha. Ibn Abidin on nose piercing taking the ruling of ear piercing where it is women's adornment.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.