As far as Islamic Shari`ah is concerned, removing the hair of the eyebrows by plucking in order to make it thin is prohibited. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have cursed both women who do the plucking and those who seek to have it done.
Shedding more light on this issue, we’d like to cite the following from Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s well-known book, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam: “Among the extremes of beautification prohibited by Islam is an-nams, which denotes removing the hair of the eyebrows by plucking in order to thin or shape them. The Prophet (peace be on him) cursed both the women who do the plucking and those who seek to have it done. (Narrated by Abu Dawud on good authority) This practice is particularly frowned upon because it is customarily done by prostitutes.
According to some Hanbali scholars, if the husband approves it, the removal of facial hair (other than that of the eyebrows) and the use of powder, creams, and other beauty aids are permitted to women, as this is part of feminine adornment.
An-Nawawi is somewhat more strict, considering the removal of facial hair to be an-nams and hence forbidden. In contrast to his opinion, we may, however, mention Abu Dawud’s statement in his Sunan that “an-nams is plucking the eyebrows in order to thin them,” from which we may conclude that an-nams does not include the removal of facial hair.
Al-Tabari reports a narrative concerning the wife of Abu Ishaq, who loved to beautify herself. Once she visited `A’ishah and asked, “What if a woman removes the hair from her forehead to please her husband?” `A’ishah replied, “Remove what is harmful from yourselves whenever possible.”
Moreover,Dr. Muhammad Bakr Isma`il, Professor of the Exegesis of the Qur’an atAl-Azhar University, states:
“It is known that plucking eyebrows is forbidden. However, some jurists permit light shaping of eyebrows if they are thick and hairy in a way that they harm the eye or appear so wide and thus displease the husband. If it pleases the husband that they are shaped lightly, there is nothing wrong in doing this just to please the husband. As for extreme shaping or plucking, it is not permitted.”