Dr Mohammed Al-Tabtabai said in his fatwa that tattoos are 'haram' for both men and women

Monday 19 August - A leading Kuwaiti scholar has issued a religious opinion (fatwa) describing the body tattoos as being 'sinful'.

Former College of Islamic Studies (Sharia College) Dean Dr Mohammed Al-Tabtabai said in his fatwa that tattoos are 'haram' for both men and women.

'A tattoo is one of the greatest sins and must be removed from the body', he said in his fatwa which was widely circulated on social media websites.

Dr Al-Tabtabai was responding to a question on a religious programme aired on Kuwait TV station.

Meanwhile, the Department of Religious Rulings (Iftaa) at the Ministry of Endowments had also issued a fatwa banning tattoos 'being sinful and haram as they represent a change in God’s creation'

Editor's comment - It's too bad that when they issued the fatwa on the basis that a tattoo 'represents a change in God's creation' that they didn't apply the same logic to female genital mutilation (FGM). But that's Islam for you.