Question:

What is the ruling regarding women shaving their legs for beautification?

Answer:

The scholars of Islām divide the hair that grows on the body into three categories,

  1. The first category is the hair that we are commanded to leave and forbidden to remove. Such as the beard, for men. We are commanded to let the beard grow and forbidden to shave it. We find a number of aḥādīth, (some of them in Bukhārī or Muslim) where the Prophet ﷺ commanded the men to leave the beard such as: خَالِفُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ، وَفِّرُوا اللِّحَى، وَأَحْفُوا الشَّوَارِبَ Ibn ‘Umar (رضى الله عنه) reported: The Prophet ﷺ said**, “Be different from the idolaters. Let the beard grow and trim the mustache.”** [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim] Oppose the polytheists. How? One of the ways is to let your beards grow. It is a command and you do not have a choice. It is forbidden (مُحَرَّم) for a man to shave the beard.
  2. The second category is the hair on the body that we are commanded to remove, such as the pubic hair and the hair that grows under the armpit.
  3. The hair that has not been mentioned in the text, such as the hair on the arms and the legs. That is why, when Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله) was asked, “Is it allowed for a woman to remove the hair on her arms and her legs?” he said: [Shaykh Hasan As-Somali believes this position to be the strongest, wa Allāhu aʿlam]

“I do not see that there is anything wrong with the woman removing the hair from her legs and her arms, because this is something that has not been addressed in the texts. And there comes in the Ḥadīth (that Shaykh Al-Albānī (رحمه الله) declared to be Ḥasan Li-ghayrihi, sound due to supporting narrations). There are also a number of scholars who declared it to be weak, but the meaning is established in other texts). “That which Allāh did not mention is allowable, except what Allāh makes allowable.”

Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله) quoted this as a proof in this matter, so I hope that clarifies the question. There is also a side benefit that is related to it, the question, “If a woman starts to realize or notice that she is growing beard hair, is it allowed for her to remove it?” As mentioned by Shaykh Ibn Bāz, “Yes, it will be allowed for a woman to remove the beard hair from her face.” Wa Allāhu aʿlam.

Taken from: https://qa.mpubs.org/what-is-the-ruling-regarding-women-shaving-their-legs-for-beautification-by-shaykh-ḥasan-ṣomali/