its scent reaching his nose unintentionally, or his deliberately smelling it to assess it (1) when buying it, this is not prohibited, nor is he required to block his nose. The first case is comparable to an inadvertent glance, and the second to looking when considering a purchase or a marriage proposal.

This is further clarified by the fact that some who permit a person in pilgrimage consecration to retain perfume applied before entering that state explicitly permit deliberately smelling it afterwards. The followers of Abū Hanīfa expressly stated this in Jawāmiʿ al-Fiqh (2), attributed to Abū Yūsuf: “There is no harm in smelling perfume that one applied before entering pilgrimage consecration.” The author of al-Mufīd (3) said: “Indeed, (4) perfume adheres to the person and thus becomes incidental to him, relieving the discomfort caused by uncleanliness (5) after he enters pilgrimage consecration. It is therefore like the pre-dawn meal for a fasting person, which relieves the discomfort of hunger and thirst during the fast. A garment, by contrast, remains separate from him.”

The jurists have differed on whether retaining perfume is prohibited just as applying it initially is prohibited, or whether retaining it is permissible. There are two opinions. The majority position is that it is permissible to