Short answer
For women, coloured lenses worn as temporary adornment are allowed by many contemporary Hanafi muftis, like makeup, as long as they are safe and not shown off to non-mahram men. Men are better off avoiding cosmetic coloured lenses. Clear or tinted lenses for eyesight are fine for everyone.
Corrective lenses are permissible. Cosmetic coloured lenses are permissible for women as removable adornment, provided they are safe, not used to deceive, and not displayed to non-mahram men. For men they are better avoided as a beauty practice.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The forbidden changes to the body in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, such as tattooing, plucking the eyebrows and filing the teeth, alter a normal feature lastingly for beauty. A coloured lens sits on the eye and comes out at night. Many Hanafi muftis therefore treat it like kohl or makeup: adornment, not changing Allah's creation.
- Women: may wear them for their husbands and among women. Coloured eyes are eye-catching, so they should not be worn to attract non-mahram men; see is wearing makeup haram.
- Men: wearing lenses only to change eye colour is a beauty practice, so it is better avoided; see can Muslim men wear makeup.
- No deception: hiding something important from a future spouse is wrong, whether by lenses or anything else.
Safety. The Prophet ﷺ said there is to be no harm. Cheap novelty lenses sold without a prescription can scratch the eye and cause serious infections. Get lenses fitted by an optician, and never share them. Permanent eye-colour surgery and corneal tattooing are a different matter and are not allowed without medical need.
Wudu. The inside of the eye is not washed in wudu or ghusl, so wearing lenses does not affect either; see how to make wudu. For Halloween or costume lenses, see is Halloween haram.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:119
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ ءَاذَانَ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ وَلِيًّۭا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًۭا مُّبِينًۭا ﴿١١٩﴾
And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them [sinful] desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah." And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss.
The scholars ask whether a practice changes Allah's creation or is removable adornment, and a lens is the second.
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.
Adornment and good things are lawful unless Allah has forbidden them.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4886
Sahih... والمتنمصات والمتفلجات للحسن المغيرات خلق الله ...
"Allah has cursed the women who tattoo and have tattoos done, who pluck their eyebrows, and who file gaps in their teeth for beauty, changing the creation of Allah."
Ibn Mas'ud's report of the curse on namas (plucking or reshaping the eyebrows), which he said the Prophet ﷺ had cursed.
Sunan Ibn Majah 2340
Graded sahih... لا ضرر ولا ضرار ...
"There is to be no harm and no returning of harm."
The general rule that harming yourself or others is not allowed.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Takmilat Fath al-Mulhim (Mufti Taqi Usmani), Kitab al-Libas wa al-Zinah, on the hadith cursing those who tattoo and pluck. Changing Allah's creation is a lasting change of a normal feature for beauty; removing a defect or temporary adornment is different.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, obligations of wudu. The inside of the eye is not washed.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. 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.