In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Prayers and salutations be upon the Master of the Messengers ﷺ, and upon his family and Companions. There is no power nor strength except through Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.
The default ruling regarding looking at the private parts is prohibition [ḥarām]. It is narrated on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A man must not look at the private part of another man, nor must a woman look at the private part of another woman.” Narrated by Muslim §338.
This ruling applies even when the two persons are of the same sex—when there is a difference of sex, the prohibition is even more emphatic by consensus. The fuqahāʾ have also established the principle: “Everything that is ḥarām to look at is ḥarām to touch.”
In the case of medical treatment and therapy, however, the ruling may differ due to need, subject to specific conditions. A clinician who undertakes treatment should be of the same sex: a man should treat a man, and a woman should treat a woman, because looking by one of the same sex at another of the same sex is less severe. In our time, this has become widely available in medical centres and hospitals due to the abundance of clinicians of both sexes.
If need or necessity calls for treatment by a clinician of the opposite sex, two conditions must be observed:
Firstly, the need must be restricted to its extent, without any excess. If the clinician is able to treat the patient based on description alone, that should suffice. If examination can be carried out through touch with a barrier, such as gloves, without looking, then nothing beyond that is permissible. Likewise, if a nurse can look and describe the condition to the clinician, then he may not look. If there is a need to look, he may look only at the site of the ailment while the rest is covered. With respect to the face and hands, a need is sufficient for permissibility; with respect to other parts of the body, the need must be more certain; and with respect to the two private parts, the need must be acute. Thus, whatever is permitted due to need is restricted according to the measure of that need.
Secondly, a woman should be accompanied by her husband, a maḥram, another female companion, or a nurse.
Among the statements of the fuqahāʾ on this matter are the following:
Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī (Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“The prohibition applies where no necessity calls for it. If there is necessity, such as medical treatment, venesection, cupping, extraction of a tooth, treatment of the eye, and the like, where no woman is available to perform it, then it is permissible for an unrelated man to do so due to necessity.”
Imām al-Ḥaṣkafī (Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“In treating her (i.e., a female patient), the physician may look at the site of her illness to the extent of necessity, for necessities are restricted according to their measure. The same applies to the looking of a midwife and a circumciser. A woman should be taught to treat her, because looking by one of the same sex at another of the same sex is less severe.”
The erudite scholar Ibn ʿĀbidīn (Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“It is stated in ‘al-Jawhara’: If the illness is in any part of her body other than the private part, it is permissible to look at it for the purpose of treatment, because it is a place of necessity. If it is in the area of the private part, then a woman should be taught to treat her. If no woman is found, and they fear that she may perish or be afflicted by pain that she cannot bear, then everything of her should be covered except the site of the ailment. The man may then treat her and lower his gaze as much as he is able, except from the site of the wound.”
He added: “Reflect on this; and what appears is that ‘should’ here carries the meaning of obligation.”
Imām al-Dardīr (Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“It is obligatory to cover the private part from anyone to whom looking at it is unlawful, apart from the wife and female slave, except due to necessity. In that case, it is not unlawful; rather, it may become obligatory. If it is uncovered due to necessity, then only according to its measure; such as the physician cutting open the garment only to the extent of the site of the ailment in matters such as the private part, if looking is specifically required. Otherwise, he should suffice with the description of women, since their looking at the private part is less severe than that of a man.”
Imām Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“Looking may be unlawful while touching is not, such as when a physician is able to identify the ailment by touch alone […] Both looking and touching are permitted for phlebotomy, cupping, and treatment due to need, but in the presence of someone who prevents seclusion, such as a maḥram, a husband, or a trustworthy woman, because seclusion of a man with two trustworthy women before whom he feels modest is permissible.
This is subject to the condition that there is no woman proficient in performing it, and likewise in the reverse case; that an untrustworthy person is not chosen when a trustworthy one exists; and that a dhimmī is not chosen when a Muslim exists, nor a dhimmī woman when a Muslim woman exists.
What appears to be the stronger position is that the likes of a maḥram should be given precedence absolutely over a non-Muslim woman, because he may look at what she may not; that a castrated male be given precedence over an adolescent male; that the more skilled practitioner be preferred, even if of the opposite sex; and that the religiously upright be preferred over one who is not. The existence of someone who refuses to undertake the treatment except for more than the customary fee is, apparently, treated as non-existence. Indeed, if a non-Muslim is available for less than the customary fee while a Muslim agrees only to that fee, it is possible that the Muslim may also be treated as unavailable.
With respect to the face and hands, the slightest need is considered sufficient. For what is beyond them, a need of the level that permits dry ablution is required. As for the private part and what is close to it, an additional condition is required: namely, that the necessity be severe, such that uncovering it for that purpose is not considered a violation of honourable propriety.”
ʿAllāma al-Buhūtī (Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“A physician may look at and touch whatever there is a need to look at and touch, even her private part and its interior, because it is a place of need; and likewise its exterior, even if he is a dhimmī, as stated in ‘al-Mubdiʿ’, and similarly in ‘al-Mughnī’.
This should be done in the presence of a maḥram or husband, because in seclusion one is not safe from falling into the prohibited, due to the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: ‘No man is alone with a woman except that Shayṭān is the third of them.’ Agreed upon.
The rest of her body, apart from the site of need, must be covered, because it remains upon the default ruling of prohibition.”
Proper Conduct & Etiquette
The Muslim clinician should be careful that his gaze does not fall upon private parts except to the extent required by a legally recognised need in the Sharīʿa, which is assessed according to its measure. He should also adopt all possible means of covering, modesty, and scrupulousness.
It is narrated on the authority of Abū Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “When I forbid you from something, avoid it; and when I command you to do something, do of it what you are able.” Agreed upon (by al-Bukhārī and Muslim).
A woman should preserve her honour and should not uncover any part of her body except when there is a need to do so. She should not go to a male clinician unless it is not possible to find a skilled female clinician. This ruling also applies to men: it is not permissible for a man to go to a female clinician when a male clinician is available. The negligence that is observed in this regard today indicates laxity in religion, a lack of scrupulousness, and distance from knowledge.
