2 Reasons Why Bathing or Staying Alone Naked Is Halal
04/09.2018 Update-23/02/2020
Bathing naked is completely halal in Islam and most Muslims do bathe naked but there is a view among some that bathing naked is disliked or haram and such a thing is also considered shameful.
This wrong view is generally held among conservative Muslims who have been coming from strict fundamentalist families who enforce mostly man made interpretations instead of the real teachings of Islam. The other issue that is despised among strict conservative Muslims is the issue of staying alone naked. There are certain hadiths which are widely quoted to argue in favour of this view but even this opinion is misunderstood. There is a difference of opinion among scholars on the issue of whether a Muslim should bath or stay alone naked. Some scholars say that its haram and some others say that it is halal. In any topic of fiqh, there will always be differences of opinion among scholars but what matters most is what Islam says and not what the scholars say. By examining all the available evidence it will be very clear to the reader that bathing or being alone naked is not forbidden in Islam. Before explaining the two reasons why bathing or staying alone naked is halal, let us take a look at the statements of some scholars who are in favour of bathing and staying alone naked.
Imam Bukhari in his sahih when mentioning the hadith of Musa Alahissalam bathing naked gave the title as,
“Chapter on one who bathes naked when he is alone, although whoever covers himself, covering is preferable.”
Apart from that, Imam Nawawi was also in favour of bathing while naked and viewed that it is not haram.
Reasons-1-Musa and Ayyub (Alahissalam) Bathed Alone Naked.
There is clear evidence to prove that the previous Prophets and messengers like Ayyub (Alahi) and Musa (Alahi) bathed naked while being alone. Imam Ibn Hajar al Asqalani in his Fath said that Imam Bukhari gave the chapter title as “Chapter on one who bathes naked when he is alone, although whoever covers himself, covering is preferable.” The hadiths are as follows
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (rali), the prophet (sal) said:
""While Job was naked, taking a bath, a swarm of gold locusts fell on him and he started collecting them in his garment. His Lord called him, 'O Job! Have I not made you rich enough to need what you see? He said, 'Yes, O Lord! But I cannot dispense with your Blessing."'
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (rali):
The Prophet (sal) said,
'The (people of) Bani Israel used to take bath naked (all together) looking at each other. The Prophet Moses used to take a bath alone. They said, 'By Allah! Nothing prevents Moses from taking a bath with us except that he has a scrotal hernia.' So once Moses went out to take a bath and put his clothes over a stone and then that stone ran away with his clothes. Moses followed that stone saying, "My clothes, and O stone! My clothes, O stone! Till the people of Bani Israel saw him and said, 'By Allah, Moses has got no defect in his body. Moses took his clothes and began to beat the stone." Abu Hurayrah added, "By Allah! There are still six or seven marks present on the stone from that excessive beating."
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Allah (swt) says in the Quran with regards to this incident.
‘O you who believe! Be not like those who annoyed Moses, but Allah cleared him of that which they alleged, and he was honourable before Allah’
(Al-Quran 33:69)
From the above two hadiths it is very clear that Ayyub and Musa (Alahi) used to bathe naked and also while being alone. Allah (swt) never rebuked the two prophets for being alone bathing naked.
Reason-2-The Hadiths Prohibiting Being Alone Naked Have Been Misunderstood.
The arguments presented by those who are against Muslims bathing or being alone naked is based on the below hadith.
Bahz ibn Hakeem reported: His grandfather said, “O Prophet of Allah, what should I cover of my nakedness and what may I leave uncovered?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Guard your nakedness except from your wife or those whom your right hand possesses.” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, what about when some people are with others?” The Prophet said, “If you are able to keep anyone from seeing it, then do not let them see it.” He said, “O Prophet of Allah, what about when one of us is alone?” The Prophet said, “Allah is more deserving of your modesty than people.”
(Narrated in Tirmidhi and graded Hasan (fair) according to At-Tirmidhi and Narrated by Ibn Majah, and classed as hasan by al-Albani in Sahih al-Tirmidhi).
The above hadith is used as an argument to prove that sleeping naked or bathing naked is forbidden. The main argument put forward here is that the above hadith invalidates the other hadiths of prophets Ayyub and Musa (Alahissalam) bathing naked because this law of the permissibility of bathing or staying alone naked has been abrogated by the above mentioned hadith. This argument is a wrong for many reasons. One is, there is no evidence from the Quran or authentic hadith abrogating this law hence this argument lacks evidence and the second point is, the above hadith narrated in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah mentions only about being alone and the there is no mention of bathing naked. If bathing or staying alone naked was forbidden, then Allah would have not mentioned the below verse about Musa (alahi).
‘O you who believe! Be not like those who annoyed Moses, but Allah cleared him of that which they alleged, and he was honourable before Allah’
(Al-Quran 33:69)
Using this hadith to argue against bathing naked is unacceptable. What also needs to be understood from the hadith narrated above is that the prophet (sal) did not order to cover while being alone. What he said was that Allah is more deserving that we should be covered. Covering is something that is preferred and not an obligation because the prophet (sal) did not order to do so. The hadith of Ayyub (alahi) and Musa (alahi) bathing alone naked proves beyond doubt that bathing naked and staying alone naked is halal. Not showing your nakedness when alone is an act that is not a must and if nakedness was a sin when being alone, then showing your nakedness in front of your wives or concubines would have also been forbidden. Some try to quote the hadiths mentioning the importance of modesty.
Salim (rali) narrated
The prophet (sal) heard a man censuring his brother regarding modesty. Upon this the Prophet remarked:
“Modesty is part of Iman (faith).”
(Muslim)
Narrated Abu Hurayrah (rali),
The Prophet (sal) said,
"Faith (Belief) consists of more than sixty branches (i.e. parts). And Haya (This term "Haya" covers a large number of concepts which are to be taken together; amongst them are self-respect, modesty, bashfulness, and scruple, etc.) is a part of faith."
(Bukhari)
The above hadiths mentioning modesty has a general meaning and does not specify anything about bathing or staying alone naked. I would like to ask those who quote these hadiths, wasn’t Ayyub (alahi) and Musa (alahi) modest?
Abu Hurayrah (rali) narrated,
The prophet (sal) saying,
“Musa, peace be upon him, was a shy and modest man who would never show anything of his skin because of his shyness”
(Bukhari)
Musa Alahissalam was a modest man and even he bathed naked. How come the modern day Muslims know better than Musa Alahissalam when it comes to modesty? There is no evidence from the Quran or authentic hadith of the prophet (sal) stating that the law of bathing or being alone naked as mentioned during the time of the people of Israel is abrogated. For some law to be abrogated there should be clear textual evidence to prove it. Mere speculations that a law has been abrogated cannot be accepted. One example is the changing of the Qibla.
Anas reported:
"The Messenger of Allah (sal) used to pray towards Bait-ul-Maqdis, that it was revealed (to him):" Indeed we see the turning of the face to heaven, wherefore we shall assuredly cause thee to turn towards Qibla which shall please thee. So turn thy face towards the sacred Mosque (Ka'ba)" (ii. 144). A person from Banu Salama was going; (he found the people) in Ruku (while) praying the dawn prayer and they had said one rak'ah. He said in a loud voice: Listen! The Qibla has been changed and they turned towards (the new) Qibla (Ka'ba) in that very state".
(Sahih Muslim)
From the above hadith and several other hadiths and verses from the Quran prove clearly that the subject of changing the Qibla from Bait ul Maqdis to the Ka’ba did happen and using Bait ul Maqdis as the Qibla was abrogated.
The hadiths narrated in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah could be understood as a thing that is accepted and correct along with the hadiths mentioned in Bukhari of prophet Ayyub (Alahi) and prophet Musa (Alahi) bathing naked. Both are acceptable. Both are established in the Sunnah. There were even difference of opinions among companions but the prophet (sal) approved both opinions as they had a basis in the Sunnah.
Narrated by Ibn Umar (rali),
"None of you Muslims should offer the 'Asr prayer but at Banu Quraiza's place." The 'Asr prayer became due for some of them on the way. Some of those said, "We will not offer it till we reach it, the place of Banu Quraiza," while some others said, "No, we will pray at this spot, for the Prophet did not mean that for us." Later on it was mentioned to the Prophet and he did not berate any of the two groups”
(Bukhari)
In this hadith, two groups of companions differed in a matter and the prophet accepted both the opposing views because both had evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah and Islam encourages taking the easier path between the two options.
Aisha (rali) narrated,
“Whenever Allah's Messenger (sal) was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful to do so”
(Bukhari)
Based on this hadith, bathing or staying alone naked is the most correct view.
Scientific Benefits of Staying Naked
There are many benefits of being alone. In an article published in healthline.com , sleeping naked helps you have a good sleep because when you are naked in bed, it cools down your body and helps biological rhythm of your body to give the right time to go to sleep. Sleeping naked can improve your overall sleep quality and this in turn will fight several issues arising due to sleep deprivation. The journal of clinical psychiatry suggests using many hypotheses that sleep deprivation is linked to insomnia, depression and many other issues. Sleeping naked could be a wonderful way to solve all these issues because it helps having a good sleep. The article published in healthline.com mentions many more benefits of sleeping naked. Some are below,
- Boosting self esteem
- Improve relationship between partners
- Increase male fertility
- Protects the vagina from yeast infection thus improving vaginal health in girls and women
- Lowers risk of heart disease and type-2-diabetes
- Prevents weight gain
- Keeps skin healthy
Conclusion
After analyzing all the available evidence from various authentic sources such as the Quran and the authentic hadiths, it is evident that bathing or staying alone naked is not at all haram in Islam. Bathing naked in Islam is halal and being naked alone is also halal. Islam always teaches the Muslims not to be backward but unfortunately Muslims have gone backward in their thinking due to not using their intellect and blindly relying on Madhabs, deviated sects and the wrong opinions of scholars. From women’s issues, sexual and marital issues, figh issues and day to day issues, Muslims in most cases are just blind followers and the lack of original thinking among them has resulted in widespread Taqleed (blind following) which has been one of the main reasons why deviations and innovated practices have been thriving. Hudayfah ibn al Yaman (rali) narrated,
The prophet (sal) said,
“Do not be blind followers, saying that if our people are good we will be good and if they are unjust we will be unjust. Rather, decide for yourselves. If the people are good, be good. If they are evil, do not be unjust.”
(Tirmidhi-Graded Hasan Ghareeb by Imam Tirmidhi)
C.J Ahmed