Bathhouses

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Any woman who takes off her clothes anywhere but in her husband’s house, has torn the screen that was between her and Allah.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

Hazrat Aisha (radi Allahu anha) narrated this hadith to some women from Hims. Hims was in Shaam which had long been under Roman Byzantine rule. The people of that area were thus influenced by the culture that they had been living under for centuries prior to their acceptance of Islam. Aisha (radi Allahu anha) addressed these women saying, “Perhaps you are among those who enter bathhouses?” Then she mentioned what the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) had said regarding women entering them.

Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has prohibited women from exposing their bodies to anyone except their husbands. Medical emergencies are one thing, but women are not to expose their bodies for the sake of massages, saunas, swimming, waxing or other such activities. Even in the days of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) when people did not have the luxurious bathrooms with running hot water that we have in our homes, women were advised to manage their baths by themselves rather than use public bathhouses.
 
“The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) forbade men and women from entering bathhouses, then he allowed men to enter them wearing a waist wrap, but he did not make the same allowance for women.” [Sunan Ibn Majah] He (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Do not let women enter them unless they are sick or bleeding following childbirth.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]