FatwaFederal TerritoriesMedicine & Health
AL-KAFI #5 : PERAWAT LELAKI MENYENTUH ATAU MEMEGANG PESAKIT WANITA
May a male healer touch or hold a female patient during treatment according to Islamic healing practice?
Short answer
Unrelated men and women should not touch one another unless there is an urgent need, such as surgery.
A reference, not a fatwa. First sentence of the summary below — read the original fatwa and consult your state authority before acting.
- Authority
- Federal Territories Mufti Office
- Date
- Status
- Opinion (irsyad)
- Series
- Al-Kafi li al-Fatawi
- Topic
- Medicine & Health
No evidence of gazettement in the source — this is not a gazetted fatwa.
Summary
Unrelated men and women should not touch one another unless there is an urgent need, such as surgery. The answer recommends honouring the Shafii school followed in Malaysia, which holds that physical contact between non-mahram men and women should be avoided. If the healer is male and the patient is a non-mahram female, it is better not to touch her and to simply recite supplications for the patient.
Written in our own words from the original fatwa — check the source before acting on it.
Sewajarnya lelaki dan perempuan yang ajnabi tidak boleh bersentuhan kecuali keperluan yang mendesak seperti pembedahan dan sebagainya.
Read the full fatwa on the Federal Territories website (new tab)
How to cite
Cite the original fatwa and its authority. Rujuk Fatwa is only where you found it.
Federal Territories Mufti Office. “AL-KAFI #5 : PERAWAT LELAKI MENYENTUH ATAU MEMEGANG PESAKIT WANITA”, 17 April 2015. https://muftiwp.gov.my/ms/artikel/al-kafi-li-al-fatawi/1623-perawat-lelaki-menyentuh-atau-memegang-pesakit-wanita. Found via Rujuk Fatwa: https://rujukfatwa.com/en/fatwa/male-healer-touching-female-patient/