1a] Is it permissible for women to go to swimming pools?

1a] They replied:
It is not permissible to build a swimming pool forwomen in the centre
mentioned, because warding off evil takes precedence over bringing
benefits.
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 26/342-343
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
We live in a residential neighbourhood where there is a women's
centre; at this centre there is a swimming pool for women and a sauna.
Whatis the ruling on women going to this centre?
He replied:
My advice to my brothers is not to let their women go to swimming
pools andsports clubs because the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) encouraged women to stay at home. Moreover,if a
woman becomes accustomed to that she will become very attachedto it
because she is subjectto her emotions, and in that case she will
become distracted from her religious or worldly duties and she will
always be talking about these activities in gatherings. And if the
woman does such things that will be a cause of her losing sense of
shame and modesty, and if a woman loses her sense of shame and modesty
do not ask about the evil consequences except for the one whom Allah
blesses by guiding her and enabling her to regain the modesty that was
taken away from her.
I will close my message byrepeating my advice to mybelieving brothers
not to let their daughters, sisters,wives or other female relatives
under their guardianship go to these centres or clubs.
End quote from the shaykh's fatwas for ad-Da'wah magazine no. 1765/54
This is not the only means of losing weight; there aremany permissible
means of doing so and there are other types of exercise that the
Muslim woman can do if she adheres to Islamic guidelines.

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1] Is it permissible for women to go to swimming pools?

1] I am a Muslim woman aged twenty-eight years, and I want to go
swimming so that I can lose some weight. Can I goswimming in a
swimming pool wearing clothes that cover me from the top of my head to
the bottom of my feet? There are special clothes for Muslim womenwho
want to swim and they cover the entire body, but they cling to thebody
when wet. What does Islam have to say about this? What if I wear a
towel over these clothes and cover myself beforehand and straight
after coming out of the pool? Is it permissible for me to swim in this
case? Isit permissible for me to swim if there are some men present?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Islam takes complete care of the Muslim woman and preserves her
modesty, conceals her and keeps heraway from places of
fitnah(temptation).
Islam enjoins women to stay at home and not go out unnecessarily, so
as to preserve their chastity, maintain their dignity and protect them
from all evil.
Muslim women going out to public centres and swimming pools is
something that is emphatically forbidden, because it involves a number
of evils and negative consequences.
If these swimming pools are in public centres that are frequented by
men and women, this is a greatevil. Abu Dawood (4010) and at-Tirmidhi
(2803), who classed the report as hasan, narrated from Abu Maleeh
al-Hudhali that some women from Syria entered upon 'Aa'ishah and she
said: Perhaps you are the people whose women enter bathhouses?They
said: Yes. She said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) say: "There is no woman who removes her
clothes anywhere other than her house, but she has torn (the screen)
that is between her and Allaah."
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi.
At-Tirmidhi (2801) also narrated from Jaabir (may Allah be pleased
with him)that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "Whoever believes in Allahand the Last Day should not let his
wife enter bathhouses." Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh
at-Tirmidhi.
What is meant by bathhouses here is the kind of bathhouses that
existed in the past (hamaam or "Turkish bath"), because houses didnot
have bathrooms at that time.
The reason why women were forbidden to enter them is because of what
happens in them of uncovering the 'awrah, looking at that which is
haraam and exposure to fitnah (temptation), although bathhouses at
that time were not mixed.
So what about bathhousesthat are mixed and public swimming pools in
which 'awrahs are uncovered and exposed? The scholarsof the Standing
Committeefor Issuing Fatwas said:
For men and women to swim together and then shake hands with one
another after swimming isa great evil and it is not permissible to do
it. The one who does that should be denounced and the ruler should
prevent them from doing it.
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 17/49
If these swimming pools are only for women it is not permissible to go
to them either, even if that isless serious than public baths. That is
because women uncover their 'awrahs, and even if the Muslim woman
covers her body she will see those naked women and she will not be
able to tell them not to do this evil action.
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:
I am an engineer working in the holy city; my job is in the building
permits department. A citizen has submitted to us a plan for a health
centre offering natural remedies, with two sections, one for men and
one for women. After studying the drawings andplans it was noted that
there is a large swimming pool in the women's section. The project
manager was informed that this swimming pool isnot permissible,
because swimming requires women to take off their clothes and then put
on tight clothes that, even if they do not show her 'awrah, will show
the shape of her body, and as is well known it is not permissible for
women to uncover the 'awrah among other women. So we explained to the
project manager that, by way of blocking the means to evil and
wardingoff evil consequences, he should not build this swimming pool
because it was highly possible – especially nowadays – that among the
workers would be someone who did not fear Allah, even among the women,
and might take pictures of the women in secret, whether with a regular
camera or avideo camera such as is available nowadays. This would
cause a great of trouble and would turn this centre from being a
centre for healing to a centre of corruption and fitnah. And it is
well known that everything that leads to haraam is also haraam.
We hope that you can clarify the Islamic ruling on such cases.
:-> see next post *

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Ruling on taking out a riba-based loan to build an educational institution to save the Muslim children from having to move to a Christian school

In our region there are a lot of Muslims and we haveMuslim schools in
which Arabic and English are taught together. The Christians are
second in terms of statistics, but despite that their schools are of a
high level and everyone who completes his study in those schools
graduates with distinction. For that reason, the Muslims have started
to pull their children out of the Islamic schools and are sending them
to those Christian schools, and the effect of that on the
Muslimchildren is very clear to everyone. We do not have the means to
build an educational institution at the same level in order to save
them from this clear doom.
Is it permissible for us to take a loan from the riba-based bank in
order tobuild that educational institution for this purpose?
Please advise us, may Allahreward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Taking out a loan to be repaid with interest from any institution,
individual or bank is riba (usury) which is haraam and is a major sin.
Allah has warnedthe one who does that of curses and destruction in
this world and punishmentin the Hereafter.
See the answer to questions no. 8829 and 126056
Secondly:
What you are asking aboutof building an educational institution with
riba-based funding, to compete with the Christian schools, is not
regarded as an excuse that would make it permissible for you to take
out that haraam loan that would result in paying interest. This is not
one of the cases of necessity that may makeharaam things permissible.
The fathers and mothers who accept falling into haraam by taking their
children out of your Islamicschools and putting them in Christian
schools are incurring great sin by doing that. Their Lord will ask
them about this trust that they failed to fulfil in the proper manner.
There is no blame or sin on you for what these fathers and mothers are
doing, and Allah will not burden you with anything more than you can
bear. You have notfallen short in advising andteaching the people and
preparing a suitable place to teach their children. Rather this
neglect is on their part, and you cannot be blamed for what they do.
But if you take out a riba-based loan, you will be exposing yourselves
to the wrath and the punishment of Allah, and perhaps your action, if
you did that, would be more serious than what they are doing by taking
their children to those schools. So leave things as they are,and
whoever among the Muslims wants to stay withyou, let him do so, and
whoever refuses, you will not be brought to account for his actions.
There is nothing wrong with looking for other, permissible sources to
finance the building of the educational institution thatcan compete
with those Christian institutions. So look for someone who wants to do
good and can give you a goodly (interest-free) loan, or look for a
Muslim businessman who can help you building that institution and have
a share of the profits commensurate with his contribution, or follow
the well-known method of collecting donations from well-wishers to
establish your educational institution. Beware of riba-based loans,
for there is nothing good in them and they bring a great dealof sin
upon the one who does that or approves of it.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
Is it permissible to take a loan from the riba-based banks in order to
compete with the missionaries with the aim of saving the Muslims from
Christianisation and so on?
He replied:
If it is a loan to be repaid with interest (riba), it is
notpermissible according to the consensus of the early generations of
the ummah,because the evidence from the Qur'aan and Sunnah indicates
that that is haraam, even if the intention is noble, because noble
aims do not justify haraam means or make them permissible. But if
theloan is without interest, there is nothing wrong with it. However,
taking loans from other sources, such as those who have wealth that is
free of riba, is better and preferable, and more on the safe side, if
that is possible.
We advise you to work together to obtain loans from good-hearted
Muslim businessman and to collect donations from them in order to save
the Muslim children from the hands of those who propagate
Christianity, idolatry and communism. This cooperation is obligatory
upon you, O Muslims, in Uganda and elsewhere. It comes under the
heading of jihad as prescribed in Islam and of da'wah or calling
people to Allah, and of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is
evil.We ask Allah to help and guide you, to make your intentions sound
and your actions correct....

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Is it permissible to celebrate the night of the fifteenth of Sha‘baanand to distribute sweets to children to let people know that Ramadan is approaching?

Is it permissible to celebrate the night of the fifteenth of Sha'baan,
as it is a part of the people's heritage in some countries? To clarify
further, some groups in our country have a customof distributing
sweets to children and they told us that it is just to express joy at
the approach of Ramadan. Is there anything wrong with celebrating this
night if the celebration is limited only to distributing sweetsto
children?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not prescribed in Islam to celebrate the night of the fifteenth
of Sha'baan, whether that is by spending the night in prayer, dhikr
and reading Qur'aan, or by distributing sweets or giving food to
people and so on.
It is not known in the saheeh Sunnah that this night is to be singled
out for acts of worship or customs.
The night of the fifteenth of Sha'baan is just like any other night.
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas said:
It is not permissible to celebrate the occasion of Laylat al-Qadr or
any othernight, or to hold celebrations on other occasions such as the
night of the fifteenth of Sha'baan, the night of the Mi'raaj, or the
Prophet's birthday (Mawlid) and so on, because these are innovations
that have been introduced into the religion and were not narrated from
the Prophet(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) or any of his
Companions. And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"Whoever does an action that is not part of this matter of ours (i.e.,
Islam) will have it rejected." And it is not permissible to help
others to hold these celebrations by giving money or gifts or
distributing cups of tea, and it is not permissible togive speeches
and lectureson these occasions, because that comes under the heading
of approving of them and encouraging them. Rather it is obligatory to
denounce them and not to attend them. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 2/257-258
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
We have some customs that we grew up with and that have been passed
down to us, on some occasions, such as making cakes and cookies on Eid
al-Fitr, and preparing platters of meat and fruit on the night of the
twenty-seventh of Rajab and the fifteenth of Sha'baan, and different
kinds of sweets that must be prepared on the day of 'Ashoora'. What is
the Islamic ruling on that?
He replied:
As for expressing joy and happiness of the days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid
al-Adha, there is nothing wrong with that if it is within the limits
prescribed in Islam, such as preparing food and drink and the like. It
isproven that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "The days of at-Tashreeq are days of eating and drinking and
remembering Allah, may He be glorified and exalted." This refers to
the three days following Eid al-Adha, when the people offer their
sacrifices and eat from the meat and enjoy the blessings that Allah
has bestowed upon them. Similarly, on Eid al-Fitr there is nothing
wrong with expressing joyand happiness so long as it does not overstep
the limits set by Islam.
As for expressing joy on the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab or
the fifteenth of Sha'baan or the day of 'Ashoora', this issomething
for which thereis no basis. Rather it is forbidden and the Muslim
should not attend if he is invited to such celebrations. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Beware of newly
invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation
(bid'ah), and every innovation is a going astray."
The night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab is what some people claim is
the night of the Mi'raaj during which the Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) was taken up to Allah, may He be glorified
and exalted. There is no proof of this date from a historical point of
view, and everything for which thereis no proof is false, and that
which is built on falsehood is also false. Even if we assume that this
event took place on that night, it is not permissible for us to
introduce on that date anyof the symbols of festivals or acts of
worship, because no such thing is proven from the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) or from his Companions who were the
closest of people to him and the keenest of people to adhere to his
Sunnah and follow his path.

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