a man will see her with her head and body uncovered, or if she strips naked in the company of women in a bathhouse or similar place, even when she is certain that no man will see her. Some scholars who have discussed this hadith have said: “This prohibition applied only when women had no separate bathhouse. Now that this is no longer the case, it must be permissible.”
It is narrated that Umm Kulthūm said: “At ‘Ā’isha’s request, I applied depilatory paste to her, then henna from her head to her feet, in the bathhouse, because of an obstructive ailment she was suffering from. I asked her, ‘Did you not forbid women from entering bathhouses?’ She replied, ‘I am ill, and I still forbid it: no woman should enter a bathhouse except because of illness.’”
Her words and actions thus indicate that she disliked women entering bathhouses while covered, without considering it forbidden. She discouraged them from doing so and allowed it only in cases of illness. Had it been forbidden to them, it would not have been permissible during illness. Thus, provided they remain covered and wear waist-wrappers, it is permissible for them when ill and disliked when healthy. This is because a woman’s body must be concealed from men, not from women.
The disagreement concerns whether a man’s body must likewise be concealed from women. One view holds that a woman may look only at those parts of a man that a man may look at in a woman. The correct view, however, is that a woman may look at the same parts of a man that a man may look at in his female relatives whom he is permanently forbidden to marry. The evidence is the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) statement to Fātima bint Qays: “Observe your waiting period in the home of Ibn Umm Maktūm, for he is a blind man, and you may remove your clothing.” Had her looking at him not been governed by the same rule as a man’s looking at his female relatives whom he is permanently forbidden to marry, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have permitted her to observe her waiting period in his home. This is clear. Allah knows best, and success comes from Him.