We have already explained that, according to the correct view, prayer is valid in graveyards and camel resting places, since neither the wording nor the underlying rationale encompasses them, even if they fall within the prohibition. However, it may be said that the term “bathhouse” encompasses all these areas, and no bathhouse is known that lacks this area … (1).

Clothes are removed there. These are the familiar bathhouses, and those that existed in the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to which the wording of the exception applies … (2).

… devils—this applies to all these areas, just as a mosque’s courtyard is an adjunct to the mosque. The discussion of these areas would seem comparable to that of a mosque’s forecourt. A forecourt outside the mosque’s enclosing wall differs from an uncovered courtyard beside the roofed portion of the mosque designated for prayer. The relationship of this latter courtyard to the mosque resembles that of the bathhouse’s outer area to its interior.

With this clarified, we say: this would constitute evidence only if it were known that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his caliphs had the opportunity to enter a bathhouse but did not do so. Otherwise, if, despite having the opportunity, they might either have entered or not entered, this provides no evidence.

As for the Companions, it is reported that Ibn ʿUmar did not enter bathhouses and used to say, “They are among the refinements of living that people have introduced.” This draws attention to the various superfluous comforts people introduced that did not exist in the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Ibn ʿUmar said this in the Hijāz, and Ahmad followed his example in this regard. Such abstention from bathhouses falls under