What is the ruling on working as a massage therapist during Ramadaan?

Praise be to Allah.

Working as a massage therapist during the day in Ramadaan does not break the fast for the therapist or for the one who receives the massage, but the one who works in this profession must pay attention to a number of important shar’i issues, such as the following:

1- It is not permissible for a man to give a massage to women or for a woman to give a massage to men, because it is haraam for non-mahrams to touch one another, and because this opens the door to fitnah for both parties, in addition to other haraam issues as we shall see below.

2-  It is not permissible to massage the area that is regarded as ‘awrah, which is the area between the navel and the knees in the case of men and the area between the lower chest and the knees in the case of women, unless this area needs medical treatment by means of massage, in which case it is permitted as a necessity.  

See the answer to questions no. 34976, 11014 and 34745.

3- It is not permissible for either males or females to be naked and show their ‘awrah to the massage therapist, rather it is only the area that needs massage that may be uncovered. See the answer to question no. 5693, in which there is a discussion of the guidelines on looking at the ‘awrah for the purpose of medical treatment.

4-  It is not permissible for women to go to the offices of massage therapists if that is available to them in their homes, because of the prohibition on women taking off their clothes outside their own homes, and because there is no guarantee that others will not be looking or taking pictures in those places.

See the answer to question no. 34750 which discusses the prohibition on a woman taking off her clothes anywhere but in the house of her husband.

The shar’i guidelines that we have mentioned here apply to massage for therapeutic purposes, as mentioned in the question. As for the kind of massage that is intended for energizing and pleasure, this is not permissible because it involves many things that go against sharee’ah and it is not essential. We have discussed it in detail in the answer to question no. 66824.

And Allaah knows best.