BATHING IN PUBLIC BATHS
Another injunction that helps safeguard the honor and purity of women is that they are not allowed to bathe in public baths.
عن جابر رضى الله عنه أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قال من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يدخل الحمام بغير إزار ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يدخل حليلته الحمام ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يجلس على مائدة يدارعليها بالخمر
Jóbir g narrates that the Blessed Prophet said, “Whosoever believes in Allah u and the Day of Judgment should not enter a public shower without covering his satr; and whosoever believes in Allah u and the Day of Judgment should not take his wife into a public bath; and whosoever believes in Allah u and the Day of Judgment should not sit in a place where wine is passed around.” ( Tirmidhī, Dukhñl al-ûammóm | al-Mustadrak, 4/320 80 Aúmad, 44/587 | al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr, 24/253)
‘ô’isha narrates that the Blessed Prophet s forbade both men and women from entering public baths. Later, he allowed the men under the condition that they keep their satr covered.
In another hadith, Umm Dardó j narrates that once she met the Blessed Prophet s after bathing in a public bath. He asked me, “O Umm Dardó! Where are you coming from?” I replied, “From the public bath.” He said, “I swear by the One who holds my life in His hand, any woman who takes off her clothes anywhere else but her home rips apart the veil between herself and Allah u [i.e. she disgraces herself before Allah u].” (Aúmad, 44/587 | al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr, 24/253)
Qari Muúammad ùayyib writes in his book Shar‘ī Parda:
Are the hotels any less than public bathhouses, where having sexual relations with women has become an established business? Are the clubs and parks any less than the public bathhouses, where rendezvous are arranged that develop into liaisons? Are the schools any less than the public bathhouses where girls come out from under the watchful eye of their elders and are left to the mercy of strangers to do as they please and which culminates in many tragic incidents? Is this not a mirror image of the days of Jóhiliyya, for which the Qur’an was sent to repair and change?