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Does massage break one's fast in Ramadan if it is for back pain treatment and includes the entire body?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Massage does not invalidate the fast unless it leads to the emission of semen. As for the ruling on therapeutic massage sessions, if they are in the area of the 'awrah (intimate parts), they are not permissible except to the extent of necessity and the location of the pain that it affects, due to the uncovering and touching of 'awrah and the possibility of arousal. Therefore, it is not permissible to massage the entire body if the pain is in the back, unless this is confirmed by trustworthy doctors. Even then, it is not permissible if there is an alternative free from prohibitions. If this type of treatment is determined to be necessary, it is not permissible for a man to massage a woman; rather, she should seek this from trustworthy Muslim women, otherwise from non-Muslim women, and it should not be done by a man except out of necessity. The 'awrah of a woman in relation to non-mahram men is her entire body.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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