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Is it permissible for women to exercise in a women-only sports club, wearing modest clothing? And does this fall under the prohibition of taking off one's clothes outside the home, as stated in the two hadiths: "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, no woman takes off her clothes outside the house of one of her mothers except that she has torn every veil between her and the Most High, the Most Glorious God," and "No woman takes off her clothes outside her husband's house but that she has uncovered the veil between her and her Lord"? And is visiting women-only beauty salons exempted from the prohibition mentioned in the two hadiths, even if it requires uncovering a small part of the body? What is the ruling on beauty centers or cosmetic doctors' clinics that are on a larger scale?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The hadith: "Any woman who takes off her clothes in other than her husband's house has torn the veil between her and Allah," indicates the prohibition for a woman to remove her clothes in a place where she is not safe from the gaze of foreign men or from falling into fitna, because this is a metaphor for her uncovering herself and not veiling properly. The recompense is of the same nature as the deed; just as she has unveiled herself, Allah will unveil her. There is no harm in removing clothes in a safe place, such as the house of one's family or mahram relatives, for permissible purposes far from fitna. There is also no harm in going to a hairdresser or beauty centers if they are exclusively for women and free from prohibitions, and if the purpose is to remove a disfiguring flaw, not to excessively beautify oneself.

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

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