Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Hi bro,

 

My wife is pregnant so whether it is allowed to do check up with the doctor who is male because he sees private parts of my wife during scanning and other check ups it is allowed in islam

 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Check up of pregnant wife with male doctor

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

In cases of emergency, and especially if the matter involves life and death, the normal laws and boundaries of Islam do not apply.  For example, if one fears dying of hunger and there is no lawful food available, there is absolutely no harm if one consumes food which would normally be prohibited for them.  Similarly, if a woman is drowning, the man will not honor the normal boundaries of being ‘mehram or ‘non-mehram’ but will try his best to save her life. 

 

Thus in situations of emergency or life and death, there is absolutely no harm for a believing woman to seek help from a male doctor, or a believing male from a female doctor.

 

But in normal medical situations, including normal pregnancies, one who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day must indeed try to the best of their ability to make sure that all the laws and boundaries of Islam are honored; and wherever possible seek or request a doctor of the same gender to examine them. 

 

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 64 Surah Taghabun verse 16::

16      So fear Allah as much as ye can.

 

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah Muminoon verse 62:

62      On no soul do We place a burden greater than it can bear: before Us is a record which clearly shows the truth: they will never be wronged.

 

But if one has tried to the best of one’s ability to seek a doctor of the same gender to examine them and is still unable to find one….or one is forced by circumstances for the need to be examined by a doctor of the opposite sex….or one needs medical attention and the only qualified doctor available happens to be one from the opposite sex…..then it is expected that such God-fearing people will not be held to blame in the Presence of the Lord Most Merciful who is indeed All-Knowing, All-Wise.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

 

Burhan