Efforts to overcome impotence

8-9-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

I am from Malaysia. Here, there are lots of advertisements even by Muslims that offer "traditional massage". Among the claimed benefits of these massages are:
1) To overcome the problems of inability to erect (impotence).
2) For enlargement of the penis, etc.
The process involve the "massager-other people" to massage our private parts to ease the blood flow, I think. Also, nowadays on Internet, there are websites that teach us to touch ourselves to overcome the problems faced.
In my case, I believe it is more to the first problem, that is to overcome impotence. I am confused. Is this acceptable in Islam? Furthermore, is this considered as altering Allah's creation even though not by surgery? Also, is it good to be naked even on our own?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. The individual, staying by himself, may expose his private parts if necessary; otherwise it is disliked to do so according to Islamic teachings. The authority for the permissibility of staying naked in private is this Hadith: Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: The Apostle Ayoub was having a bath naked when locusts of gold fell on him . [Reported by al-Bukhari ] The under mentioned Hadith is an authority to prove that it is disliked to expose your private parts when it is unnecessary to do so. It is narrated that Allah's Apostle said: "Cover your private parts (Awrah) except before your wife or the female captives that you possess. A companion said: What if there are persons of the same sex in a place? The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Try hard not to expose your private parts to others". The companion said: What if I am by myself? Allah's Apostle said: "You are to feel more shy from Allah than you do from human beings" . [The Hadith is reported by Abu Dawood , al-Tirmizi , al-Nasa'e , Ibn Majah and Ahmad ] The treatment for impotence as for other ailments is permissible provided some rules and restrictions are fulfilled: 1. There is a high probability that such treatment will be effective in your case. 2. It will not result in changing Allah's Creation. 3. It will not unnecessarily expose your private parts to strangers. This means that if it is possible for you to do the massage by yourself or by your wife it is not permissible for you to let others do it for you. You may better see specialist doctors who prescribe the best drug for your case instead of exposing your private parts to masseurs. Furthermore, it is not advisable to browse Internet sites for allegedly trying to learn the techniques of this massage, because you may be tempted to see pornography. Allah knows best.