Question 1196: What is the ruling on a woman being treated by a male doctor who is not a relative?

Answer
✅ Answer: Please pay attention to the following narrations:
1 عَلِيُّ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ فِي كِتَابِهِ عَنْ أَخِيهِ مُوسَى بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الْمَرْأَةِ يَكُونُ بِهَا الْجُرْحُ فِي فَخِذِهَا أَوْ بَطْنِهَا أَوْ عَضُدِهَا هَلْ يَصْلُحُ لِلرَّجُلِ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلَيْهِ يُعَالِجُهُ قَالَ لَا.
📚 Masa'il 'Ali ibn Ja'far p. 166
Ali ibn Ja'far said: I asked Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) about a woman who has a wound on her thigh, or abdomen, or arm, is it right for a man to look at it and treat it? The Imam said: No!
2 عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ الثُّمَالِيِّ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الْمَرْأَةِ الْمُسْلِمَةِ يُصِيبُهَا الْبَلَاءُ فِي جَسَدِهَا إِمَّا كَسْرٌ وَ إِمَّا جُرْحٌ فِي مَكَانٍ لَا يَصْلُحُ النَّظَرُ إِلَيْهِ يَكُونُ الرَّجُلُ أَرْفَقَ بِعِلَاجِهِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ أَ يَصْلُحُ لَهُ النَّظَرُ إِلَيْهَا قَالَ إِذَا اضْطُرَّتْ إِلَيْهِ فَلْيُعَالِجْهَا إِنْ شَاءَتْ.
📚 Al-Kafi Vol. 5, p. 534
Abu Hamza said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about a Muslim woman who is afflicted with an ailment, such as a fracture or a wound in a place on her body that is not permissible to look at, and men are more gentle, capable, and firmer than women in treating it. Is it permissible to look at it? The Imam said: If the woman is in a state of compulsion and necessity for that man, if the woman wants it, that man may treat her!
3 عَنِ السَّكُونِيِّ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: سُئِلَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ عَنِ الصَّبِيِّ يَحْجُمُ الْمَرْأَةَ قَالَ إِذَا كَانَ يُحْسِنُ يَصِفُ فَلَا.
📚 Al-Kafi Vol. 5, p. 534
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) was asked about a (pre-pubescent) boy who performs cupping on a woman; the Imam said: No, if that boy is at a level that he can describe (the woman's body) well!
4 عن أَبِي جَمِيلَة عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ و أَبِي عَبْداللَّه قَالا مَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا و هُوَ يُصِيبُ حَظّاً مِنَ الزِّنَا فَزِنَا الْعَيْنَيْنِ النَّظَرُ وَ زِنَا الْفَمِ الْقُبْلَةُ وَ زِنَا الْيَدَيْنِ اللَّمْسُ صَدَّقَ الْفَرْجُ ذَلِكَ أَوْ كَذَّبَ
📚 Al-Kafi Vol. 5, p. 559
Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them both) said: There is no one except that a share of fornication reaches him!
The fornication of the eyes is looking, and the fornication of the mouth is kissing, and the fornication of the hands is touching, whether the private part confirms it or not!
5 عن وهب بن وهب عن أَبِی عَبْداللَّه قَالَ قال أَمِیرُ الْمُؤْمِنِین فی الْمَرْأَةِ یَمُوتُ وَلَدُهَا فِی بَطْنِهَا فَیُتَخَوَّفُ عَلَیْهَا قَالَ لَا بَأْسَ أَنْ یُدْخِلَ الرَّجُلُ یَدَهُ فَیُقَطِّعَهُ وَ یُخْرِجَهُ إِذَا لَمْ تَرْفُقْ بِهِ النِّسَاءُ
📚 Kafi Vol. 3, p. 206
The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said about a woman whose child dies in her womb and the woman's life is feared for: There is no problem for a man to insert his hand and cut the child into pieces and take it out if the women are not able and skilled to do this!
✅ Based on the above specific narrations and all the general narrations prohibiting a man from touching a non-relative woman and the narrations prohibiting a non-relative man from looking at a woman's prohibited areas, as long as the woman is not in a state of compulsion and necessity, she should not be treated by a male doctor that requires a forbidden touch or look.
✅ Dental services, sonography, mole removal, injections and bandaging, echocardiography, and so on are generally and usually not cases where women are in a state of compulsion and necessity to be treated by a man, but unfortunately, it is observed that without limitation and without denial and without necessity, such things are done by a male doctor for a woman, and neither does the male doctor have piety nor does the female patient have modesty!
✅ It is obvious that medical treatments that only involve a male doctor taking a medical history and writing a prescription and in which there is no forbidden touch or look, are not included in the above narrations, but cases that require a forbidden touch and look are only permissible if the woman is in a state of compulsion due to the necessity of treatment and the absence or inability of a female doctor.
✅ Therefore, for example, a woman who, without a state of compulsion, shows her body to a male doctor for the diagnosis and treatment of pimples so that he can prescribe a suitable ointment for her, both she and that doctor have fallen into the forbidden of Allah, and thousands of such cases happen daily by those who claim to love the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), and how much we are in a state of compulsion for the following prayer to remove this corruption and calamity:
اللَّهُمَّ فَصَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَجِّلْ لِوَلِیِّکَ الْفَرَجَ وَ الْعَافِیَةَ وَ النَّصْرَ