Is it permissible for a Muslim doctor to examine a Muslim woman?
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The questioner : Regarding the Muslim doctor who examines women and touches them, is this permissible? For example, in cases of gynecological and obstetric diseases?
The Shaykh : Before answering the question, I want us not to use modern terms, such as "ladies" or "young women," but rather to use our legal terminology.
The questioner : Muslim women, I mean?
The Shaykh : Yes. As for the answer, it is not hidden from you that a doctor’s seeing the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) of a Muslim woman, or a female doctor’s seeing the 'awrah of a Muslim woman, is of course not permissible. However, this falls within the scope of the principle that dire necessity permits what is forbidden, subject to the well-known condition among scholars that dire necessity is estimated by its degree. So, if the person responsible for the woman—her husband, her father, or her brother—exerts his effort in seeking a Muslim female doctor but is unsuccessful and cannot find one, and the woman’s illness is one that necessitates applying the aforementioned principle that dire necessity permits what is forbidden, then in that case, it is permissible for her to present herself to the doctor, as long as no female doctor is available. In short, this question, like dozens or even hundreds of other questions, must be regulated by the two previously mentioned principles: dire necessity permits what is forbidden, and dire necessity is estimated by its degree.
The questioner : Yes, but O our Shaykh, sometimes the man finds a Muslim female doctor, but she is not skilled, meaning the male doctor is better and more capable of diagnosing... meaning the doctor is more capable of diagnosing the disease than the female doctor. Is this a justification for him to move from the Muslim female doctor to this man?
The Shaykh : Allah knows best. This returns to the independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) of the one afflicted with this calamity. He is the one who assesses the matter, and we cannot give a decisive answer in this specific detail, because we ask: what is the degree of superiority between this doctor and that female doctor? If we assume that this degree is small and negligible, it is not considered a justification for leaving the female doctor for the male doctor. And the opposite is the opposite. And there are matters in between that are ambiguous. Therefore, in the end, it is either said to be lawful, or it is said to be forbidden, or it is said: leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt. The answer is clear.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Before answering the question, I want us not to use modern terms, such as "ladies" or "young women," but rather to use our legal terminology.
The questioner : Muslim women, I mean?
The Shaykh : Yes. As for the answer, it is not hidden from you that a doctor’s seeing the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) of a Muslim woman, or a female doctor’s seeing the 'awrah of a Muslim woman, is of course not permissible. However, this falls within the scope of the principle that dire necessity permits what is forbidden, subject to the well-known condition among scholars that dire necessity is estimated by its degree. So, if the person responsible for the woman—her husband, her father, or her brother—exerts his effort in seeking a Muslim female doctor but is unsuccessful and cannot find one, and the woman’s illness is one that necessitates applying the aforementioned principle that dire necessity permits what is forbidden, then in that case, it is permissible for her to present herself to the doctor, as long as no female doctor is available. In short, this question, like dozens or even hundreds of other questions, must be regulated by the two previously mentioned principles: dire necessity permits what is forbidden, and dire necessity is estimated by its degree.
The questioner : Yes, but O our Shaykh, sometimes the man finds a Muslim female doctor, but she is not skilled, meaning the male doctor is better and more capable of diagnosing... meaning the doctor is more capable of diagnosing the disease than the female doctor. Is this a justification for him to move from the Muslim female doctor to this man?
The Shaykh : Allah knows best. This returns to the independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) of the one afflicted with this calamity. He is the one who assesses the matter, and we cannot give a decisive answer in this specific detail, because we ask: what is the degree of superiority between this doctor and that female doctor? If we assume that this degree is small and negligible, it is not considered a justification for leaving the female doctor for the male doctor. And the opposite is the opposite. And there are matters in between that are ambiguous. Therefore, in the end, it is either said to be lawful, or it is said to be forbidden, or it is said: leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt. The answer is clear.
The questioner: Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.