Is It Prohibited to Get a Massage during Ramadan?

Praise be to Allah.

Is it prohibited to get a massage during Ramadan?

Working as a massage therapist during the day in Ramadan does not break the fast for the therapist or for the one who receives the massage.

Can you work as a massage therapist?

The one who works in this profession must pay attention to a number of important Shar`i issues, such as the following:

• It is not permissible for a man to give a massage to women or for a woman to give a massage to men, because it is prohibited for non-Mahrams to touch one another, and because this opens the door to temptatio for both parties, in addition to other prohibited issues as we shall see below.
• It is not permissible to massage the area that is regarded as `Awrah , which is the area between the navel and the knees in the case of men and the area between the lower chest and the knees in the case of women , unless this area needs medical treatment by means of massage, in which case it is permitted as a necessity.  

• It is not permissible for either males or females to be naked and show their `Awrah to the massage therapist, rather it is only the area that needs massage that may be uncovered . 
• It is not permissible for women to go to the offices of massage therapists if that is available to them in their homes, because of the prohibition on women taking off their clothes outside their own homes , and because there is no guarantee that others will not be looking or taking pictures in those places.

Is massage for energizing and pleasure permissible?

The Shar`i guidelines that we have mentioned here apply to massage for therapeutic purposes, as mentioned in the question. As for the kind of massage that is intended for energizing and pleasure , this is not permissible because it involves many things that go against Shari`ah and it is not essential.

And Allah knows best.