Taking Shower or Bath

“My father, grandfather, uncle and I once entered a bathhouse in al-Madinah and there was a man in the room for undressing. He asked, ‘From where are you people ?’ We replied, ‘We are from Iraq.’ He then asked, ‘From which part of Iraq are you?’ We replied that we are from al-Kufah.’ He said, ‘Welcome, O people of al-Kufah, but you wear only one layer of clothes and why do you not have loincloths? The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, “Private parts of believing people are unlawful for the believing people.’” He then sent a piece of cotton fabric for my father and made it in four parts. Then each one of us took one piece. When we were in the hot room, he turned to my grandfather and said, ‘Old man, what prevents you from using dyes?’ My grandfather said, ‘I lived with one who was better than me and you, and who did not use dyes.’ He became angry so much so that we noticed it in the bathhouse. He asked, ‘Who is that person better than you and me?’ He replied, ‘I lived with Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.), and he did not use dyes.’ He looked down and perspired. He said, ‘You have spoken the truth and proved your point.’ ‘O old man, if the Messenger of Allah used dyes, you should also use dyes because he is better than Ali ibn abu Talib, but if you will not use it you have followed the Sunnah of Ali ibn abu Talib.’ He (the narrator) has said, ‘When we left the bathhouse we asked about the man and found out that he was Ali ibn al-Husayn, along with his son, Muhammad ibn Ali, ‘Alayhim al-Salam.’”

“Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘Do not wash your head with the clay of Misr (Egypt); it destroys self-esteem and may cause one to become a pimp.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘A man must not enter a bathhouse with his son where he can look at his private parts.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Parents cannot look at the private parts of their children, and children cannot look at the private parts of their parents.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘The Messenger of Allah has condemned the looking and the one being looked at in a bathhouse when one is without a loincloth.’”