BATHING TOGETHER

Many ahAdIs narrate how the Prophet and his wives used to bathe together after sexual intercourse.  �Aisha reports: �The Messenger of Allah took a bath from the vessel [which contained 15 to 16 pounds of water].  And I and he [the Prophet] took a bath from the same vessel� (625).  She reports the same idea with more details in another hadIs: �I and the Messenger of Allah took a bath from one vessel and our hands alternated into it in the state that we had sexual intercourse� (629).

Two other wives of Muhammad, Umm Salama and MaimUna, also report that they and Muhammad took their baths together (581, 631).

The translator feels that the practice of the Prophet needs defense from the likely attacks of hostile critics.  He tells us that this bath was quite a modest act.  There were no glaring lights; and though the Prophet and his wives on occasion took a bath from the same vessel, it was not a tub-bath where a couple sit together; moreover, they took their bath in pitch darkness, and thus there was no question of their seeing each other�s bodies (note 538).

author : ram swarup