Is It Permissible to Share a Bed with Someone of the Same Gender?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My parent (same gender) occasionally asks me to sleep on the opposite side of the bed because they are scared and can’t sleep. To keep my disabled brother safe, I sleep beside him, but with a blanket between us. Is this acceptable?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well.
Yes, it is permissible – although better not to – to sleep in the same bed with your parent from the same gender. Also, it would be permissible for you to sleep with your brother – if from the same gender – as long as there is no bare-body touch with each other. However, if a female member of the family wants to sleep along with the disabled brother, then it would not be permissible. In your case, place your single bed next to or near his bed if he needs reassurance and support.
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Let no man sleep with another under one sheet, and let no woman sleep with another under one sheet.” [Muslim; Ahmad]
The above hadith applies to when two people of the same gender sleep with a bare body, with no cloth in between them, and there is fear of something of undignified nature occurring, then it is prohibitively disliked. Otherwise, it is against etiquette (khilaf al-adab) and modesty and is makru tanzihan (mildly disliked).
However, if there is clothing etc. between them, it is not unlawful for two persons of the same gender to sleep in the same blanket, but it would be better for them to sleep separately, even if they are mother and daughter. [Abd al-Haq al-Dehlawi, Lama’at al-Tanqih, Sharh al-Mishkat al-Masabih]
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
