Question: What is the ruling on a man sleeping with another man under one blanket?
Answer: “It is not befitting. It is not necessary for them to sleep next to each other. As for if there is a barrier between them, and the blanket is long such that it is sufficient for five people, and one sleeps on one end and the other sleeps on the other, then there is no harm inshallah”.
[Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood no. 450]
Translator’s Note:
This is in regards to the Hadith on the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (ﷺ) said :
لاَ يَنْظُرُ الرَّجُلُ إِلَى عَوْرَةِ الرَّجُلِ وَلاَ الْمَرْأَةُ إِلَى عَوْرَةِ الْمَرْأَةِ وَلاَ يُفْضِي الرَّجُلُ إِلَى الرَّجُلِ فِي ثَوْبٍ وَاحِدٍ وَلاَ تُفْضِي الْمَرْأَةُ إِلَى الْمَرْأَةِ فِي الثَّوْبِ الْوَاحِدِ
A man should not see the private parts of another man, and a woman should not see the private parts of another woman, and a man should not lie with another man under one covering, and a woman should not lie with another woman under one covering [Muslim no. 338]
Imam an-Nawawi (May Allah have mercy upon him) said: “…Then, it is a prohibition of forbidden if there is no barrier between them…” [Sharh Saheeh Muslim (4/31)]
Hafidh Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:”In this Hadith is a prohibition for the skin of two men coming in contact without a barrier without a necessity” [Fathul Bari (9/250)]
Translated by
Faisal bin Abdul Qaadir bin Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan
