Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
In your case, you should do your best to look for a man to do the therapeutic massage for you, if not, an older woman; if not, then you should take your wife with you to learn how it is done and do it for you.
Responding to your question, Dr. Hatem Al-Hajj, Dean of the College of Islamic Studies at Mishkah University and a member of the Permanent Fatwa Committee for the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA), states:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has enjoined us to seek remedy saying: Allah has sent down both the disease and the cure, and He has appointed a cure for every disease, so treat yourselves medically, but use nothing unlawful.
Therefore, a Muslim should consult competent specialists to obtain the most appropriate treatment for his case.
A problem always arises for a Muslim when he or she is treated by a member of the opposite sex. Muslim jurists have set certain rules for this kind of dealing between men and women so as to keep it within the parameters of the Islamic code of ethics and to preserve the modesty and chastity of both parties.
In your case, you should do your best to look for a man to do the therapeutic massage for you, if not, an older woman; if not, which is unlikely, then you should take your wife with you to learn how it is done and do it for you. It is not too hard to learn. Moreover, the presence of your wife in the room will prevent any possible seclusion with a marriageable woman.
You must also be honest with yourself in assessing your need for this form of therapy.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.