Going to a gym
Q: I'm a male who recently joined a gym, but was ignorant to the fitnah prevalent. There are men who walk around completely naked in the change rooms and with shorts when working out (satr exposed), music blasting from speakers, and women walking around shamelessly. To avoid many of these vices there are some precautions I can take:
1. Avoid entering change rooms (however I can still see their satr outside the change rooms)
2. Use earphones to avoid the music (or at least blur it out)
3. Go at times when it is quiet (however I haven't been able to find a time where it is completely empty).
Although taking these precautions, I still feel in my heart that I am being disobedient to Allah Ta'ala and it would be better to cancel my membership.
N.B. I can take up running or jogging, but I do not have any proper equipment to tone my body (the equipment is expensive), and I have not come across any male only gyms in my locality.
1. 'The one who adds to the numbers of a people is counted as among them, and the one who is pleased with the wrong of a people will be regarded as a partner in their actions.' (Ithaaful Khiyaratil Maharah #3297)
By going to the gym, will I be counted as among the disobedient?
2. Am I correct in saying the gym is a place of disobedience?
3. Should I cancel my membership and find other ways of doing exercise?
4. If I accidentally look or hear something impermissible, then would I be blameworthy for going to a place like this?
5. Does Mufti saheb have any advice or suggestions?
A: It is not permissible to go into such a place where shameless people are moving about. It is a place where the curses of Allah Ta'ala are raining. Why should you become a victim of those curses?
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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