Islamic body in Sudan calls on government to regulate massage business

May 11, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan Scholar Council (SSC) has called upon authorities to strictly regulate the massage business claiming that some practitioners have made the business a cover for “harmful” and “immoral” activities.

The Secretary General of the SSC, Mohammed Osman Saleh, said in a statement to the official news agency (SUNA) that there is a need for launching inspection campaigns on massage shops and closing down unauthorized ones in order to avoid violation of religious sanctities.

Saleh further discussed the Islamic ruling on massage, saying “if massage is exercised as a therapy under supervision of a physician or an expert, it is permissible provided that men aren’t treated by women and vice versa”.

SSC is an informal body comprised of eminent Sudanese Islamic scholars but its views are not binding to the government.

(ST)