Assalaamu alaykum. My query is about dancing. Can a woman dance in front of her mahrams (permanently unmarriageable kin)? Can a small girl dance in front of men? Is a wife obliged to obey a husband who tells her to dance in front of him?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If the woman is decently covered, as she is ordered to do in the presence of mahram (permanently unmarriageable) men, and she does not dance in a way that incites desires, and this is not accompanied by prohibited musical instruments and the like, then we do not find an objection to her dancing in front of them.

An-Nawawi said, “Dancing is not forbidden, Al-Haleemi said, ‘But the dancing that involves behaving like effeminates is forbidden for both men and women.’”

We did not find any statements of the scholars about the dancing of a young girl in front of men. What seems to us – and Allah knows best – is that there is nothing wrong for a young girl who is not desired for sexual intercourse to dance in front of men provided that she does not dance in a way that causes temptation. The jurists gave concessions to the young girl in many rulings.

Ibn Qudaamah said, “Imaam Ahmad said about a man who holds a small girl in his lap (out of kindness) and kisses her that there is nothing wrong in it provided that this is without desire, but if it is with desire, then it is not permissible for him to do so.”

As for a woman dancing in front of her husband, then this is permissible, and it appears that she should obey him if he orders her to do so, but she is not obliged to obey him.

For more benefit, please refer to fatwas 87417 and 88445.

Allah knows best.