Praise be to Allaah.
What we understand from the
question is that enjoyment that the father feels from having these parts of
the body massaged is of a normal type of enjoyment, such as feeling relaxed,
but it is not accompanied by any kind of pleasure or sexual desire towards
the one who is giving the massage. If that is the case, then there is
nothing wrong with him being massaged by his sons and daughters on the parts
of the body mentioned, whether they have reached puberty or not.
But if they have reached
puberty or have reached an age where they may be desirable, then the father
must cover the area between the navel and the knee before them; they may
look at other areas apart from that.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (7/80): As for a man with
another man, each of them may look at whatever is not ‘awrah of the other.
Two views have been narrated concerning its definition, one of which is that
it is the area between the navel and the knee, and the other is that it is
the private parts. End quote.
With regard to women, the
scholars have explained what it is permissible for her to see of her
mahrams. The great scholar al-Nafraawi al-Maaliki said in al-Fawaakih
al-Dawaani (1/287), when speaking of washing the deceased: If one of his
female mahrams is present, she may wash him, and his ‘awrah should be
covered from the navel to the knee, because she may see of him what another
man may see, which is everything except the area between the navel and the
knee. End quote.
This applies if they have
reached puberty as we said, or if they have reached an age where they may be
desirable. But if they are younger than that, the matter is simpler.
All of this applies if the
matter is as we have understood from your question, and that what is meant
by enjoying is natural physical relaxation.
But if what you mean is
pleasure and enjoyment of the one who is giving the massage, then it is
haraam and is a door to greater evil. In that case what is required is to
prevent this evil.
But we do not regard this
as something recommended even in the permissible form, especially if he is
old and if it is done regularly, because that may lead to a loss of respect
between the children and their father, and so as to block the way to any
feared negative consequences, especially in the case of those who live in
the west, and you cannot be certain what the children may be picking up from
the society around them with regard to such matters.
And Allaah knows best.