Sexuality in Islam - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is a sub-article of Islamic marital jurisprudence

Islamic marital jurisprudence

In Islamic law , marriage is a legal bond and social contract between a man and a woman. Islam commends marriage, with the age of marriage being whenever the individuals feel ready, financially and emotionally...

and human sexuality

Human sexuality

Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...

Sexuality in Islam is largely described by the Qur'an

Qur'an

The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, the sayings of Mohammed (hadith

Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

), and the rulings of religious leaders' (fatwa

Fatwa

A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...

) as being confined to marital relationships between men and women. While most traditions discourage celibacy

Celibacy

Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...

, all encourage strict chastity

Chastity

Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....

and modesty with regards to any relationships across gender lines, holding forth that intimacy as perceived within Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

-- encompassing a swathe of life more broad than strictly sex — is largely to be reserved for marriage. This sensitivity to gender difference and modesty (hijab

Hijab

The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....

) outside of marriage can be seen in current prominent aspects of Islam—interpretations of Islamic dress

Sartorial hijab

This list of types of sartorial hijab indexes styles of clothing found in predominantly Muslim societies commonly associated with the word hijab...

and degrees of gender segregation, for example.

While prohibitions against extra-marital sexual relationships are strong, sex itself is not a taboo subject. Permissible sexual relationships are described in Islamic sources as great wells of love and closeness for the couple involved. Specific occasions — most notably daytime fasting and menstruation — are times forbidden for intercourse, though not for other ways of touching and being close to one another. Issues such as abortion (other than for medical risk to the pregnant woman) and homosexuality are also strictly forbidden; contraceptive use is permitted for birth control

Birth control

Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...

Sex within marriage

To varying degrees Islamic law

Fiqh

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

explicitly states that both men and women are entitled to sexual gratification

Orgasm

Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...

in marriage; the failure or inability to provide this may be cited as grounds for divorce initiated by either the wife or husband. Throughout the history of Islamic exegetical

Exegesis

Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...

traditions, philosophies, and law, much has been written to encourage, often in quite frank and explicit terms, Muslims to cultivate between themselves in their marriages both sexual passion and tenderness.

Aims of sex

Sex is viewed in terms of both its procreational value and as a way to strengthen the bonds between a couple.

states:
Islam obligates a married couple to try and have children. The theological understanding and reasons for this are varied, but this essentially means that a spouse is encouraged, religiously, to have sex with their partner on request. However, it is considered forbidden (Haram

Haraam

Haraam is an Arabic term meaning "forbidden", or "sacred". In Islam it is used to refer to anything that is prohibited by the word of Allah in the Qur'an or the Hadith Qudsi. Haraam is the highest status of prohibition given to anything that would result in sin when a Muslim commits it...

) for a woman to have sex during her period

Menstrual cycle

The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....

. This encouragement of conjugal relations is on both partners, and while neither partner can force the other to comply, constant refusal to have sex is regarded as a valid reason for talaq

Divorce (Islamic)

In Islam there are separate rules for divorce for men and women under the terms of Islamic law . When a man has initiated a divorce the procedure is called . When a woman has initiated a divorce it is called khula ....

or khula

Khula

Khula is the right of a woman in Islam to seek a divorce or separation from her husband. More accurately, it is merely the right of a wife to seek a release from the marriage bond, similar to the Get in Judaic law, but unlike the latter where the husband has unilateral right to refuse, a Muslim...

Rewards for sex

An oft-repeated hadith emphasize the granting of divine reward for sex within marriage:
[Sahih Muslim]

writes:

Sexual techniques

According to Islamic law, there are no sayings regarding sexual techniques. However there are Hadith

Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

which stress the importance of fulling the females desire by commencing loving words and sensual caressing prior to sexual intercourse.

Extramarital Sexual Intercourse (Fornication & Adultery & Homosexuality)

Adultery

Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

, Fornication

Fornication

Fornication typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association, but the significance of sexual acts to which the term is applied varies between religions, societies and cultures. The...

& Homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

is strictly, and repeatedly forbidden in the Qur'an and Hadith. The lack of an English word to encompass all three acts other than the phrase 'extramarital sexual intercourse' leads to much literature (including articles in Wikipedia) using the word adultery to erroneously conveying the word zina used in Arabic which covers all three acts.

And do not go anywhere near zina (extramarital sexual intercourse): it is an outrage, and an evil path. (Qur'an 17:32)

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar : The Jew brought to the Prophet a man and a woman from amongst them who have committed adultery. He ordered both of them to be stoned to death, near the place of offering the funeral prayers beside the mosque." (Book #23, Hadith #413)

This same idea can be found in the Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

passage below:

22. If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. 23. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; 24. Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...

22:22-24 (KJV)

Pre-marital sex (fornication)

While the strictest forms can prescribe the death penalty for adultery when witnessed by four people, which is for the married - based on Mosaic Law and confirmed by Mohammed in Hadith quoted above due to verse 89, chapter 6, of Qur'an which enjoins following the ordinances given to preceding prophets unless abrogated later - the unmarried fornicator and fornicatrix are punished by 100 lashes, on the condition that there were four witnesses to the very act as in the case for adultery.

The fornicator and the fornicatrix, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment proscribed by God, if you believe in God and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (Qur'an 24: 2)

One thing of note here is that the Qur'an orders that punishments are carried out in public and not secretly to act as a deterrent to others.

The requirement of four witnesses to any act of zina means that in reality it is seldom punished other than when the perpetrators confess. If a person makes accusation of others committing zina and he is unable to bring along four witnesses to the act, then such person is liable to 80 stripes as punishment for the slander, as without witnesses it is not regarded as an accusation to be made lightly and intended to discourage rumour-mongering (Qur'an 24: 4)

Homosexuality

Qur'an strictly prohibited homosexuality

Homosexuality

through the story of Lot (see Qur'an verses:7:80-84,11:69-83, 29:28-35), similarly rendered to the story as it appears in the Biblical Book of Genesis, as well as through a verse addressed directly to Muhammad and his followers, which reads:

If two men commit a lewd act, punish them both; if they repent and mend their ways, leave them alone — God is always ready to accept repentance, He is full of mercy. (4:16)

Prostitution

In Islam prostitution is forbidden on all grounds. It is considered a sin in its form. As referenced here:

Concubines

Ma malakat aymanukum is the term for slaves, which may be captives of war. A male master may have sexual intercourse with his female slave, but only if he marries her before.

Rape

Rape is forbidden under Islamic law. It is defined as having extramarital intercourse by force or fear. According to Islamic law Sharia

Sharia

Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

it is classified as Hirabah

Hirabah

Hirābah is an Arabic word for “piracy”, or “unlawful warfare”. Hirabah comes from the root hariba, which means “to become angry and enraged”. The noun harb Hirābah is an Arabic word for “piracy”, or “unlawful warfare”. Hirabah comes from the root hariba, which means “to become angry and...

, or violent crime under a category of causing disorder in the land due to Qur'an ordinances about those who create anarchy (Arabic -Fasad

Fasad

In some dialects and languages, the unrelated architectural term 'facade' is spelled 'fasad'.Fasad is corruption, unlawful warfare, or crimes against law and order in the Muslim community. Fasad is a general concept of social disorder that, within Islamic jurisprudence, is the source of and basis...

), similar to highway robbery as it puts fear in people going out or losing their property through fear of violence.

Under Islam sex is regarded as loving act within marriage and should be by mutual consent however there is no concept of rape within marriage in the Sharia; a wife is deemed to have accepted conjugal relations as part of the marriage contract. She can only refuse on grounds which are specified as prohibited for sexual intercourse such as when she is fasting, menstruating, or undergoing post-natal puerperal discharge, or whilst on Hajj

Hajj

The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...

or Umrah

Umrah

The Umrah or is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place"...

.http://www.muslimaccess.com/articles/Women/rape_in_islam.asp

Sodomy

Yusuf al-Qaradawi

Yusuf al-Qaradawi is a controversial Egyptian Islamic theologian. He is best known for his programme, ash-Shariah wal-Hayat , broadcast on Al Jazeera, which has an estimated audience of 60 million worldwide...

, a contemporary Sunni Muslim scholar, states that sodomy

Sodomy

Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...

is prohibited

Haraam

. The Quran says "And they ask thee concerning menstruation. Say, 'It is a harmful thing, so keep away from women during menstruation, and go not in unto them until they are clean. But when they have cleansed themselves, go in unto them as Allah has commanded you. Allah loves those who keep themselves clean.'" (2:222) A wife must abstain from it should her husband demand it, and may seek divorce over it if her husband persists or tries to force her, as the act is forbidden in the Islamic marriage contract

Islamic Marriage Contract

An Islamic marriage contract is an Islamic prenuptial agreement. It is a formal, binding contract considered an integral part of an Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride or other parties involved in marriage proceedings.-Witnessing:In Sunni Islam, a...

. The act in itself, however, doesn't nullify the marriage, and the wife must seek divorce in order to separate from the husband.

Muslim scholars justify the prohibition on the basis of the Quranic verse 2:223, saying that it commands intercourse only in the vagina (which will lead to the birth of children). The vaginal intercourse may be in any manner the couple wishes, that is, from behind or from the front, sitting or with the wife lying on her back or on her side. There are also several Hadith which prohibit sodomy.

Times to Avoid Sexual Intercourse

Sexual intercourse is prohibited during menstruation, for forty days after childbirth (puerperium), during the daylight hours whilst fasting, and on pilgrimage.

Purification and hygiene

Islamic sexual hygienical jurisprudence is a prominent topic in Islamic jurisprudence , due to its relevance to the issues prominent in everyday life.

Fasting and Ramadan

Regarding sexual intercourse during the month of Ramadan

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

:
Through emulation of the actions of Muhammad and interpretation, this same type of prohibition is extended to voluntary fasts (those which fall outside of Ramadan) as well. Select interpreters have held that the right to sexual gratification in marriage is strong enough that a married woman should seek her husband's approval before choosing days to fast; on this contemporary opinions and practices vary.

Menstruation

The bottom line is a man may share the bed and kiss or cuddle with his wife but he is not allowed to have sexual intercourse with her in those days, because it is not good for either of them.

Masturbation

The Quran & Hadith do not mention masturbation directly, yet it is not encouraged in most traditions of Islamic Jurisprudence. Extreme interpretations of Shi'a forbid masturbation outright; while most wahbi schools do not. Yusuf al-Qaradawi

Yusuf al-Qaradawi

in his book 'Al Halal wa Al Haram fil Islam' i.e. The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam

The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam

The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam is a book by Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi .Publisher's foreword:Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan has written a refutation to this book.-External links:*...

deems it much preferable to prohibition as the latter may lead to fornication,a major sin. He also states that as caressing and mutual stimulation is encouraged, which could be regarded as mutual masturbation in one sense, it would be illogical to approve foreplay

Foreplay

In human sexual behavior, foreplay is a set of intimate psychological and physically intimate acts between two or more people meant to create desire for sexual activity and sexual arousal. Either or any of the sexual partners may initiate the foreplay, and they may not be the active partner during...

whilst condemning masturbation. However all scholars accept there are social and psychological negative aspects to masturbation and strongly encourage marriage as legitimate means for sex and admonish celibacy.

Contraception

As the withdrawal method or coitus interruptus

Coitus interruptus

Coitus interruptus, also known as the rejected sexual intercourse, withdrawal or pull-out method, is a method of birth-control in which a man, during intercourse withdraws his penis from a woman's vagina prior to ejaculation...

(Arabic - Al-azl) was used by pre-Islamic Arabs and was not prohibited by prophet Muhammad to early converts to Islam, it is accepted by analogical deduction (ijtihad

Ijtihad

Ijtihad is the making of a decision in Islamic law by personal effort , independently of any school of jurisprudence . as opposed to taqlid, copying or obeying without question....

) that other forms of contraception e.g. contraceptive pill is permitted. All schools of jurisprudence concur with its permissibility but not with encouraging it for social or financial reasons.

Abortion

Qur'an forbids the killing of children for the fear of poverty or sustenance.

...kill not your children on a plea of want; We provide sustenance for you and for them (Qur'an 6:151)

Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you: verily the killing of them is a great sin. (Qur'an 17:31)

Islam does not traditionally hold that ensoulment

Ensoulment

Ensoulment, in theology, refers to the moment at which a human being gains a soul, whether newly created within a developing fetus or pre-existing and added at a particular stage of development....

occurs at the point of conception. Two passages in the Qur'an describe the fetal development

Fetal development

Prenatal or antenatal development is the process in which a human embryo or fetus gestates during pregnancy, from fertilization until birth. Often, the terms fetal development, foetal development, or embryology are used in a similar sense.After fertilization the embryogenesis starts...

process:

...We created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, then a clinging form, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped: We mean to make Our power clear to you. Whatever We choose We cause to remain in the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants and then you grow and reach maturity. ... (Qur'an 22:5)

We created man from an essence of clay, then We placed him as a drop of fluid in a safe place, then We made that drop into a clinging form, and We made that form into a lump of flesh, and We made that lump into bones, and We clothed those bones with flesh, and later We made him into other forms — glory be to God, the best of creators! (Qur'an 23:12-14)

Traditional scholarship places the point of ensoulment nearer to the end of this process, naming it as anywhere between 40 and 120 days after conception, making abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

permissible (under certain circumstances) until that point, though increasingly disliked as time passed.

Contemporary scholarship, however, is more likely to strongly restrict abortion, on the grounds that modern technology has permitted us to perceive life in the womb earlier than was previously possible. All schools of thought, traditional and modern, make allowances for circumstances threatening the health or life of the mother.

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari, a contemporary scholar in a lecture stated that it was murder if done after three months and before that it was a crime, but not to the degree of murder.

External links

Article on Sexuality in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
Article, "Turning Sex into Sadaqa," from Islam for Today
Abstaining from Masturbation (in Arabic)
Progressiveislam.org Women's Health Project section on Sex, Birth Control, and Pregnancy
FSE Project section on Muslim Sexual Ethics
http://www.themodernreligion.com/Sex.htm

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Sex within marriage

Aims of sex

Rewards for sex

Sexual techniques

Extramarital Sexual Intercourse (Fornication & Adultery & Homosexuality)

Pre-marital sex (fornication)

Homosexuality

Prostitution

Concubines

Rape

Sodomy

Times to Avoid Sexual Intercourse

Purification and hygiene

Fasting and Ramadan

Menstruation

Masturbation

Contraception

Abortion

See also

External links