Sexuality in Islam

This is a sub-article of Islamic marital jurisprudence and human sexuality.

Template:Fiqh-Mar Sexuality in Islam is largely described by the Quran, the sayings of Muhammad (hadith), and the rulings of religious leaders' (fatwa) as being confined to marital relationships between men and women. While most traditions discourage celibacy, all encourage strict chastity and modesty with regards to any relationships across gender lines, holding forth that intimacy as perceived within Islam — 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) outside of marriage can be seen in current prominent aspects of Islam — interpretations of Islamic dress and degrees of gender segregation, for example.

While prohibitions against extra-marital sexual relationships are strong, sex itself is not a taboo subject. Clarification 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.

Sex within marriage

In Islamic law, marriage legalizes sexual intercourse between the husband and wife. Marriage is not restricted to a platonic relationship nor is it only for procreation. Marriage is greatly encouraged in Islam, partially because it provides a lawful institution in which to fulfill one’s sexual urges. Islam does provide extensive rules regarding sex; however, within the conditional institution of marriage, there are sources in both the Qur'an and hadith, which promote the well being of humans and their natural sexual instincts. In the Surah Baqarah (2:222), sex in married life is openly recommended: ‘When they [i.e., the wives] have cleansed themselves [after menstruation], you go into them as Allah has commanded.” Additionally, sources of hadith illustrate similar promotion of fulfilling sexual urges in lawful ways within a marriage. The Wasaelush Shia (vol. 14, p. 25) quotes the Prophet as encouraging his followers to marry, saying, “O you young men! I recommend marriage to you.”

Sexual techniques

One of the areas of Islamic sexual jurisprudence in which there are not many restrictions is the discussion of sexual techniques. Almost all of what is practiced under Islamic Law concerning sexual techniques and the act of sexual intercourse come from hadith, which are not restrictive in nature. The main tendency within these hadith are saying for Muslims to follow in the bedroom, saying which "clearly show that the husband and the wife should feel completely free when they are engaged in mutual stimulation which is known as foreplay. There is nothing wrong, according to Islam, for a woman to be active and responsive during sex." These sayings recommend foreplay, and put no real restrictions on the type of techniques used during foreplay or during actual intercourse.

Conversely, one area of sexual techniques that is generally prohibited is anal intercourse. In fact the opinions of many "mujtahids vary on the permissibility of anal intercourse. The majority of the Shi'ah mujtahids have derived two conclusions: (1) that anal intercourse is not haraam but strongly disliked (karahatan shadidah) provided the wife agrees to it. (2) and if she does not agree to it, then all mujtahids say that it is precautionarily wajib to refrain from it."

Extramarital sexual intercourse (fornication and adultery and homosexuality)

Main article: Zina (Arabic)

Just as Islamic law fosters sexual actions within a marriage, there is also judicial opinion concerning sexual relations outside of a marriage. These laws, however, observe much stricter restrictions. Additionally, these laws have textual confirmation from the Qur'an.

Verse 24:2-3 states: “Outside marriage and concubinage, Islamic law prohibits sexual relations under the broad heading of zina (fornication). Verse 24:2-3 establishes that male and female fornicators are to be flogged 100 times, and that fornicators are then allowed to marry only other fornicators or non-Muslims.”

Furthermore, one practice that does exist within Islamic law is the legal sexual relations outside the marriage contract in a relationship between a man and an unmarried slave woman whom he owns. This practice is backed up by a report by Malik b. Anas who cites a report in which, “‘Umar b. al-Khattab says that when a female slave gives birth to a child by her master, then the slave becomes an umm walad (mother of a child, concubine).”

Illegal sex (fornication)

Similar to laws that prohibit extramarital sexual relations, the Qur'an also stipulates categories of women with whom men are prohibited from engaging in sexual intercourse. Verse 4:22-4 lists, “mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, wet-nurses, daughters of wet-nurses, wives’ mothers, daughters of wives from different fathers, wives of sons, and women already married.

Additionally, Verse 2:222 prohibits sexual relations with women during menstruation. The Prophet Muhammad specifically restricts the injunction “to segregate the women” and “not go near them” in 2:222 to a prohibition against sexual relations with menstruating women.”

Homosexuality

Main article: Homosexuality and Islam

Qur'an strictly prohibited homosexuality through the story of Lot (see Qur'an verses:7:80-84,11:69-83, 29:28-35), similarly rendered too, 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:

"We also sent Lot : He said to his people : "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds." Qur'an 7:80-81

Both erotic attraction and sexual behavior between members of the same sex has always been a recognized phenomenon in Islamic Societies. However, homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Muslim ethics, it is considered an unnatural act. Religious discourse tends to focus on sexual acts, which are unambiguously condemned. The Qur'an refers explicitly refers to male-male relations within the context of Lot. The Story of Lot falls within the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah (Lūṭ), at 7:81–82; 11:77–83; 15:61; 21:74; 22:43; 26:165; 27:55; and 29:29 within the Qur'an. At 26:165–173, the destruction of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah is often attributed to their sexual practices, although the Qur'an never explicitly says what those practices were but they are considered an abomination.
Some jurists believe there should be severe punishments, such as death or floggings while others disagree. Early Caliphs were known to have had both partners executed (in a variety of methods) but even with this precedent there is still no consensus for a punishment for homosexuality. Other jurists believe that there is no punishment that will serve as an effective purgative for this act, and therefore its immorality precludes an earthly punishment. Some jurists are so morally offended by homosexuality that just the discuss around it is cause for excommunication and anathematizing. However, Muslim ethicists have yet to reach a consensus as to whether homosexuality is a socially constructed practice or part of biological, genetic predisposition. Since sex is the biologically defined capacity of the human body and gender connotes the social significance attached to members of a particular sex, the idea of homosexuality would change the Muslim world.
Islamic law establishes two categories of legal, sexual relationships: between husband and wife, and between a man and his concubine. All other sexual relationships are considered zināʾ (fornication), including adultery and homosexuality, according to Islamic law and exegesis of the Qur'an. There is no punishment for a man who sodomizes a woman because it is not tied to procreation. However, other jurists insist that any act of lust in which the result is the injecting of semen into another person constitutes sexual intercourse.
When it comes to literature expression of male homoerotic sentiment is acceptable. Such love was generally seen as an asymmetrical relationship, between an adult male (the lover) and an adolescent boy (the beloved), clearly paralleling the power differential between men and women in heterosexual relationships. This established three categories of homosexual relationships:

• Active male-male lovers
• Passive adolescent beloveds
• Pathological and despised (adult males who sought out the passive role)

Some jurists viewed sexual intercourse as possible only for an individual who possesses a phallus. Hence the definition of sexual intercourse relies on the entry of as little of the corona of the phallus into a partner’s orifice. Since women do not possess a phallus and cannot have intercourse with one another, they are physically incapable of committing zināʾ.

Concubines

A concubine is a relationship between a man and an unmarried slave woman whom he owns; the term refers to the woman. When she gives birth to a child by her master, the slave becomes umm walad (mother of child, concubine). The Hanbali jurist Ibn Qudama explains that the father is not allowed to sell or transfer ownership of his concubine though he is entitled to have sexual relations with her, to employ her service, to hire her out, and to marry her. Ibn al-Humam adds that the slave owner must acknowledge the kinship of the child.

Concubine (surriyya) refers to the slave-woman (jāriya)—Muslim or non-Muslim—with whom the master engages in sexual intercourse. The word surriyya is not mentioned in the Quran. However, the expression “that which your right hands own,” which occurs fifteen times in the sacred book, refers to slaves and therefore, though not necessarily, to concubines. Concubinage was a pre-Islamic custom that was allowed to be practiced under Islam.

Islamic jurisprudence sets limits on the master’s right to sexual intercourse with his female slave. A man’s ownership of his unmarried slave-girl gave him an exclusive right to have sex with her that he could not sell to others. A man could own a limitless number of concubines, but could not have access to the slave-girls owned by his wife. Marriage between the master and his concubine was only possible if she was granted free status first. The master had the right to practice coitus interruptus without the slave’s permission, to avoid pregnancy. The birth of progeny would change the legal status of the concubine to that of umm al-walad (mother of the child). As mother of the master’s offspring, the concubine could not be sold. She would automatically acquire free status at the death of her master and her children would be considered freeborn and legitimate.

Rape

Rape is forbidden under Islamic law. It is defined as having extramarital intercourse by force or fear, including any subsequent injury both to the victims mental and physical health. According to Islamic law (sharia) it is classified as hirabah, or violent crime under a category of causing disorder in the land due to Qur'an ordinances about those who create anarchy (Arabic: fasad), similar to highway robbery as it puts fear in people going out or losing their property through fear of violence. Some other branches of Islamic law consider it to be part of zina, as a crime called forced adultery (zina-bil-jabr). Rape is punishable by stoning to death in Sharia law.

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 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 or Umrah.

Classical Islamic law defined what today is commonly called “rape” as a coercive form of fornication or adultery (zināʾ). This basic definition of rape as “coercive zināʾ” meant that all the normal legal principles that pertained to zināʾ––its definition, punishment, and establishment through evidence––were applicable as well to rape; the prototypical act of zināʾ was defined as sexual intercourse between a man and a woman over whom the man has neither a conjugal nor an ownership right. Sane adult male and female participants in zināʾ were to receive a fixed corporal punishment (ḥadd):

• One hundred lashes and exile for unmarried free persons
• Stoning to death for married or previously married free persons
• Fifty lashes (without exile) for slaves.

Zināʾ was established, according to classical law, through either confession by one or both parties as well as proof. A second type of evidence––pregnancy in an unmarried/unowned woman––was contested between the schools. The stringent evidentiary and procedural standards for implementing the zināʾ punishment may have functioned to offset the severity of the punishment itself, an effect that seems to have been intended by legal authorities, who in the early period developed legal maxims encouraging averting the ḥadd punishments as much as possible, whether through claiming ambiguity (shubhah) or a lack of legal capacity (ahliyya).

What distinguished a prototypical act of zināʾ from an act of rape, for the jurists, was that in the prototypical case, both parties act out of their own volition, while in an act of rape, only one of the parties does so. Jurists admitted a wide array of situations as being “coercive” in nature, including the application of physical force, the presence of duress, or the threat of future harm either to oneself or those close to oneself; they also included in their definition of “coercion” the inability to give valid consent, as in the case of minors, or mentally ill or unconscious persons. Muslim jurists from the earliest period of Islamic law agreed that perpetrators of coercive zināʾ should receive the ḥadd punishment normally applicable to their personal status and sexual status, but that the ḥadd punishment should not be applied to victims of coercive or nonconsensual zināʾ due to their reduced capacity.

According to the Mālikī, Ḥanbalī, and Shāfiʾī schools of law, the rape of a free woman consisted of not one but two violations: a violation against a “right of God” (ḥaqq Allāh), provoking the ḥadd punishment as noted above; and also a violation against a “human” or interpersonal right (ḥaqq ādamī), requiring a monetary compensation. These jurists saw the free woman, in her proprietorship over her own sexuality (buḍʾ), as not unlike the slave owner who owns the sexuality of his female slave. For them, in the same way that the slave owner was entitled to compensation for sexual misappropriation, the free woman was also entitled to compensation. The amount of this compensation, they reasoned, should be the amount that any man would normally pay for sexual access to the woman in question––that is, the amount of her dower (ṣadāq or mahr). As far as abortion with regards to rape most jurist do not consider rape to be a valid reason for abortion. The sanctity of the new life takes precedence over the autonomy of the pregnant women and the negative social consequences arising from her added responsibilities.

Restrictions on sex

Sexual intercourse is prohibited:

• During menstruation
• For forty days after childbirth (puerperium)
• During the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan (while fasting)
• On pilgrimage: While in the sanctuary (in Ahram) at Mecca pilgrims are not allowed to have sex; marriages performed during the pilgrimage are invalid

Marriage (and thus sex) with an idolatress is forbidden (2:221). As well as marriage to one’s father’s wives (4:22), one’s mother, daughters, sisters, father’s sisters, mother’s sisters, brother’s daughters, sister’s daughters, foster-mothers, foster-sisters, mother-in-law, stepdaughters born of women with whom one has had conjugal relations, the wives of blood-sons, and two sisters from the same family (4:23), as well as all married women except slave already owned (3:24).

Sodomy

Main article: Islamic view of anal sex

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a contemporary Sunni Muslim scholar, states that sodomy is prohibited. 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. 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.

Islamic law establishes two categories of legal, sexual relationships: between husband and wife, and between a man and his concubine. All other sexual relationships are considered zināʾ (fornication), including adultery and homosexuality, according to Islamic law and exegesis of the Qur'an. From the story of Lot it is clear that the Qur'an regards sodomy as an egregious sin. The death by stoning for people of Sodom and Gomorrah is similar to the stoning punishment stipulated for illegal heterosexual sex. There is no punishment for a man who sodomizes a woman because it is not tied to procreation. However, other jurists insist that any act of lust in which the result is the injecting of semen into another person constitutes sexual intercourse.

Sodomy is often falls under that same category as sex between and unmarried man and women engaging in sexual acts. Male-male intercourse is referred to as liwat (literally, joining) while female-female intercourse is referred to as sihaq (literally, rubbing). Both are considered reprehensible acts but there is no consensus on punishment for either. Some jurists define zināʾ (fornication) exclusively as the act of unlawful vaginal penetration and hence categorized and punished anal penetration as a different act. Other jurists included both vaginal and anal penetration within the definition of zināʾ (fornication) and hence were able to extend the punishment of one act to other.

Religious discourse has mostly focused on sexual acts, which are unambiguously condemned. The Qur'an refers explicitly to male-male sexual relations only in the context of the story of Lot, but labels the Sodomites's actions (universally understood in the later tradition as anal intercourse) an "abomination," (Female-female relations are not addressed). Reported pronouncements by the prophet Muhammad (hadith) reinforce the interdiction on male-male sodomy, although there are no reports of his ever adjudicating an actual case of such an offense; he is also quoted as condemning cross-gender behavior for both sexes, but it is unclear to what extent this is to be understood as involving sexual relations. Several early caliphs, confronted with cases of sodomy between males, are said to have had both partners executed, by a variety of means. While taking such precedents into account, medieval jurists were unable to achieve a consensus on this issue; some legal schools prescribed capital punishment for sodomy, but others opted only for a relatively mild discretionary punishment. There was general agreement, however, that other homosexual acts (including any between females) were lesser offenses, subject only to discretionary punishment.

Currently sodomy is punishable by death in a number of Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Yemen, as well as in Nigeria’s Sharia courts.

Purification and hygiene

Main article: Islamic sexual hygienical jurisprudence

After partaking in sexual activity where penetration or ejaculation occurs, both men and women are required to complete full body ritual washing ablution, known as Ghusl, in order to re-establish ritual purity before he or she can pray. Ghusl requires clean, odorless water that has not been used for a previous ritual and begins with the declaration of the intention of purity and worship. A Muslim performing complete ablution then washes every part of his or her body.

Fasting and Ramadan

According to Quranic verse 2:187, one may have sex during the month of Ramadan but not during the time of fasting. As such, sex during Ramadan is only permitted at night. Although this passage is explicitly addressed to men, the regulations on sex in regards to fasting are universally taken to apply equally to both male and female Muslims.

Menstruation

Verse 2:222 in the Quran implies that sexual relations during menstruation are prohibited. However, unlike Jewish tradition, Islam does not forbid men from interacting with menstruating women entirely. Ibn Kathīr, a muhaddith, narrated a hadith that describes the Prophet 's habits with his menstruating wives. This hadith demonstrates that the Prophet gave license to all forms of spousal intimacy during the period of menstruation with the exception of vaginal intercourse. Women are required to perform ritual cleansing (ghusl) before resuming religious duties or sexual relations upon completion of the menstruation period.

Masturbation

Main article: Islam and masturbation

There are varying opinions on the permissibility of masturbation. The Quran has been cited as being ambiguous on the issue of masturbation. The hadith regarding masturbation are, too, not considered to take a definitive stance on the subject. As such, positions on masturbation vary widely. According to alDin Tarbiyyah, it is permissible if done out of necessity. He also permitted masturbation as a means whereby soldiers, far away from their wives on a tour of duty may remain chaste. According to Ahmed ibn Hanbal, it is permissible for prisoners, travellers and for men and women who have difficulty in finding a lawful spouse. There has always been a view to permit masturbation as the lesser of two evils (so as to ward of falling into fornication). Thus it is categorically incorrect to state that all Islamic scholars of the early Islamic age have unanimously agreed upon its complete prohibition. Jurists distinguish between those who masturbate out of necessity, and those who have these means yet still masturbate to gratify their lust.

Contraception

The Quran does not contain explicit text regarding contraception. Muslims refer to the hadith on the question of contraception. The companions of the Prophet are cited when addressing this issue. For example, Jabir, one of the Prophet’s companions, relates a hadith in which a man came to the Prophet and said,

″I have a slave girl, and we need her as a servant and around the palm groves. I have had sex with her, but I am afraid of her becoming pregnant.″ The Prophet responded, ″Practice coitus interruptus with her if you so wish, for she will receive what has been predestined for her.″

As such, the withdrawal method of contraception is allowed according to the hadith. Muslim jurists concur with its permissibility and use analogical deduction to approve other forms of contraception (e.g. condom usage). Supporting Sunnah include:

A man said: "Apostle of Allah, I have a slave-girl and I withdraw from her (while having intercourse), and I dislike that she becomes pregnant. I intend (by intercourse) what the men intend by it. The Jews say that withdrawal method (Al-azl) is like burying the living girls on a small scale." He (the Prophet) said: "The Jews told a lie. If Allah intends to create it, you cannot turn it away."

— Hadith from Sunan Abu Dawud

"O Allah's Apostle! We get female captives' booties as our share of booty, and we are interested in their prices, what is your opinion about coitus interruptus?" The Prophet said, "Do you really do that? It is better for you not to do it. No soul that which Allah has destined to exist, but will surely come into existence."

— Hadith from Sahih Bukhari

Abortion

Main article: Islam and abortion

Islamic schools of law have differing opinions on abortion, though it is prohibited or discouraged by most. However, abortion is allowed under certain circumstances, such as the threatening of the mother’s health. If the abortion is necessary to save the woman's life, Muslims universally agree that her life takes precedence over the life of the fetus. Muslim jurists allow abortion in this context based on the principle that "the greater evil [the woman's death] should be warded off by the lesser evil [abortion]." In these cases the physician is considered a better judge than the scholar.[15] Abortions of pregnancies that are merely unplanned or unwanted is generally haram, or forbidden. The Quran forbids the abortion of a fetus for fear of poverty of 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)

Most Muslim scholars hold that the child of rape is a legitimate human being and therefore subject to the same laws of abortion (i.e. its abortion is permitted only if the fetus is less than 4 months old, or if it endangers the life of its mother). Some scholars disagree with this position. Some Muslim scholars also argue that abortion is permitted if the newborn might be sick in some way that would make its care exceptionally difficult for the parents (e.g. deformities, mental retardation, etc.).

See also

• The Perfumed Garden
• Mutah: the Shia fixed-term temporary marriage
• Misyar: the Sunni open-ended, negotiated, marriage contract
• Wedad Lootah
• Marriage in Islam

References

• Ayubi, Nazih (2004). Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Arab World. New York: Routledge.

General

• Suad Joseph, Afsaneh Najmabadi, ed. (2003). Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, law, and politics. BRILL. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Sexual impurity and ritual bathing (ghusl)
• 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