Sex and sexuality in Islam - Part 1

by Abul Kasem

A word of caution: This article contains sexually explicit terms and coarse language that may offend many readers. The author will not take any responsibility in the event any reader may become upset reading this essay. My request to them: please do refrain from reading this essay if you are likely to be offended. You have been forewarned.

Introduction

There is more to sex in Islam than meets the eye. Do you care to know that sex is the biggest taboo in Islam? It is a topic that is fraught with fear and seldom discussed by the followers of Islam, except when they are in trouble or when they go to a foreign/infidel country to 'enjoy' women there. Islam pretends as if sexual organs do not exist either in a male or in a female. A woman is covered from head to toe just to hide her 'awra,' which is the Islamic vocabulary for the part of body that arouses sexual desire in a man, or the 'shame' of her. Thus, sexual organs are shameful parts of a body! It is a great insult to a woman to depict her entire body as shameful. It is also a great insult to all men. Why? Because, this gives the impression that men are like beasts that are on the street, just on the lookout there for women to prowl on for sex. This is completely nonsense. While living in an infidel country, I have watched millions of kufur women dressed in very decent as well as not so decent dresses. However, never have I seen a single man jump on a woman in the street to copulate with her, despite her mode of dressing being aphrodisiac or in plain word 'sexy.' The Islamic concept of sex is based on Bedouin Arab culture, that is barbaric and uncivilized, to say the least, when compared to today's world. This is because sex is so a 'dirty' word and it is so 'severely' restricted in Islam that as a inquisitive person I became extremely interested in it and devoured any written material that dealt with sex in Islam. To my surprise, I found that so little information is available, although there are tons and tons of books on Tafseer, ahadith Sharia, fiqh and the list goes on for all other branches of Islamic studies. Therefore, I had to write from scratch without much help from Islamic/other sources. Another big surprise for me was that the restrictions on sex for men in Islam are just superficial. There are countless loopholes in Islamic rules, so much so that it is possible for a Muslim man, whether married or not, to have uninterruptible supply of sex if he so desires. But he must know the rules of the game very well, if not, then he may fall into a great torment. There are many secrets and untold provisions for sex in Islam that very few Mullahs will tell.

How pleasant a quilt is in winter? Or a Chinese dish for the test buds? Good poems, songs, arts, or sculptures immensely please a cultured mind. d you notice that very rarely physical and mental pleasures meet in one single element? Sex, as the climax of this type, always has been one of the strongest driving forces of mankind, especially men. Handling of sex by a society reflects its level and maturity. At times Islamic aspect of human sexuality overlaps with" Status of Women," but the two are not the same. Compared to other social/religious systems of the world, Islam gives sex and sexual "purity" an extraordinary importance with inherent contradictions/conflicts so much so that we may safely say that Islam is over-obsessed, oversensitive and over-apprehensive about sex.

This essay is an attempt to expose the hypocrisy, double standard, unfairness, absurdity and sheer irrationality of Islam when it comes to sex. It also examines the barbaric rules that Islam inflicts on innocent people for having a simple sexually satisfying relationship whether one is married or not that Islam unjustly and illogically construes as 'haram.' One must not forget however how crucial sex is in our life. In the first place, without sex, none of us will be in this world for sure. Darwinian evolution would have stopped eons ago! So think about it for a moment.

Let us begin with the first principle of Islamic sex for men, that is:

Have virgins for fun and frolic

In Islam, keeping the virginity is the highest asset that a woman could possess. There is no crime/sin as despicable as that of losing the virginity before a woman is married. The thought of indulging in pre-marital sex by an adult woman is absolutely unthinkable in Islam (For men it is a different story altogether. As we shall see later, it is possible for an unmarried Muslim man to be engaged in sex with slave-girls/captive/infidel women but not with free Muslim women). Mind you, premarital sex is a serious crime that may involve severe punishment for the offender; one hundred Islamic lashing for the unmarried woman (or man) and stoning to death for the married woman (or man). This punishment is hudud, which means that there is no way the offender can escape the severity of this kind of barbaric torment. Once the punishment has been passed down, it must be carried out at any cost. So much for Islamic mercy and tolerance! If you thought that I am being too critical, then please be reminded that in Islam, homicide is not such a serious offence as sex is. That is to say, the punishment for a murder can be commuted to other sentence like Qias (retaliation) or Diya (blood money). Now contrast this if you will, with the laws for sexual offences. It looks like that taking a life is much simpler and easier than making love, especially for women, if we go by the Islamic rules. How barbaric and at the same time myopic view!

Who do you think is the 'real' owner of our sexual organs, in particular the sexual organs of women? No, it is not we, the humankinds. It is Islam. Believe it or not, Islam owns the sexual organs of every Muslim man and woman in this universe, all of it, including even the pubic hairs that grow there! Here is what the ahadith say about how to manage a woman's pubic hair.

Wife must shave pubic hair if husband returns home at night after a long journey...7.62.173

Sahih Bukhari:Volume 7, Book 62, Number 173:

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:

The Prophet said, "If you enter (your town) at night (after coming from a journey), do not enter upon your family till the woman whose husband was absent (from the house) shaves her pubic hair and the woman with unkempt hair, combs her hair" Allah's Apostle further said, "(O Jabir!) Seek to have offspring, seek to have offspring!"

Five practices of fitra 1.Circumcision; 2. Shaving pubic region; 3. Clipping nails 4. Cutting mustache short;5. Removal of arm pit hair...7.72.777

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 72, Number 777:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "Five practices are characteristics of the Fitra: circumcision, shaving the pubic region, clipping the nails and cutting the moustaches short."

One may wonder why Allah is so free to look into what a human possess between his/her two thighs. We always thought Allah has more important affairs to attend to!

If you ever thought that Allah gave you the sexual organ for your use as per your desire, then perish that thought. From birth to death, from adulthood to old age, from house to desert, every aspect of the use of your very own private part is controlled by innumerable, mindless, cruel and oftentimes utterly despicable Islamic rules as written in the Sharia, the so-called divine laws of Allah. One may legitimately ask why Sharia does not control the use of sexual organs of animals like cows, goats, horses, pigs, lions, tigers, birds, snakes, turtles and all other species that engage in copulation for fun and/or reproduction. It looks as if the animals have much more freedom on sexual activities than the human beings the best creation of Allah! Please give a serious thought on this and you cannot but be amazed by the downright infringement by Islam on the very basic right of a human being which is his/her privacy. The extreme barbarism in Islam to control the innate, natural and instinctive sexual desire and its joy is particularly aimed at keeping the virginity of women intact at all cost even going to the extreme of execution of a woman who dare to express her sexual desire in an un-Islamic (read pre-marital or otherwise) way.

One may wonder why Islam is so utterly obsessed with the virginity of women. I often thought about this after I came to the infidel land. In this land of 'sinners' and 'prostitutes' and 'sluts,' sex between consenting adults is not viewed as a crime, although application of physical force for carnal gratification may constitute a serious act of violence, which may carry prison sentence. In an Islamic paradise, on the other hand, sex between two opposite partners (or same sex partners) is absolutely haram whether consensual or not. More importantly, sexual gratification by a woman outside the bond of marriage is completely forbidden. Many Muslims who come to live in a western society will have great difficulty in understanding the values and ethos upon which their (the so called infidel west) concept of sexuality of men and women are based upon. To these Muslim men, most women who indulge in sex before their marriage are prostitutes, harlots, and whores and are available for an easy lay. That is why a lot of devout Muslim men have a hard time to have easy and professional relations with the western/infidel women they meet. For a Muslim man, a non-virgin woman is totally unthinkable for his consideration of marriage. These infidel women are for having a good time and for 'one-night stand' only. According to Islam, an unmarried woman must keep her sexual and reproductive organ in complete lock under any and all circumstances till she gets married. I gave a deep pondering over this issue of blatant deprivation of sexual joy in the name of Allah and religion. Then, while examining the Sahi Bukhari and Sahi Muslim, the most authentic of all ahadith, I came across with the following gems of ahadith. I found the reason why Allah is so paranoid on keeping intact the virginity of women at all times before marriage. Let us read these ahadith.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 16:

Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah:

While we were returning from a Ghazwa (Holy Battle) with the Prophet, I started driving my camel fast, as it was a lazy camel A rider came behind me and pricked my camel with a spear he had with him, and then my camel started running as fast as the best camel you may see. Behold! The rider was the Prophet himself. He said, 'What makes you in such a hurry?" I replied, I am newly married " He said, "Did you marry a virgin or a matron? I replied, "A matron." He said, "Why didn't you marry a young girl so that you may play with her and she with you?" When we were about to enter (Medina), the Prophet said, "Wait so that you may enter (Medina) at night so that the lady of unkempt hair may comb her hair and the one whose husband has been absent may shave her pubic region.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 38, Number 504:

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:

I was accompanying the Prophet on a journey and was riding a slow camel that was lagging behind the others. [...] When we approached Medina, I started going (towards my house). The Prophet said, "Where are you going?" I said, "I have married a widow." He said, "Why have you not married a virgin to fondle with each other?"[...]

Sahih Muslim Book 008, Number 3459:

Jabir b. 'Abdullah (Allah be pleased with them) reported:

I married a woman, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to me: Have you married? I said: Yes. He said: Is it a virgin or a previously married one (widow or divorced)? I said: With a previously married one, whereupon he said: Where had you been (away) from the amusements of virgins? Shu'ba said: I made a mention of it to 'Amr b. Dinar and he said: I too heard from Jabir making mention of that (that Allah's Apostle) said: Why didn't you marry a girl, so that you might sport with her and she might sport with you?


Source: islam-watch.org

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